Snape's OTHER Worst Memory

[Clio]

No: HPFGUIDX 81127

 You can certainly have a collection of worst memories.  But JKR did 
> not entitle the chapter.  "One of Snape's Worst Memories" or "Snape's 
> Horrible Memory" or a million other titles that would have suggested 
> ambiguity.  The only way for it to be supplanted is for Snape to 
> create a memory that is worse than the one we saw. 
> 
> This IS Snape's worst memory according to JKR.  She said. It is 
> canon.  

Snape never actually calls it "his" worst memory, even though JKR
does. I think viewing that memory is worse for Harry than remembering
it is for Snape. My interpretation of it is that it's the worst thing
Harry could have found out about his father. That he was human and
made mistakes. To Harry it's the worst memory he could have viewed.
It's worse than seeing Snape torture muggles as a death eater. It was
something he never expected. The book is from Harry's POV. Everything
is colored with his opinions and interpretations. So I think to Harry
it was the worst memory of Snapes he could have seen. In my mind it's
not the worst one he has.

I read through OotP pretty quickly the first time and now I'm reading
it more slowly for a second turn. I noticed something this time around
that I didn't really remember from my first reading.

During the Occlumency Lessons, when Harry actually manages to use and
shield charm and block Snape. He gets a view into Snape's memories.
One of those memories is presumably Snape seeing his father beat his
mother, while a young Snape sits in the corner crying. How is that not
worse than his school rival embarassing him what 20 years ago?

That made me wonder why Snape didn't remove that. 

I mean he might not have even known that memory was in there. It could
have been one occassion where his father flipped out and hurt his
mother, never happening again.

Or perhaps this abuse occured so frequently there was no way to remove
all those memories without taking a good chunk of his childhood with
it. So maybe he just removed some of the worst incidents.

Or maybe there were some instances of abuse, but not a lot and he
removed some of them, but didn't know that one was there.

Presuming that Snape knew that memory was there. Why wouldn't he
remove it, but would remove that incident of humiliation in high school?

I started wondering if he didn't take that out to protect Harry. To
keep Harry from seeing what his father had been like. Perhaps it was a
small act of kindness. Telling Harry his father was an arrogant jerk
and Harry seeing it first hand are two different things. It's not like
it's the first time Snape has protected Harry. I'm not exactly sure
why he would protect Harry from that. Other than just a small moment
of kindness on his part. I had originally assumed that Snape was
protecting himself from further humiliation, but maybe he was
protecting Harry. It's a far fetched idea I admit. I can't see why he
wouldn't want Harry to know just what a jerk his father could be.
Still, maybe it was a repayment to James. He might still feel as if he
hasn't repaid his debt to him. 


Then again he might have put it in the pensieve knowing that Harry's
curiosity would get the better of him and he'd look in there at the
first opportunity. So Snape prepared for that. Specifically put that
memory in that to show Hary what a jerk his dad was. As a punishment
for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Which sounds just like
Snape.

Just a couple of possibilities that came to me last night while I was
rereading those passages again.

Clio