Snape's rationality (WAS: A theory regarding the "innocence" of Sirius )

[Scott Northrup]

No: HPFGUIDX 50956



 Scott (this is me) wrote:
> Snape has shown himself to be incredibly irrational
> at times (*cough*shriekingshack*cough*), so it
> wouldn't suprise me if the situation were exactly
> (or close to) as described above. He would of course,
> hold it against Sirius, even though it was his own
> stupidity that got him into it.

Tom:
> I would submit that Snape is actually eerily rational,
> especially in the Shrieking Shack.
>
> I think that what unnerves me most about Snape is the
> fact that he seems almost always to be 100% accurate
> in his assumptions, and they're nearly always shrewd
> deduction. Snape does not seem to be the type that goes
> on a hunch, at least not to me.

Me:

I think you're slightly off-base on the definition of 'rational'.  Also note
that I did say that "Snape has shown himself to be incredibly irrational at
times," which is different than "Snape is an irrational person," which I
actually do not think is true.  I'll explain.

Tom Again:
> CoS:
> -En route back from the Deathday Party, Harry hears the
> Basilisk and the trio dashes up the stairs to find
> another petrified victim. Snape immediately suspects
> that they aren't telling the whole truth concerning
> why they are there without dinner and when Ron lies
> and says that they weren't hungry, his stomach betrays
> his lie and rumbles.

Now me:
First, I'd like to comment on Snape's relationship with Harry, and how this
prevents him with being truly rational regarding Harry.

>From the beginning of the series, Harry has never given Snape a reason to
dislike him, at least not a believable one.  Note that Snape singles Harry
out on the first day of class, before any Snape/Harry interactions.  Of
course, Snape will later claim that his intense dislike of Harry stems from
Hary's disregard of the rules.  I find this interesting.  Why?  It seems to
me that if Snape had such high respect for 'the rules,' he'd be the head of
Hufflepuff, not Slytherin.  From the Sorting Hat Song:

Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
-PS/SS

As a professor, and house head, of course Snape is going to enforce rules.
HOWEVER, I honestly can't see the head of Slytherin singling a student out
because of their 'disregard for the rules.'  If anything, I would think some
of Snape's favorite students would be people who 'use any means to acheive
their ends.'

Where Harry is concerned, Snape is irrational;  he lets his relationship
with James Potter transfer to Harry (it's also mildly ironic, in that Harry
doesn't even know his father).  I mean, sure, Snape may try to save Harry's
life now and then, but that doesn't mean he can't intensely dislike Harry at
the same time.

Okay, so in Chamber of Secrets, Snape's line of reasoning is solid, but his
bias is still evident;  He seems to believe that Harry is somehow involved
with the petrification of Mrs. Norris, when as Dumbledore (who in my book,
is "Captain Rational"), says "No second year could have done this." (CoS,
The Writing on the Wall).

Onto the next point, which is why I brought up the "Snape is irrational at
times" thing.

Tom Again:
> PoA:
> -In the Shrieking Shack, Snape is not interested in
> the finer points of the story. Snape is interested
> in the cold, hard facts: Lupin is consorting with a
> KNOWN, convicted criminal in the presence of three
> students. Pettigrew, for Snape, is a non issue. As
> far as Severus is concerned, Pettigrew is dead,
> and he just earned himself the Order of Merlin.
>
> In fact, along this line, Snape even seems compassionate
> when he insists that the students must have been
> under a charm. He could have targeted Harry et al
> right then and there - but didn't.

Whew, me again:
First thing, compassion != rationality (that's 'not equals' for
non-programmers).  The fact of the matter is, this scene is why Snape bugs
me- his utter inability to listen to reason when his temper is up.

Okay, there are a lot of points for me to pick apart in this scene, so stick
with me.  I'll break it down point by point.

1) First thing:    "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this .
. . He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin . . . a tame
werewolf--" (PoA, The Servant of Lord Voldemort).  Snape is a hypocrite.
He's a former deatheater, and should clearly be in debt to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore, who testified to the MoM that Snape had changed sides, and acted
as a spy at great personal risk.  Dumbledore, who made Snape the potions
master at Hogwarts.  Where would Snape be without Dumbledore?  So, what
right does Snape have to question who Dumbledore hires?  He lets his
prejudice (and his grudge from 'The Prank') blind him.

2) I'm going to copy a large portion of text, because it will make my
argument for me, if you see this all in context.

============================================================================
==========
    Hermione, however, took an uncertain step toward Snape and said, in a
very breathless voice, "Professor Snape--it--it wouldn't hurt to hear what
they've got to say, w--would it?"
    "Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school,"
Snape spat.  "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of
a convicted murderer and a werewolf.  For once in your life, hold your
tongue."
    "But if--if there was a mistake--"
    "KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite
deranged.  "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot
out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face.
Hermione fell silent.
    "Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black.  "How I hoped I
would be the one to catch you . . ."
    "The joke's on you, Severus," Snape breathed at Black.  "As long as this
boy brings his rat up to the castle"-- he jerked his head at Ron--"I'll come
quietly. . . ."
    "Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily.  "I don't think we need to go
that far.  All I have to do is call the dementors once we get out of the
Willow.  They'll be very pleased to see you, Black . . . pleased enough to
give you a little kiss, I daresay . . ."
    What little color there was left in Black's face left it.
    "You--you've got to hear me out," he croaked.  "The rat-- look at the
rat--"
    But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes that Harry had never seen
before.  He seemed beyond reason.

============================================================================
==========

>From PoA, The Servant of Lord Voldemort.

Okay, if you even TRY to suggest that Snape is being anything close to
rational; well, you're what Keirsey would call an 'Idealist,' which is
someone than tends to have issues with logic (*grins*).  Note that Harry
describes Snape as seeming "beyond reason."  Let's look at the first couple
of dictionary defintions for 'rational.'

rational   adj.
  1.. Having or exercising the ability to reason.
  2.. Of sound mind; sane.
I shouldn't be having to make this argument at all.  Snape's judgement is
obviously clouded by his past feelings toward Sirius and Lupin.

Harry, is rational.  Think about it; Harry has the most reasons for hating
Sirius; he thinks that Sirius is directly responsible for the death of his
parents.  He is murderously angry at first (he wants to kill Sirius in the
beginning of the Shrieking Shack scene, but something holds him back), but
once he sees the facts, he is able to think clearly, and logically.  If he
didn't, well, he wouldn't have believed Sirius in the end, would he?  Snape
however, is so enraged, he won't even listen to the facts.

I could go on and on about this, but there's not really any point.

Tom again:
> -When Sirius vanishes mysteriously at the end of
> the book, Snape INSISTS that Harry had something
> to do with it, despite (lying) assurances from
> Dumbledore, and blind assurances from Fudge.


Me (for the last time):
His instistence isn't based off of proof or logic, so how can this be
rational?  There's no shrewd deduction here; it's all a hunch.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

It's not that I think Snape is an irrational person.  I do believe, however,
that he can NOT think clearly when it comes to certain people.  This isn't a
crime, not everyone can see every side of everything, all the time.

Well, thanks for your time.  Really, I don't mean to attack Snape.  I had a
low opinion of him after PoA, but it grew towards the end of GoF.

-Scott
(who does his best to be rational, even if it's not always easy :P )