Chapter 24: Occlumency

[mhbobbin]

No: HPFGUIDX 109255

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Michelle :
Hi I kind of new, at least to this post.
I'm not sure if there's any canon on Snape being in
love with Lily but there certainly is canon on the
rivalry between Snape and James. Assuming that he was
in love with her and he has to look at those eyes
every day in class, etc., those same beautiful eyes
that Harry inherited from his mother, I can see #1 why
he would be bitter yet #2 torn because Harry is still
the child of the woman he loved.

Mhbobbin:
 
I'm rather intrigued by the idea that Snape has to look into Harry's 
eyes [Lily's eyes] to give Harry these lessons. And I'm still 
intrigued by how strongly Snape seems to react to what particular 
series of images. In the sequence when Snape sees the dog chasing 
Harry up the tree, he merely asks Harry who owned the dog. It 
appears to be a neutral observation, allowing Harry to know what he 
saw.  But there is another series of images which upset both Harry 
and Snape.

At the bottom of P 535 (Scholastic)
Snape sees a dragon; Harry's parents in the Mirror;
Cedric dead in the graveyard.

Harry is very upset to see the image of Cedric. He notices that
Snape is upset as well. ////"Snape looked paler than usual, and
angrier, though not nearly as angry as Harry was."/// 

I assumed thatSnape was upset by seeing Cedric, because that wAs 
what upset Harry. I originally thought that Snape was worried by the 
graveyard images--
that maybe Snape was there, or mentioned, or it brought up memories
of DE days or something but now I wonder.

Perhaps it was the image of Lily Potter in the Mirror that upset
Snape...not the image of Cedric as had upset Harry. Immediately 
after these images, Snape goes on a rant, "Fools who wear their 
hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, 
who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this 
easily--weak people...stand no chance against his powers"

Who is Snape talking about as a fool? Harry or himself? This rant is
particularly interesting as it follows the strongest reaction by
Snape to anything seen in Harry's head--other than the Dept of
Mystery stuff. It's very odd as it does not seem proportional to
anything that Harry has done, or failed to do. ,,But then that also
speaks to Snape's general attitude around Harry and his teaching
methods.

mhbobbin--who apologizes to those who read my previous post on this 
but I'm re-posting this thought because I think it belongs with this 
discussion.