[HPforGrownups] Snape, Quidditch, and flying was Re: More Snape conundrums...

[Kelly Grosskreutz]

No: HPFGUIDX 71962

Mim wrote:
> I think that Snape's memory of trying to get on a bucking broomstick
> as an adolescent rather speaks against him having been any good at
> Quidditch... On the other hand, he did referee a game in
> Philosopher's so that should mean that he is skilled in it (I think
> there's a comment in Quidditch through the Ages on how refs must be
> very good at the game)
>
Snape refereeing a game does not mean he necessarily played Quidditch when
he was in school.  There are people who know the ins and outs of a game
extremely well, who know all the rules and regulations.  These are people
who may have played the game for fun as kids but were never quite good
enough to make the team, or never tried out because they knew they weren't
good enough to play.  But this never diminished their love of the sport, and
so they still follow it.  I do not know how many of our real world referees
actually played the sport in school before going on to referee as a career,
but I don't see why at least a couple couldn't have fit this description.

We know that Snape is an avid follower of his house Quidditch team.  He has
been supporting them at least as long as he has been their Head of House.
One gets the impression that Snape and McGonagall have had a lot of
discussions on Quidditch.  Aside from Madam Hooch, Snape and McGonagall are
probably the two teachers who know Quidditch the best.  To me, this
demonstrates that he has at least some knowledge of the rules of Quidditch.
This is not an argument for his having qualifications befitting a referee,
or that he should have been refereeing that match at all.  But I do get the
impression that he knows the ins and outs of the game.  Not once from this
did I get the impression that he was skilled in playing.

Actually, I just reread that scene a few days ago, and I caught one part
that I never noticed before, but was more noticeable after reading the scene
with him on the bucking broomstick.  On page 224 of the US hardcover
edition, there is this sentence (snipping out all non-Snape portions):  He
saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped.  Before reading OotP, I
had always taken that as an indication of his anger about the way the match
concluded, coupled with his being angry to begin with because he was
refereeing for nothing (DD was there).  But now I wonder if he is also
somewhat afraid of flying on brooms.  This is a guy who had at least one bad
experience with brooms.  Aside from this match, we never see or hear about
Snape flying on a broom.  While flying this time around, Harry flies so
close to him that it almost appears for a second that Harry is aiming
directly for him.  I wonder if Snape was actually still recovering from what
he perceived as a close call, and if he is white-faced and tight-lipped
because he is scared.  Once he gets back on the ground, of course, he is
able to recover in time to spit on the ground when Harry is carried out of
the stadium on everyone's shoulders.  If this is the correct interpretation,
then I think we can say that Snape did not play in school and is not skilled
at actually playing Quidditch.

This would just be yet another difference between Snape and Harry (and
James).  Harry feels free and completely at home on a broomstick, even at
times when he feels everything is crushing down on him when he's on the
ground.  Snape, I suggest, is the exact opposite.  He feels like he is in
control on the ground, but hates it when the only thing between him and
death or injury is a slender handle that has been known to betray him
before.

Kelly Grosskreutz
http://www.idcnet.com/~ivanova