Why Hermoine trusts Snape

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 69386

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "darrin_burnett" 
<bard7696 at a...> wrote:
> I posted this in a response on a long thread, but I thought about 
it 
> so much last night that I wanted to give it bigger play.
> 
> Why does Hermione continually defend Snape? I am re-reading GoF and 
I 
> just passed the infamous tooth-enlarging scene (after all these re-
> reads, I STILL want to hang Snape on a meathook by his overlarge 
> nostrils) and it just jumps out at me, "Why does Hermione defend 
him?"
> 
> Obviously, there is a fundamental flaw already. Just because 
someone 
> insults your front teeth doesn't mean he isn't in on the fight 
> against V-Mort. She can trust him AND hate him.
> 
> But Hermione doesn't even seem to react to Snape any more. Here are 
> some reasons, with my pet one last for maximum suspense. :)
> 
> 1) This is just her way or arguing with Ron. He says the sky is 
blue. 
> She says it's grey just to annoy him.
> 
> 2) She has buried her humiliation in analytical discussion and if 
she 
> gives in to her hatred of Snape by sharing it with the boys, she'll 
> crack like an egg.
> 
> 3) Being the show-stopper at the Yule Ball -- take THAT, dog-faced 
> Pansy! -- made up for it.
> 
> 4)*** My pet theory. Hermione knows the truth.
> 
> This can be accomplished with Redeemed!Snape or Good!But!Not!Nice!
> Snape. Just switch the players around a touch.
> 
> Hermione is in the hospital wing, where Madame Pomphrey has 
insisted 
> on her staying for a few hours after the teeth have been reduced. 
Or, 
> she's still got the tusks and is waiting.
> 
> She's thinking dark and evil thoughts of revenge, which for her, 
> would include going to McGonagall, Dumbledore, the school governors 
> and whoever else she could go to that could get Snape fired.
> 
> And let us be clear. Snape crossed a big line here. It's one thing 
to 
> taunt students, to bully them, to be harsh with them. You could 
> argue -- you could, I'm not -- that such tactics could be used in 
the 
> goal of improving the students. Tough love and all that.
> 
> (Hermione hardly needs such tactics to motivate her, but Snape 
isn't 
> exactly selective when unleashing his venom.)
> 
> He insulted a student's appearance in front of her peers AND, most 
> unforgivably, refused to get an injured student to medical 
attention. 
> In the real world, he'd be facing disciplinary action, a possible 
> lawsuit, and depending on the strength of the teacher's union and 
the 
> guts of the school board, might be out of a job. 
> 
> Even at Hogwarts, he might have been in some doo-doo. Hermione had 
a 
> very good case to make things difficult for Snape. 
> 
> So, she gets a visit in the hospital wing from either Dumbledore, 
> Snape or both.
> 
> In that conversation, D-Dore, or Snape, or both, explain to 
Hermione 
> that Snape has to play a role for the Slytherins, especially 
Draco's 
> junior Death Eater League.
> 
> Hermione, being an inquisitive sort, and likely not satisfied with 
> just that explanation, keeps pressing, and D-Dore finally tells her 
> he trusts Snape, and why.
> 
> Now, if you want to believe in Redeemed!Snape, perhaps he is there 
> and explains it himself, with D-Dore as backup. Is this possible? 
> Well, when you take the Penseive Scene in OoP, I think it is. How 
> different is enlarged teeth from being flipped upside-down? He 
might 
> feel sympathy for her.
> 
> Or, if you want to believe in Good!But!Not!Nice!Snape (essentially, 
> he's a bad guy who has picked the right side) then D-Dore is doing 
> most of the talking and Snape is glowering about D-Dore telling 
this 
> kid.
> 
> We know Hermione can keep a secret, even from the boys - Time-
Turner; 
> Lupin; Krum; Rita - so it fits she would keep whatever is going on 
to 
> herself.
> 
> But here's the thing. Knowing what we know now about Snape, with 
the 
> OoP Penseive scene, the GoF tooth thing makes me even angrier, so 
> much so that I'm trying to reconcile it.
> 
> I mean, this guy knows EXACTLY what Hermione is going through. 
> Taunted for a physical flaw, looked at differently because of her 
> dedication to school, and he, an authority figure who is supposed 
to 
> responsible for student safety, piles on? 
> 
> Why? Because she's the FRIEND of the son of the guy who tormented 
> him? 
> 
> If he did this just for sheer jollies, then screw him. Let V-Mort 
rip 
> his heart out with a melon scoop.
> 
> Darrin
> -- And yes, the Melon Scoops would be a great band name.

Not the Melon Ballers?  

Anyway, the "Hermione knows" theory is plausible in that it does hang 
together with what we know of the players.  

I have two problems with it.

1. I don't know how much of a threat that Hermione might have been to 
Snape after the incident with her teeth.  Certainly, Snape's behavior 
in our world would have come under a high level of scrutiny.  But, at 
Hogwarts, all sorts of things happen to students, apparently with no 
parental repercussions.  We've never had any evidence that Neville 
has complained to his grandmum about his treatment from Snape.  All 
sorts of injuries and hex-induced maladies strike the students, 
either through deliberate acts, or through learning exercises gone 
wrong.  It seems to be an accepted fact of life that weird things 
will happen to your body when at a school of magic.  This is by no 
means meant as a suggestion that Snape be given a pass for his 
response. But, I'm not convinced that the "crime" was enough for 
DDore to spill the beans.

2. DDore knows that Snape and Harry have a difficult relationship. 
Unless Snape's backstory concerns Harry or his parents in some 
horrific event in some way, wouldn't one way to lessen some of 
Harry's animosity to Snape to be to let him in on the story?  
Granted, that may help Harry understand Snape and does nothing to 
mitigate Snape's dislike of Harry, so the burden of understanding and 
potential attitude change is all on Harry. 

Maybe Harry (and we the readers) will find out in Book 6, now that 
Dumbledore is all into telling Harry what he should have told him 
years ago.  I would think that would open the floodgates of 
information, no?  Why do I think that won't happen??

Marianne