Is Snape confident?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 86279

> Carol:
> 
> > BTW, June, I agree with all your Snape-related points but at the
> > moment have almost nothing to add, so I regretfully snipped them.
> > Great assessment of his behavior in the Shrieking Shack scene, in
> > which in addition to all his personal resentment of Sirius, he
> > honestly believes him to be a murderer. I think that a person like
> > Snape, who has to keep so much anger under control so much of the
> > time, would indeed erupt in fury under such circumstances. Also, as
> > someone else mentioned, it's commendable that he put the unconscious
> > Sirius on a stretcher rather than bobbing him around so that his 
> head
> > hit the ceiling as Sirius did with him. I suppose he thought he had
> > everything under control so he was his normal self at that moment.
> 
> *pokes her nose back into the argument*
> 
> So...Snape is conscious, and his 'normal self', when he makes the 
> comment about getting Sirius disposed of before Dumbledore can cause 
> any problems.  Am I the only person really bothered by that?  It's 
> not a heat of the moment statement.

Carol:
Oops. Not what I meant. I was referring to the strecher incident as
occuring when he's calm and his normal self. But he *does* think
Sirius is a murder and that the children were under a confundus spell.
I think he's afraid that Dumbledore's soft heart will lead him to save
Sirius. He does act less than admirably at that point and I'm afraid
he's thinking mostly of himself and the Order of Merlin he's about to
win. And when he behaves like a maniac later (as Sirius had also done,
but not in front of Fudge), he still thinks Sirius is a murderer.
What's commendable is that after everything is explained to him he
calms down, agrees to shake hands with Sirius, shows Fudge his Death
Eater mark, and goes off on a dangerous mission to Dumbledore.

Nora:
  It comes *after* he's busily 
> shut up Hermione again, in the Hospital Wing.  But yet...he does put 
> him on a stretcher, and makes sure he's reasonably safe and secure.

Carol: Yes. He does. And that, to me, is important, especially
contrasted with Sirius's treatment of him.

 
Nora:
> Not to worry this like a dog with a bone, but I'm feeling a little 
> evaded here. :)

Carol:
Sorry, Nora. I didn't mean to be evasive (or vague, either). I was
probably in too big a hurry to post my own thoughts to read yours
carefully, which would have required going back to the previous post
since I'd already snipped them <blush>. I would never argue that Snape
(or any of JKR's characters) is perfect. It's just that Snape is such
a bundle of contradictions that he's the most fun to analyze. And I do
think that *all* of his actions are understandable and *some* are
justifiable or even admirable under the circumstances. But wanting to
go behind Dumbledore's back to be sure Sirius is kissed is certainly
not one of them.

Carol, who forgot to mention that she thinks Snape is sufficiently
complex without adding unrequited love for Lily to the mix