Snape's origins

[laylalast]

No: HPFGUIDX 96511

Time to throw in another theory I've been chewing on for quite some 
time, and see what you folks think of it.

A lot of suggestions have been made as to where Snape –more or less- 
comes from, but this one I haven't seen. Rather surprised me.
First let me remind you of a few things about our favorite Potions 
master (yeah okay, he is the only potions master 
; -).

At the age of 11 he knew more curses than half the kids of 17.
Snape-the-teenager had a stringy, pallid look about him, like a 
plant kept in the dark.
He had a dark bedroom.
He is always described as pale, greasy-haired, thin, having crooked 
teeth –and nasty, ugly etc. but hey, that's not the point right now-
He wore grey underpants as a teenager.
His parents didn't have a healthy marriage –probably an 
understatement if there is one-.

Right, what can we deduce from that?

The Snapes were poor, no money for decent clothing or even decent 
laundry. No money for the magical equivalent of the dentist. It is 
likely that they lived in a poor neighbourhood.
Snape's father shouted at his mother (and I presume he did that a 
lot), I think that Snape pretty much got the same treatment. Still, 
Snape did learn a lot about the dark arts.
Snape did not get to see a lot of sun, which makes it likely that he 
lived in a neighbourhood of crowded, narrow streets with houses with 
either hardly any windows or houses too close to let the sun reach 
the window.

Poor neighbourhood, dark narrow streets, dingy alleys, access to the 
dark arts 
 remind you of some place?

What about Knockturn Alley?!

Dark and narrow, exactly the place where a young kid will hardly 
ever see some sun. Full of oily, greasy, shabby-looking people, no 
surprise that Snape's looks are much the same. Dingy alleyway, dusty 
shops, who bothers about cleanliness?
 
Completely devoted to the dark arts, that's why Snape knows so much 
about it. Learned a lot from all the people that make a living there.
If home was not a good place to stay, just imagine pre-teen Snape 
prowling through the dark street. Getting some attention from the 
other inhabitants, who would feel sorry for the kid and thus give 
him the benefit of their `dark' knowledge.

You can bet that coming from Knockturn Alley will give you about the 
lowest status in the WW, no matter how `pure' your blood is. No good 
can come from a place that is devoted to the dark arts. 
Anyone belonging to Knockturn Alley will be looked upon suspiciously 
in Diagon Alley, a kid as well (`what's that little beggar up to, 
huh').

Likely to be a closely-knit community. If you are originally from 
there, you will always remain one of `them'. Ideal for spying. Any 
fishy contact that you meet there is not suspicious if you belong 
there yourself – it's where Snape lives during summer holidays. Why 
do you think Hagrid went there?

Snape doesn't need to be linked to any kind of creature (sorry, 
Pippin) 
 coming from Knockturn Alley is just as bad.

Lilian