Snape as a kid; Snape's dimensions; the legacy of Sirius

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 68887

> 
> Now me (Cindy):
> I don't see Snape as being one-dimensional at all. I see jkr's
> portrayal of all Slytherin's as one-dimensional (which bothers me to
> no end) but not Snape. He is too complicated, mysterious and
> inteligent to be one-dimensional. His treatment of Harry is
> one-dimensional, but so is Harry's treatment of him, they are both the
> same in that respect. I would also like to see a positive change.
> Anyway, the whole Death Eater thing... If Snape is still spying, whihc
> he is - we just don't iknow how (yet) - it would make sense for him to
> treat Draco Malfoy nicely, considering who his father is.
> -Cindy (self-appointed Snape patronus)

I've found the "Snape is complicated" to be extremely overrated.

His treatment of Harry and his friends has rarely varied for the entire series. 
Whether his voice is soft and silky or loony raging, the malice behind it has 
rarely wavered. 

Harry's sympathy for Snape in OoP is a major turning point for his character. I 
also see his "I blame Snape" as pure denial, which will cave in soon enough.

But I STILL do not see where Snape's attitude toward Harry has changed 
much. His motivations may have changed, and I agree he is a mysterious 
character, but I don't see Snape as growing in the slightest. We can speculate 
all we want on his comments on Aunt Marge's dog, but it is still not clear 
whether he was sympathetic or gleeful about what he saw.

I keep coming back to him being unable to teach, unable to function in his 
JOB, because of his hate for this kid's father. 

To sum up, Snape's hate is getting really old.

I do agree that there could be times when he's going to need to maintain a 
cover for Draco, but if this is true, I want that acknowledged. I specifically want  
him to apologize to Hermione for the tooth-enlarging incident. If that was a 
cover for the Slyths, fine, then let him damn well say so.

I am hampered by not having the book with me, but, as I recall, in the broom 
scene in Snape's head, there was a girl laughing at a scrawny boy who was 
having difficulties mounting the broom. 

If we assume the kid cowering in the corner is Snape, then it's likely the kid on 
the broom was Snape.  So, how in the world did that get interpreted as Snape 
doing a tricky counter-curse jinx???

Which, by the way, wasn't all that successful in SS/PS, so I don't see how we 
can say he was a master at it.

And I'm amused by all the rush of "No, he wasn't using AK to kill the flies!" 

Sheesh, is it so hard to believe this guy was neck-deep in the Dark Arts? 

He was a card-carrying DE. At some point, this guy was aligned with evil, 
likely committing evil and wallowing in evil and to his credit, he got out of it 
(allegedly.) 

Now, for what Harry will inherit from Sirius. I can't believe I haven't seen this 
yet.

How about that motorbike?

Darrin