Toads, and other Snapethings

[Porphyria]

No: HPFGUIDX 35626

Good Evening Folks. Just a quickie on the subject of Trevor, Snape and 
so forth.

Judy was contesting Cindy's rather uncharitable suggestion about Snape 
and the toad:

> And Cindy says that Snape was trying to destroy the Longbottoms when
> he made Trevor drink Neville's Shrinking Solution:
> > Snape would be perfectly willing to force Neville to brew the potion
> > that kills the last hope that Neville will have his parents back.

Judy continued:
> Creative, but I don't think it's true.  First of all, I think other
> kid *do* carry their pets around. Scabbers was often in Ron's pocket
> or backpack. 
> <snip excellent reasons for why Neville wouldn't be carrying around the 
> souls of his parents in toad form>
> And most importantly, I'm sure that my dearest Snape is a nice guy and
> would have given Trevor an antidote if Trevor had gotten sick.

Well put, Judy. Of course he would have, he's not *that* horrid. He's 
just a little horrid. ;-)

The thing that seems to get lost in the discussion about the Trevor 
incident is the extent to which Snape's object in this scene is largely 
Hermione, or to put it more accurately, Gryffindor entrapment. Snape is 
ridiculing Neville's potion, which presumably he does every class, and 
Hermione pipes up and begs him to let her help Neville fix it. Snape 
reacts with his usual hostility, but notice he doesn't threaten the toad 
until after Hermione offers her help. At this point Neville becomes even 
more desperate and *begs* her to help him. And how can she refuse him? 
She has to save his toad! Snape has effectively pinned her into a corner 
where she feels she has no choice but to defy his own warning, then he 
gets to deduct points from Gryffindor because he manipulated her into 
doing exactly what he wanted her to do. Compare this to the first 
Potions class in PS/SS where Snape deducts a point from Harry for *not* 
helping Neville with his potion. Snape's interest is in knocking points 
off the Gryffindors, not in poisoning defenseless animals. Furthermore, 
the Trevor scene should be read as yet another example of Snape's 
propensity toward theater; he's trying to frighten rather than harm. By 
the end of class, Neville's potion has already resumed it's appropriate 
color of green, so Snape no doubt surmises that Hermione has succeeded 
in getting it fixed. I think he would have been astonished if the potion 
hadn't worked properly.

Not that he probably isn't a little disgusted that Neville can't seem to 
do anything on his own.

This leads me to Brewpub's recent post which concludes:
> So here is the lesson I am trying to impart: Snape is the best friend
> the Big Three have. Pampering them will not help them at all, making
> them tough, smart, skilled, and capable will. It's a tough world, and
> requires tough people.

This is true; while IRL Snape would be a nightmare of a grade school 
teacher, in this context he's the perfect local adversary for a trio of 
would-be Voldemort-vanquishers.

I had more to say, but it's been a busy week and I don't have the energy 
or focus to post more tonight. So I'll use this space to declare my 
tentative support for George, and you can also sign me up for Eloise's 
Evil Fudge camp. I'll come over with an industrial sized case of 
marshmallows. I'll even bring the spits.

~~Porphyria


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