Colonel Snape? - Snape redeemed? - Why the Longbottoms?

[pigwidgeon37]

No: HPFGUIDX 33537

Dicentra spectabilis wrote:

<<In one of her interviews, she said she didn't have a say in the
casting but that she was pleased with it.  Of course, Rickman is the
consummate villian, Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility)
notwithstanding.  No one comes close to Rickman's smooth basso
profundo. I can't wait to hear him say to Sirius in the Shrieking
Shack, "Just give me a reason and I swear I'll do it" as he aims his
wand between Sirius's eyes.  Woohoo!>>

I've always found that one interesting, though I have to contradict 
you on Colonel Brandon being a consummate villain: He's quite the 
contrary, and that's what makes JKR's statement so interesting. IIRC, 
she even said that Rickman was the actor she had pictured all the 
time as Snape. Now I'd have to go home and check, but wouldn't 
the "Sense and Sensibility" movie and the period of writing PS/SS 
fairly coincide? Now if Rickman's Colonel Brandon and JKR's mental 
image of Snape have something in common, that would make Snape a very 
tragic romantic hero with- L.O.L.L.I.P.O.P.S. alert!!!!- a 
heartbreaking love story in his past. Interesting, hmmm? Even if I 
shudder at the consequences, for who would be there to mend the 
broken heart? 20 years younger than Snape? Oh, the possibilities


<<So if Snape isn't as bad as he seems to be, why is he this bad at 
all?
It would seem that he has already been "redeemed" once by abandoning
the Death Eaters, so there's no point in setting him up for a second
redemption. For a redeemed character, he's still pretty rotten.>>

I suppose that the concept of redemption is a very personal one, 
above all if separated from a strictly Christian view. At least, as a 
Catholic, you may say that sins are forgiven as soon as the sinner 
feels contrition and  confesses, thus achieving God's forgiveness. As 
far as Snape is concerned we have too little knowledge about his 
character, his past and magical law to be able to draw stringent 
conclusions. First, we don't know when exactly he returned to the 
Light Side. It might have been immediately after his initiation, or 
some years after, or even after Voldemort's downfall, though I doubt 
that. But if Snape had his fair share of Death Eater activity, I'd 
imagine that it takes more than just Dumbledore's forgiveness and 
trust to make him feel redeemed. Second, if a bond is created when a 
wizard saves another wizard's life, it is possible that destroying 
another wizard's life has similar consequences. 

<<Snape DOES know about Neville's
parents.  Could that have something to do with why Snape singles him
out, the way he does Harry?  The Longbottoms were powerful enemies of
the Death Eaters, undoubtedly when Snape was one of them.  Why would
Snape hold a grudge against someone who was fighting for a cause he
eventually embraced?  What a jerk!>>

This comment gave me another thought which hasn't been discussed 
recently AFAIK: Don't you think that this whole Longbottom story is a 
bit fishy? According to what Sirius tells HRH, it happened not too 
long, but some time after Voldemort's downfall, when a few remaining 
faithful DEs were desperately searching for their lost Evil Overlord. 
But does anybody have an idea as to why the Lestranges got it into 
their fanatical heads that the Longbottoms might eventually know his 
whereabouts? Did not only the DEs, but also the MoM Aurors search for 
Voldemort? I was under the impression that a large majority of the 
wizarding population, including the MoM, believed that he was dead 
and gone for good, so why should they send Aurors to find him? And if 
they did so, why were the Longbottoms the only targets? Or weren't 
they? Did somebody go after Moody too and was this how he lost his 
eye and maybe also his leg? Though this would have to have taken 
place after the Longbottom affair, for he still had his eye at the 
Lestrange/Crouch trial. 
I'd really like to hear your suggestions and thoughts because this 
keeps puzzling me.

Susanna/pigwidgeon37