Snape's choice of memories for the pensieve

davewitley dfrankiswork at netscape.net
Tue Aug 10 00:57:41 UTC 2004


No: HPFGUIDX 109518

Marty asked:
> "but isn't it curious that this is one of his worst memories that 
he 
> wants to keep hidden?  What about all the stuff that he is doing 
for 
> DD, and his life prior to becoming Potions master - especially 
while 
> a DE?"

Meidbh:
> Agreed.
> I always felt this was a little disappointing as a worst memory. I 
> assumed JKR was writing to the kids on this one, that she had a 
> momentary lapse of imagination. Could Snape's life post Grey 
> Underwear Incident really have been so dull?
> 
> Maybe there *is* more to it than meets the eye...but what?? 

I take it at face value that that incident is Snape's worst memory, 
but that it's not the underwear part that makes it so.

I believe that what makes it so painful for Snape is that Lily Evans 
offered him help, and he refused it, and called her a 'mudblood', 
too.  Later he came to see this as the crucial incident which pushed 
him towards Voldemort, and he has never really forgiven himself for 
allowing his prejudice and anger to get in the way of an earlier 
opportunity to get on the right path.  So, to answer Marty's point, 
this incident *is* him becoming a DE; whatever he did later is 
traced, by him in his memory, to this choice he made.

To me that makes psychological sense: it is not our experiences, but 
our responses to them, that shape us, and when we get those 
responses wrong, those are our worst memories.

David





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