Snape's "mind set?"

[frankielee242]

No: HPFGUIDX 44233

Acire wrote:
> I don't think he's putting on an act. I think that's really him. I 
> don't think that he feels rally bad about treating Harry and CO. the 
> way he does, or that he sleeps in footsie pjs with pink bunny 
> rabbits, and Fluffy his white kitty absolutely HAS to be curled up 
> on his pillow with the purple tassels.


ICK!! ACK!! WOORG!! YUCK!!
No, our darling Severus would probably decapitate that white kitty for
the fun of watching "the blood spurt in slow motion" (Monty Python's
Scott of the Antarctic sketch) through a pair of omnoculars. He was a
DE, for crying out loud.

Possibly for the right witch, he would allow a fluffy white kitty-cat
into his office and not kick it. Possibly for the right witch, he
might even smile without sneering or wear robes in another color than
black. Possibly for the right witch (and this is a long shot) he might
even do something rather sweet, like send her a fluffy white
kitty-cat. By owl post so no one sees him with it.



> > 1. PoA - Snape's Grudge
> 
> He hated James. We don't know why, yet, but that's just it. And 
> James and Harry are supposedly a lot alike. I'm of the opinion that, 
> contrary to popular belief, Lily and James WERE NOT PERFECT. They 
> were the popular people, and Snape sat at the lunch table that 
> everyone made fun of (ahh...memories of high school. And I had more 
> fun at that lunch table).

That's the best table to sit at!! But, I think I've said this
elsewhere-- Unless the lunch table that everyone made fun of was the
Slytherin table, Snape wasn't sitting at it. Think about it-- A first
year with a working knowledge of curses on par with the seventh year
students is not going to picked on by anybody more than once (Sirius
remembering, GoF). Challenged, yes. Picked on, no. 

It seems to me from reading the books that James Potter was the sort
of person who always landed on his feet, got away with murder and was
the best at everything without even trying. He was in trouble all the
time but became Head Boy anyway (McGonagall remembering, PoA). If
James and Sirius always took first and second in everything they did
from Quidditch to grades to social standing, etc., that means that no
matter how hard Snape tried, the best he could ever do was third.
Which is enough to drive an ambitious person completely bonkers. 

You could even apply shades of the recent Trio and Draco character
analysis to the Mauraders and Snape, I think. 


 
> > 2. GoF - Hermione's Teeth
>
> I don't think he got any particular sort of pleasure out of it, he 
> was just being a...well, mean. It's like a natural response. He 
> doesn't really care for Hermione, she got hit with a spell after 
> he'd just seen Teacher's Pet and Potter using magic in the hallway, 
> which they're not supposed to do, saw that Hermione, Potter's 
> shadow, got the short end of the stick, and just...went with it. It 
> was more of a "too bad for you, why am I supposed to care?"

That and Hermione is a know-it-all. See #1. for why Snape would find
someone who knows all the answers especially annoying. Plus, she
figured out his logic puzzle guarding the stone when she was only 11
(SS/PS). Think about how you feel when some punk little kid beats you
at something and intensify it about 200 times.

Also, Snape strikes me as someone who is brutally honest. What he
thinks, he says. He doesn't give a damn about anyone else's feelings
or about being polite, which is time consuming and takes effort. 
 
On the hair front... 

 
>>>SNIP<<<<
> He's a man. He doesn't have to shower when he doesn't want to. My BF 
> went away to college, I'm sure he was wearing underwear more than 
> one day at a time and not showering every night. eww...And Snape's 
> not stern, he's mean. Stern is McGonagall. I'm not entirely sure if 
> Snape likes teaching or not. 

I get the feeling that an eight to ten hour day of standing in fumes
rising from an entire classroom full of cauldrons would make anyone's
hair pretty nasty. 

For Snape as a greasy-haired kid, Acire's above description of school
life sounds bang-on to me. Then again, one of the other art directors
here starts his day with freshly washed hair and by three in the
afternoon it's a nasty, greasy, spiked up mess. It's just his metabolism.

As a wizard who is probably single and not living in proximity to
available witches (all of the other Hogwarts staff seem much older
than 35/36 to me), Snape has probably given up on his hair. And
doesn't care much about the rest of his appearance, either. 

Does anyone else think he swills down coffee by the pot and smoke
cigarettes by the carton? The descriptions of yellowish teeth and
fingers made me wonder. It would ruin his sence of taste and smell,
but nearly all of teachers at my high school had a cigarette in one
hand and a coffee mug in the other.  =P

Maybe Snape will clean up for the new DADA teacher, as JKR has
confirmed it will be a witch in OoP.  =P

About teaching-- I also wonder why Snape is at Hogwarts. Maybe he's
safer there than anywhere else, maybe it's part of a bargain with
Dumbledore or maybe he actually likes teaching the upper level
students who are intelligent enough to help him work on research
projects. Hope we find out.



> Most of the theories I saw on Hypothetical Alley, I didn't like, 
> particularly LOLLIPOPS. I think I likes the flamingo one, though. 
> But I join you in your plea to take a GOOD LOOK at Severus Snape, 
> fictional book character and all-around mysterious person, and make 
> a theory supported by his behaviors in the past four books, as well 
> as canon. Just don't go by canon alone.

We've all read the same four books, so I get a kick out of reading
what other people think up; theories, fan fics, etc., but I agree-- If
JKR does anything at all, she writes books about real people dealing
with real issues. Those people and issues may happen in a fictional
setting, but she's said in interviews that she's worked out life
stories for her characters so what they do in her books is a result of
their backgrounds. Voila, four absolutely amazing stories that
resonate with people world-wide and a fifth story on the way.

And there are a few thousand fans right here trying to figure out what
the upcoming stories will be before JKR writes them...

 
> -Acire, who really must stop her late night runs to the campus food 
> place for ice cream, or else she's going to find out what they meant 
> by the "freshmen 15".

Don't worry, it's just a myth. If you've got to walk more than three
blocks from class to class, you'll actually lose the "freshman 15".
Look on the bright side, at least you're remebering to eat.


Frankie, who bought paint, film and booze instead of food in college.
And who really, really likes Snape (multi-layered, mysterious, mean,
so on and so forth).