Q: why readers love Snape (Was:Draco/ Snape parallels)

[brewpub44]

No: HPFGUIDX 33350


> Eloise wrote (in part):
> 
> > By the way, does Snape have any male fans?
> 

I didn't see this post when it was originally missing, but Snape is 
my favorite character in the entire series to date. He is the most 
interesting of them all, IMO. He is definitely not popular (amongst 
the other characters), so he could very easily take hte easy road and 
remain a DE, or hide in his chambers when not teaching, or by and 
large not really being interested in anything going on.

But he doesn't. Instead, he does some really tremendous, yet 
difficult, things:

-- putting Harry in his place when he first arrives (some say this is 
despicable, I say it is good judgement to remind the boy that "fame 
isn't everything".
-- teaching a tough potions class. From the sounds of it, potions 
aren't something to be toyed with.
-- threatening to poison one of hte students so they'll work getting 
their antidotes right is cruel, but effective. This is like drill 
sergeants making sure no one's butts get blown off during military 
exercises
-- trying to keep Harry and the other students in check and obeying 
the rules. Look at many schools in America right now, who is in 
control, the students or the faculty? And the quality of education 
thus suffers
-- Saving these kids time and time again, too numerous to mention here
-- Turning on the DEs at the end of LV's reign of terror
-- Taking Dumbledore's dangerous mission at the end of GoF

There are many more examples but I won't bore you.

Even his favoritism of Draco may not be all bad. If, as I suspect, 
Lucius becomes a pawn to LV, Draco may need someone to turn to for 
help, and that would be Severus. Perhaps Snape is trying to make the 
boy a leader, not a follower, which, in my book, is better, even if 
you are a bad guy.

A Barkeep in Diagon Alley, who believes the good road isn't the easy, 
or popular, one.