Snape's Patronus

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 90689

Amanda wrote:
> I submit that Snape probably cannot perform Expecto Patronus. It's 
not that
> I doubt his power or will--but I doubt he has sufficiently happy 
memories.

It is possible that Snape has never been able to master the Patronus 
because of difficulty summoning happy memories.

However, I don't believe that happy memories are integral to the 
spell; they are merely an accepted learning method for it.  Once 
Harry has grasped the spell he does need to call something to mind, 
but 'happy memory' is IMO too simplistic a description.

I believe that the spell is esentially an assertion of *identity* in 
the face of a predatory attempt to remove it.  For the beginner, 
this is most easily done via a happy memory, but this is not 
necessarily the only way.

I think Snape has a sense of his own identity in spades  (there is 
perhaps a parallel with the way Sirius was able to resist the 
Dementors in Azkaban), so in principle a Patronus is perfectly 
possible for him.

David