[HPforGrownups] Is Snape A Cockroach?

[Amanda Geist]

No: HPFGUIDX 53526

The wolf cub (PetitLapinGris) said:

>   I think I have something here that hasn't been noticed before. In
> an interview,
> JKR said that she wouldn't like to turned into a cockroach.

Well, you know, who would? I'm not too on the ball at the moment, so I can't
tell you how this interview meshed with the release of GoF, but she may well
have simply been tossing out a clue that insects are included in the realm
of possible alternate forms--a handy clue if it preceded GoF.

> And in PoA when Lupin is giving the lesson on the boggart, Lupin turn
> his moon orb into a cockroach to defeat the boggart.
>
> My theory is that someone is an animagi (Rita Skeeter turned into a
> beetle after all) and this is known by Lupin and by Dumbledore,
> considering that Cockroach Cluster is one of the passwords to his
> study.

"Cockroach cluster" is a candy available at Honeydukes. Dumbledore's
passwords have been candy types; Harry tosses this one out as a wild option
when other varieties of sweet don't work. I don't think the cockroach part
is the main thing; it's the theme of sweets.

As to whether it's significant that a wizarding sweet is "cockroach cluster"
or not--I'd say not. Roaches are uniformly *ewwww* in both cultures, so I
always thought that particular candy was tossed in for ick-value.

>Doesn't Dumbledore know everything about his staff?

I don't know if I'd make that blanket a statement. I think he's a very wise
and experienced leader, but he *is* human. So I don't know that I buy
Ominscient!Dumbledore, especially after that "Dumbledore, who did not have a
magic eye, did not see this" comment (paraphrased from poor memory) at the
end of GoF--which seems almost to direct the reader's attention to the fact
that Dumbledore *does* miss things.

> If this animagi is known to Lupin and to Dumbledore, I propose that
> it is Snape.

Singular is animagUS.

> Bat-like he may be, but does he not also remind you of a
> cockroach somewhat? Greasy, dirty, living in the dungeons? Maybe this
> was how he did his spying for Dumbledore.

(fights against mental image of struggling cockroach being held down firmly
but delicately as Voldemort uses a micro-wand to brand a tiny Dark Mark on
one of its legs)  Really, I don't think that's what Dumbledore meant by "at
great personal risk," the risk of being stepped on.

I know this is a rehash, but I do get tired of the hygiene issue. Yes, Snape
has greasy hair. BUT absolutely no hygiene problems have been alluded to.
Harry's had Snape snarling in his face more than once, and we have not heard
a word about bad breath, body odor, or dirt. These are written from Harry's
viewpoint and I refuse to believe that he would not pick up on something
else to dislike about Snape. So I won't give you the "dirt" part of your
equation.

As for living in the dungeons, it is in canon that the Potions classroom is
in the dungeon, and that Snape's office is off the classroom, but there
isn't any evidence as to where any of the teachers' living quarters are. So
it isn't *certain* he lives in a dungeon.

> Snape said that maybe
> Harry got the Marauder's Map straight from manufacturers, thus Snape
> may have been in transfiguration with Padfoot, Wormtal, Prongs and
> Moony.

Padfoot, Wormtail, Prongs, and Moony did *not* learn the animagus spell in
class. They learned it clandestinely. It was illegal.

Snape does behave oddly in the scene where he calls on Lupin to look at the
map. But I personally think this was due to Snape knowing those four
names--Padfoot, Wormtail, Prongs, and Moony--from his school days. From
Sirius' attitude, I can't imagine that Snape was *not* a target for jokes of
one type or another from the four, and they may well have left those
nicknames as authors or instigators, to be able to watch him complain or
ask, and laugh in their sleeves. Snape would therefore honestly believe that
those four names represented a threat, possibly dark magic.

I don't think that he knew, when he called Lupin, that Lupin was one of
those people. Nor do I believe that animagi were on his mind at the moment,
either.

> If Snape was in transfiguration with the Marauder's (current
> controversy aside), why can't Snape know how to transform?

He can. But it won't be because he learned it with them.

> And don't you see a cockroach as the reflection of his personality?

Quite honestly, no. He doesn't skulk, he does not skitter away, he does not
hide. On the contrary, the words, "stepped forward," "took charge," and
others indicating proactivity are associated with him a lot. He comes
forward with no hesitation to reveal his Dark Mark to Fudge, in front of
several people who I'm sure he'd rather not have been in the audience. He
does not flee from the threat of a returned Voldemort. So, to turn your
question back to you...what, other than the fact that he has greasy hair,
inclines you to see him as a cockroach? I don't find that in him.

> Lupin stepped on the cockroach, something he's not afraid of, and
> he's not afraid of Snape.

This is not solid logic.

~Amanda