Snape's greasy hair, Snape's upbringing, Snape's summer holidays

[Little lama]

No: HPFGUIDX 74594

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Lady Macbeth" 
<LadyMacbeth at S...> wrote:
> Deb Said:
> >>> Snape has greasy hair, and so did the man in the creepy store in
> Knockturn Ally.  ... Maybe there is a meaning to the greasy hair, 
other than just neglect.
> Rowling has not mentioned anything about him that suggests he is
> neglectful about his appearance in any other way, that I can think 
of....

> Lady Macbeth:
> ... I sympathize with Snape's harassment about his "greasy hair" 
because it's a problem I suffer with, and it has NOTHING to do with 
not washing it.  "Greasy hair" can be and in my case is caused by 
stress and/or poor diet.  Nutritional problems can also be seen in 
pallid or waxy skin ... And, before anyone argues that Snape eats 
well enough at Hogwarts, do we know where he lives all summer?  Do we 
know how well his parents cared for/fed him?  ...  And we KNOW that 
whether he is a spy or not he exhibits signs of a great deal of 
stress, and possibly also depression (walking the halls at night, 
sudden mood shifts, explosive temper).
> It's entirely possible that simply having less-than-healthy 
lifestyles for most of his life can attribute to his hair's condition.
 
Me:

My pet theory is that greasy hair is for Snape what untidy, sticking-
up-at-the-back hair is for Harry -  a magically induced 
characteristic that some particularly powerful wizards are just born 
with, which can't be controlled.  After all his hair must be 
excessively greasy or JKR wouldn't keep referring to it constantly!  
Maybe it can be temporarily tamed with a lot of trouble and expense 
for special occasions, like Hermione's hair was for the Yule Ball, 
but Snape's appearance is unimportant to him and he can't be 
bothered.  (I think JKR has actually hinted at some self neglect on 
his part, his yellowish teeth have been mentioned, but there could be 
other causes for that too)

Your comments about diet & stress are interesting.  We know how yummy 
and substantial the meals are at Hogwarts, but we never see Snape 
eating anything.  Stress and depression could be dampening his 
appetite as well as contributing to his hair problem.  Judging by the 
memories Harry saw, Snape could well have had a worse and more abused 
childhood than Harry, which would be the source of his emotional 
problems and a plausible reason for his warped personality.  In that 
case his treatment by James & co at Hogwarts would have reinforced 
the feelings of worthlessness he already had.  (And despite the 
chapter title, I think Snape's REAL worst memories are a lot worse 
than the ones we saw - apart from possible childhood abuse there was 
probably something fairly traumatic that made him decide to leave the 
DEs.)  It all makes me wonder where on earth he finds a happy enough 
memory to help him conjure a patronus when he's in a tight corner 
with a Dementor?

What Snape does in the summer
  I think he stays at Hogwarts, which 
is probably his only home.  We've seen him having Christmas dinner 
there in the holidays.  Living there seems to suit him and he won't 
even consider the idea of leaving the place for safety in Book 4 
(when he advises Karkaroff to flee).  Maybe he goes away sometimes to 
visit a lady friend from his old Death Eater days though.
(possibly one source of happy memories?)

Lama