Psychology, Blood and a Theory

[koinonia02]

No: HPFGUIDX 68084

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, B Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:

> Snape doesn't like anybody. He respects Dumbledore for what he is, 
but 
> like? Very doubtful. He hates  Harry. So why is Snape  aiding Harry 
and 
> the Order?  There can be only one reason - he hates Voldemort 
more.<<<snip>>>> 

  Dumbledore doesn't have a hold on 
> Snape, nor has he persuaded him through reason to join the Order; 
DD 
> knows and understands that hate and revenge are Snapes driving 
forces 
> and that he hates Voldemort with an intensity that is overpowering.
<<<snip>>>
>   And I think we have been given a clue in OoP.
<<<snip>>> The really important 
> bit are the flashes that  Harry gets from Snapes memory direct:-
> 
> The shivering child, the adults shouting, the teenager, the youth. 
In 
> none of them is Snape positively identified. The text states that 
Harry 
> is 'sure that he has broken into  Snape's memories, that  he had 
just 
> seen scenes from Snape's childhood......'  But Harry has been wrong 
> before. Nowhere does Harry (or JKR) positively identify any of the 
> persons as Snape,  even though Harry does so in the pensieve 
passage.
> 
> I recall that in an interview, JKR  was asked if any of the 
Hogwarts  
> staff were married. She said yes, but that would come out later.
> 
> I think that in those memories, Snape was not the shivering child, 
but 
> the shouting man. I think we've just seen Snape's family and that 
> something happened to them to make Snape hate Voldie more  than 
> anything else in the whole wide world. It is a motivation I can 
believe 
> in.
 
I've always felt that Dumbledore and Snape sort of liked each other 
but now I'm not so sure. Respect? Probably. So much revolves around  
Dumbledore trusting Snape. Plus Dumbledore was the one who invited 
Snape to teach at Hogwarts. The problem is we still have too many 
puzzle pieces missing but I think you have picked up on some good 
points. Snape does seem to hate Harry and I have a hard time 
believing the only reason for that hate is because Harry reminds 
Snape of James. There has to be something else. There is the idea 
that Snape must have done something to earn D's trust. That's 
possible. Yet maybe it is more along the lines of what you hint at. 
Snape might want revenge for something "OR" Snape might have 
something to gain from the defeat of Voldemort and Dumbledore knows 
that. It isn't so much that Dumbledore sees a reformed DE as 
Dumbledore knows what is driving Snape and that is what D. is placing 
his bet on. Snape may have some yet unknown talent that Dumbledore 
can use to help defeat Voldemort and Snape will join that effort for 
purely selfish reasons. Or it could just be that Snape has suffered 
greatly at the hands of Voldemort and he is driven by revenge. Or 
maybe Snape truly has turned from his DE days. BUT, I think there is 
something to the interview with JKR concerning the married staff at 
Hogwarts and I do think it involves Snape. Which members of the staff 
do we truly care about and would it really matter if they were/are 
married? I can only think of three and that would be Dumbledore, 
McGonagall, and Snape. I'm convinced that Snape and love go hand and 
hand but it isn't over Lily. It had to be over some person he 
loved/loves and lost. Whether this person is deceased or just out of 
the picture for now I can't begin to guess. There is something that 
motivates Snape and I don't think we have a clear picture of that yet.

I do believe we are seeing Snape as a small child in the Pensieve. We 
are being shown some of what Snape experienced as a child. We are 
finally getting a glimpse of Snape's past. These are Snape's 
childhood memories. I believe if Snape were the man yelling at the 
woman Harry would have recognized him immediately but he didn't. I 
believe the Pensieve and the Occlumency lessons are a way for us to 
see some of the things Snape has endured in his life. 

No apologies for thinking Snape is the most interesting character in 
the books,

"K"