Snape's origins

[laylalast]

No: HPFGUIDX 96591

> Potioncat wrote:
> I think this theory is as good as any that can be formed from the 
> few details we have about Snape. 

Lilian:
Yeah, don't I know it ;-) ... theorizing as ever, what else can one 
do?

<snip>
> Potioncat wrote:
> I do think the greasy hair and grey underwear (and nightshirt) have 
> some other cause than lack of cleanliness.  Partly because they 
> continue now. 

Lilian:
Well, I didn't mean so much lack of cleanliness, but more neglect. to 
be more precise, the grey underwear in Snape's teen years points to 
sloppy washing methods at home.

I'll probably tie myself in a knot with tying my various theories 
together, ... but what the heck!  I believe that Snape's mum is an 
sister of Lucius Malfoy's father, but a squib. Coming from such a 
family with house elves who do everything for you, how would she be 
able to run a household, let alone a magical one! BTW, gives Snape's 
dad an excellent reason for shouting at his wife, see?
And if you live at Knockturn Alley, where appearances are grubby and 
grimy, how can you learn to do the laundry in a decent way? So I 
think that the laundry is clean -in the sense of stains gone, no 
germs etc. - but will end up with a soiled appearance. Just as 
everything in Knockturn Alley. 

It reminds me of those narrow streets where the families of factory 
workers used to live at the beginning of the 20th century. The 
streets and the people in it looked all grubby and dingy.

> Potioncat wrote:
> I don't  think he would live at Knockturn Alley in the summer.  It 
> wouldn't fit with the type of spying he's doing. 

Lilian:
As far as I can see we don't know that much of the type of spying he 
is doing. If he still does, it seems likely IMO that it has changed 
due to LV's comeback.
But to give an example from canon, at the end of CoS DD speaks of 
his 'sources that tell him that LV in currently hiding in a forest in 
Albania'. As the MoM is apparently not outright looking for LV, word 
of LV's hiding hole will come through more fishy types of 'sources'. 
Just the kind of people (or creatures or whatever) you can meet in 
Knockturn Alley.
 

> Potioncat wrote:
> Nor would you want to spend your summer in a slum after living in a
> castle.

Lilian:
No, of course not, although he spends a lot of his time at Hogwarts 
in the dungeons ... not a very pleasant place either. However, it is 
mentioned in at least one of the books that Snape's mood does not 
improve over summer - guess why! :-)


> Potioncat wrote:
> But, what "was" Hagrid doing there?  I dont' buy his story at all!

Lilian:
Neither do I. I had wondered whether he had kept an eye on the 
Malfoys, but his size makes spying on people by following them rather 
difficult. But he could have gone to Snape to pick up the latest 
information (and do some necessary shopping while he was there).

Lilian