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

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 74623

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Little lama" <mcandrew at b...> 
wrote:
> 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.

This is my first posting on this board, so forgive me if what I
write has been said before....

I don't think that we have enough information to conclude that
Snape had such a horrid childhood that it would be worse than
losing one's parents and being raised by hatefull relatives who
bully you, underfeed you, have you sleep in a cupboard and work
you hard, etc. All we saw of Snape's family was a (presumably)
angry father shouting at a scared looking (presumably) mother.
Even the best parent sometimes screams at their kids
(see Molly Weasely :-)).

> 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.)

I have a theory that Snape was in love with Lily Potter. The
penseive scene is seen through Snape's filtering. While the
foursome is shown in a very unflattering way, Lily is described
as a very positive person - again from Snape's POV.
If Snape indeed loved her, it
would explain why he hated James even more than he did Sirius
and why he hates Harry so much - not only does Harry look like
the father who married the girl he loved, but in a very real sense
Harry is responsible for Lily's death. If my suspicion is correct
this can also explain why Snape the adult, despite otherwise
hatefull behavious, has never shown any
racism towards muggle-born students - though as a teen he has!
Likewise, this would explain him turning away from
Voldemort - who killed Lily - and turning to DD, who tried to
protect her.

> 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?

Has he ever faced a dementor?

Salit