Questions.

[Talisman]

No: HPFGUIDX 73676

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "magicroxx" <magicroxx at y...> 
answered one of Will's questions by saying:
> 
> let's not forget that JK said that we musn't get too fond of 
Severus, that we are right to be suspecting him.
> Roxx

Talisman, turning from the silvery mist of her carefully tended 
cauldron, scowls and asks:

Would you mind providing us with the reference for your JKR cite, 
magicroxx?

As it happens, I have just completed a review of extant JKR 
interviews with regard to Snape.  I found no such statement.  

Moreover, upon reading your missive, I returned to my research and 
entered the search terms "fond" and "Snape."  Again, I found no such 
statement. 

Perhaps this is your interpretation, one which imposes your own 
personal assumptions on JKR's more circumspect statements.

It's fine if you want to offer your own views, but they should be 
labeled as such, not attributed to JKR. 

In fact, it is Draco--not Snape--that JKR warned readers not to 
become too fond of, in her June 2003 Albert Hall interview.

Snape is not "nice" in any conventional meaning of the word. But, 
anyone who has read the series as far as book 5 should, by now, be 
able to distinguish between "nice" and "good."

What JKR does say, is that she modeled Snape after a teacher she 
despised (The Record, Oct.14, 1999), that he was an example of a 
teacher who abuses his power over students (The Connection, Oct. 12, 
1999). 

I think that it would be safe to assume that this "modeling" 
pertains to his classroom behavior, not to his work as a DEspy.  

Snape enjoys Dumbledores trust and protection and is a respected 
member of the Order, therefore it follows that JKR does not 
disapprove of Snape's behavior in toto.

This is confirmed by her further comments in the Connection 
interview, supra. Following her allowance that Snape is "not a 
particularly pleasant person," she states:

   "However, everyone should keep their eye on Snape, I'll just
    say that there is more to him than meets the eye and you will 
    find out part of what I'm talking about if you read Book 4." 

Now, for those who were dozing in class, the term "however" in this 
context is a term of contradiction, equivalent to "in spite of [his 
unpleasantness]," or "by contrast."   

If you are following along, then you now see that the "hidden" 
aspects of Snape are in contrast to his surface appearance, i.e. 
they are not nasty or unlikeable.

Indeed, keep your eye on Snape (The Connection, Oct. 12, 1999; 
Barnes and Noble Chat, Oct. 20, 2000; Albert Hall June 2003); for 
that is what JKR says, she does not say "suspect" him. 

Keep your eye on him, I say,  because he is an important part of the 
denouement, an important part of the final twist. 

In the Connection interview JKR is asked about a 
perceived "redemptive pattern" in regard to Snape.

JKR stammers around for awhile trying to answer the query, and then 
decides she can't say anything without ruining the plot, confesses 
to being stunned by the question and promises the questioner that 
reading Book 7 will reveal why she is stunned.

Now, obviously you can take this how you like, but I just don't 
think she would be stunned by the question if she really intends to 
end Snape as a villan. I think she rather likes to fool people, and 
would chuckle and say something light.
 
My call is that she is taken off guard, stunned if you will, because 
as early as 1999 someone has penetrated Snape's surface appearance 
and sniffed out part of her big final twist.

Moreover, though I don't really support dirtying the canon with 
movie fodder, she does say she gave Rickman special info for SS (BBC 
Nov. 2, 2001) and there is definitely a scene in the Great Hall 
before the Quidditch match where Snape seems uncharacteristically 
worried about/kind to Harry.

Talisman, who sees nothing wrong with a little emoting, though 
unbridled is does become tiresome, and can even tolerate some 
extempore chatter--in hopes that it will foster creativity--but 
really thinks we ought to strive to impose some intellectual 
discipline on our attempts at explication.