Snape and the Longbottoms

[psychic_serpent]

No: HPFGUIDX 57021

imamommy wrote:
> >>Why is Snape the thing that scares Neville the most? Is it only 
> due to his treatment of Neville at school? Or is it possible that 
> Snape was the DE who performed Cruciatus on the Longbottoms, and 
> Neville has a supressed memory of this? At any rate, why is Snape 
> so hard on Neville?<<

"backstagemystic" <idcre at i...> wrote: 
> In the "Pensieve" chapter of GoF, it's made clear that the attacks 
> on the Longbottoms took place *after* Voldemort's fall; whereas, 
> it's also made clear in the same chapter that Snape had turned spy 
> for Dumbledore before said fall...so, I don't believe Snape was 
> involved in that.

Right.  It's made clear that it's Crouch, Jr., the Lestranges and an 
unnamed man whom Harry would surely recognize if it were Snape, so 
even if we didn't know about Snape being a spy before the fall, this 
wouldn't fit.  

"backstagemystic" <idcre at i...> wrote: 
> However, outside of the more obvious frustrations of dealing with 
> Neville's ineptitude in class, I do theorize that Neville's 
> parents, particularly Frank Longbottom - who was an auror - may 
> play a part in Snape's targeting of Neville.

I've thought this before, and it makes sense, considering that we 
already know of one instance of Snape carrying over hate for a 
father (James Potter) to a son (Harry).  Inasmuch as a DE would have 
very good reasons to fear or resent an Auror, it is even more 
plausible.  (If Frank Longbottom drove the Knight Bus, it would make 
little or no sense, for instance.)

"backstagemystic" <idcre at i...> wrote:  
> Again in the same chapter, Dumbledore tells Harry (in reagard to 
> the trial of Crouch Jr. and the 3 DE's with him), "Unfortunately, 
> the Longbottoms' evidence was - given their conditon - none too 
> reliable."
> 
> The implication, at least for Crouch Jr., is that some may have 
> been wrongly imprisoned for acts they did not commit.

Not at all.  He was merely saying that it was not possible to know 
100% what occurred because of the Longbottoms' altered mental 
states.  It is said that young Crouch may have been in the wrong 
place at the wrong time, but it's really only an accumulation of 
circumstantial evidence and his father's overzealous pursuit of dark 
wizards that makes it seem that Crouch, Jr. might be innocent.  

First, he seemed to be the only one of the four arrested who was 
denying his guilt.  (I've really had a hard time reconciling this 
with Voldemort calling him his most faithful servant; he certainly 
disavowed any relationship with his Master at the trial.)  However, 
I don't know why this should be given much weight; plenty of guilty 
people plead innocent all the time.  Second, the very fact that he 
was the son of Barty Crouch probably made it seem highly unlikely, 
to many people, that he would do such a thing.  (As an aside--I 
think that he was also unlikely to be in Slytherin, as that might 
have contributed to more people thinking he might have been guilty.  
My guess has always been Ravenclaw.)  Third, the way his father went 
after all four with no mercy and said that he no longer has a son 
certainly makes it easier to be sympathetic to a nineteen-year-old 
boy, especially when you see how the whole affair is adversely 
affecting his mother.  In fact, it seems that the 'testimony' of the 
Longbottoms was probably not taken into account at all during this 
trial, due to what seemed to be rather cut-and-dried circumstances 
and the fact that they were a bit gone in the head anyway.

"backstagemystic" <idcre at i...> wrote: 
> Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of 
> the Unforgivable Curses against suspects.  I would say he became 
> as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side."

Right.  And when you throw in the crying boy and the fainting 
mother, the dad really ends up looking like a monster, when he might 
have had the full measure of his son all along.  The above-mentioned 
acts, however, destroyed his credibility, and the way he sent his 
son to prison just cemented his dashed reputation.  If he truly knew 
that his son was guilty, he must have really felt frustrated about 
coming off as the bad guy in this whole scenario.

"backstagemystic" <idcre at i...> wrote: 
> Given the above revelations, I speculate that it's possible that 
> Snape may be harboring resentment that possibly stems from some 
> sort of injustice suffered or witnessed, either directly or 
> indirectly, by himself or someone he knew, at the hands of Aurors.
> 
> Whether or not Frank Longbottom himself was guilty of such is 
> unknown to us, but his having been an Auror under Crouch Sr.'s 
> authority in and of itself may illuminate at least a partial 
> reason as to why Snape bullies Neville.

It seems likely, though, that Frank Longbottom probably had 
something, even indirectly, to do with his resentment, rather than 
just the fact that he's an Auror.  While Snape dislikes Gryffindors 
in general, it seems, he REALLY seems to dislike Harry, the son of 
James Potter.  James' "crime," remember, was saving Snape's life.  
(As far as we know right now--personally, I'm not buying it.  There 
has to be more--much more.)  Frank Longbottom may have been present 
while Snape was being put under Cruciatus by another Auror, or he 
may even have stopped the other Auror from doing it, thus making 
Snape beholden to him in the same way he was beholden to James 
Potter.  We already know that Snape does not take this sort of thing 
well.

I believe that we see a little of his dad in Neville when he tries 
to stop the trio from leaving the common room to go after the stone, 
in the first book.  He's taking a we-must-follow-the-rules-at-all-
cost kind of stand, which is a very law-and-order kind of mindset--
rather appropriate for an Auror.  This is one reason I'm rather 
doubtful that any of the trio would ever end up as Aurors.  They've 
learned entirely too well how to break the rules. ;)  

Perhaps Snape sees another martinet in the making when he looks at 
Neville, and he's hoping to do something to scare it out of the 
boy.  Think about it--if Neville had actually succeeded in keeping 
the trio in the common room, what would have happened in Harry's 
first year?  We don't know that Quirrell would have worked out how 
to get the stone from the mirror, but without Harry there to preempt 
him, he would have had all the time in the world to try (or at least 
until Dumbledore returned).  

Snape has already lived through a time when some people thought only 
in terms of white and black, good and evil.  As a former Slytherin, 
he was very likely automatically slotted into the 'evil' category, 
no matter what he may have done for the greater good.  In Neville, 
he may feel like he's seeing Frank Longbottom all over again, and 
you don't get the impression that he thinks that's a good thing.

--Barb

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