Snape's OTHER Worst Memory

[Sydney]

No: HPFGUIDX 81137



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Clio" <LadyClio16 at n...> wrote:

> 
> 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 think there's a couple of possible reasons why Snape removed that
specific memory.

1-- it was the bad memory closes to the surface and likeliest to break
out.  Harry was likely to bring up memories of James.  

2-- it was the 'worst memory' for Harry to witness, in Snape's
opinion.  As several other people have pointed out, Snape doesn't care
if he's seen as a nice guy-- he just wants to be the scary guy.  He
DEFINITELY doesn't want to be the pathetic geek guy.

> 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.

Snape is so screamingly obviously from an abusive household, though...

> 
> 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.

Well, if he took out only three memories, I think that's an attractive
but not likely theory.  Abusive relationships usually have more than
two incidents!  As all the memories of Snape's we see were fairly
innocuous (considering it's Snape) I imagine Harry only broke through
his most basic protective layer.  To deal with Voldemort he probably
has several layers of security going on.

I think all three memories he removed for the sessions specifically,
have something to do with Harry or his parents, which brings me to:

3--.  It's Snape's worst memory not because it's the worst incident of
bullying, but the worst incident involving Lily.  Just from my own
personal recollections, memories that really make me wince aren't of
the dreadful things that happened to me, but of the events where I
really wish I'd acted differently.  If only I'd said... if only I
hadn't...  As a proud possessor of a huge, multicoloured LOLLIPOP
(TM), this is my favored explanation!

 
> 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. 

I'm a raving Snape fan, but frankly if Snape could shove Harry's nose
in a memory of his dad being an asshole, WITHOUT also featuring Snape
as helpless victim, I think he'd do it in a second.

> 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.

If Snape would willingly have Harry see him literally with his pants
down, getting his ass kicked by James, I will eat this keyboard!  

Sydney-- who thinks in the next two books we'll take another trip into
Snape's pensive.. but have a look at the memories he's trying to keep
from Voldemort.