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

[Cindy]

No: HPFGUIDX 68894

Darrin wrote: 
> 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
now me (Cindy):
Everyone is bringing up equally good points, but we can only theorise
until book 6 comes out.
I don't know what Snape was using to shoot down the flies, it could
have been AK, it could have been stupefy, it could have been
petrificus totalus. I know that he was knee deep in the dark arts, and
a Death Eater, he may hav killed he may have tortured etc... But that
is what makes him complicated to me. That is what makes me want to
know more. I want to know what he did and why he stopped doing it, and
how he feels about the whole situation now. I also want to know why
dumbledore trusts him so much, and why he takes orders from Dumbledore
in a very militaristic fashion. (In all the books pre-ootp, Snape is
the only character to behave in this way towards Dumbledore).   
I'm also thinking about two comments/clues that jkr made about Snape
at Albert Hall. She said, not to think that he is too nice, and to
keep an eye on him. And she also said that dumbledore does not want
togive Snape the dada job because he believes it will bring out the
worst in him.
dumbledore obviously knows Snape quite well, he knows what he can
expect and what not to expect, so he knows how to treat him. I have a
theory about the Dark Arts in general. Perhaps when a wizard has been
'dark' and beocmes reformed, they can never trully be reformed. I'm
using the element mercury as an example, once it enters the body it
never leaves, there's no way to get it out. But the more it enters the
body, the crazier the person gets.
Slightly off topic now so I'll stop. But I think that Snape is
definately complicated, because of his past.
-Cindy