Snape's choice of memories for the pensieve

[Bex]

No: HPFGUIDX 108540

> > SSSusan wrote: 
> > But then again, why WOULDN'T he have wanted Harry to know his dad & 
> > Sirius were jerks at 15?
> > 
> > I am so intrigued by all of this!  Does anybody have any ideas on 
> > this??
> 
> 
> And Jen replied: 
> One theory (from Greywolf, I think) was the incident Harry saw 
> was only a "cover memory" placed in the Pensieve to protect other 
> memories. That way if Harry did get in there by chance, he would see 
> perhaps a humiliating memory, but not the actual *worst* memory 
> Snape is protecting. If this is true, then Snape probably 
> specifically chose that cover memory because it was proof of James' 
> arrogance. 
> 
> I like this theory, but wonder if Snape would really want Harry 
> seeing him in a humiliating position, even if he's also seeing James 
> as an arrogant bully? That's the downside of the idea for me.

So I say:
I think the cover memory is a good theory. Lets look at 
the "suspicious activity" surrounding this little event, shall we?

1. Snape either a) borrowed the pensieve from someone (most likely 
Dumbledore), or b) he has one of his own. I'm leaning towards (a) 
since I doubt they are common items. Dumbledore is 150 with thoughts 
probably doing 150 in his head, which is why he got the thing. Snape 
wouldn't really need it that we can see, so he probably borrowed it, 
or Dumbledore suggested he use it.

2a. If Dumbledore suggested Snape use the pensieve, he would probably 
warn Snape not to let Harry know he was using it, since Harry knows 
what it is and he sort-of knows how it works. And he woulod do this 
because...

2b. Harry is curious as a cat. What happened the first time he saw a 
pensieve? That's right, he jumped in with both feet :). No matter 
what, Snape should know better than to leave the thing even within 
Harry's reach. He'll just _have_ to see what it is.

3. Snape actually _lets_ Harry see him putting the memories into the 
pensieve. If that doesn't pique the curiosity meter, I don't know 
what will.

4. Then Snape leaves Harry alone with the pensieve. Was that smart? 
Don't think so...

So Snape shows Harry that he is using the pensieve, knowing full well 
that Harry can't help but look into it, and then leaves Harry alone 
with it.

Ok, so MAYBE Snape didn't have anything to do with Montague just 
coincidentally showing up in a toilet, and Draco running down to get 
the Head-of-House, during the occlumency lessons. But maybe Snape had 
something planned for later ("left a cake in the oven, Potter, be 
right back"), and Draco provided a better excuse for running out. Or 
maybe, Snape arranged for Draco to interrupt him that evening with 
some excuse. Snape may have even been involved in 
Montague "reappearing" at that moment. All we know is that when 
a "coincidence" happens in a HP book, JK had it happen for a very 
particular reason.

Now, the shockingly subtle thought here is almost funny how JK fools 
us. *Obviously* Snape wants to protect this horrid memory of Harry's 
father and co mistreating him. So, he _very_ *obviously* puts the 
memory in the pensieve, so even if Harry breaks through into Snape's 
mind, the memory is safe. If he wanted to hide that memory so badly, 
wouldn't he have put it in the pensieve a little less conspicuously? 
Maybe he _did_ want Harry to see it. 

We know that Harry is getting better at fighting this power, as seen 
by the last time he got into Snape's head. But that last time, he 
could only see a glimpse of a memory, only for a few seconds, before 
Snape forced him out. It wouldn't be like Snape to let Harry in and 
let him hang around a while for this whole scene to play out, but he 
(or someone he has to answer to, say Dumbledore) wants Harry to see 
this whole memory. So he pretends to hide it, knowing full well that 
Harry is going to poke around, trying to find out what this memory is.
This way, Harry gets to see this memory in full. Then Snape pulls him 
out, pretending to be angry (though he is a good pretender, I'll 
admit) and chases him off so he can think about what he saw. 

He sees his father and Sirius in a whole new light, plus his mother 
and Lupin. Sirius and James are no longer infallible heroes, and Lily 
didn't even care much for James at all at first, even though James 
Potter, who had all the girls chasing him, had a crush on HER. We 
also see Snape use the term Mudblood for the first time: notice how 
he is a Slytherin (thus almost certainly a pure-blood), and yet he 
doesn't use bloodlines as an insult except in the direst of 
situations. Definitely an insight into his character.

My point is that Snape wasn't hiding the memories. He only made it 
look like that, ensuring that Harry _will_ see that particular one, 
and seeing his family, particularly his father, as human, instead of 
this ghostly god-like figurehead.

Just some thoughts...

~Yb