Understanding Snape

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 91052

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "arrowsmithbt" 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
>   
> Jim: 
> > He isn't helpless, but he was humiliated and bullied on the lawn, 
and  the dialogue suggests the bullying was going on.  James wasn't 
the one shown with gray underwear shown in midair in front of half 
the school; he did it while hanging out with his buddies, 
the "arrogant  little berks" who were good at pretty much anything 
they did.  Is  there any reason to think Snape scored on them like 
that in any way, ever?
> > 
> Kneasy:
> Yes, he does seem to be bullied  -  or at least he is by today's 
standards. But I have a lot of problems with 'Snape's worst memory'. 
For  a start  it probably isn't his worst memory; his hatred of James 
et al seems to stem more from the 'prank' than from his laundry 
>arrangements. So why isn't that one at the top? 

The way I see it is that Snape hated James and the others before the 
prank. The scene we see in the pensieve *is* his worst memory, at 
least of the humiliated-in-school genre, and clinched his hatred of 
the group, and James in particular. The prank happened because Snape 
was obsessed by his desire for revenge. The fact that James saved his 
life - the person he  hated most of all - put him in an unbearable 
emotional bind. It could tear a person to pieces, to be obligated to 
someone he loathes so much. When Harry came along, it revived that 
emotional dissonance for him - which explains his hatred of Harry, 
his protectiveness towards him, and the intensity of both. 

Another thing. There's been a consensus here regarding Snape's victim 
status vis a vis James. I'm not trying to justify James, but I think 
the realtionship between them is not as black and white as it may 
appear. There was a lot of discussion here about the subjectivity or 
otherwise of the pensieve. My opinion is that the pensieve is 
subjective, i.e., if you enter a memory, you can only sense what the 
subject of the memory sensed. If so, Snape, for all he seemed so 
engrossed with checking his test, was actually in a position to hear 
what MWPP were saying. It's an example, in fact, of Snape's spying on 
them. I think it's also very significant that he was so quick to draw 
his wand, since it implies that he was very much aware of their 
presence. Also, he was the first to physically attack, and James who 
retaliated. 
So, although we see a scene in which Snape is bullied, I wouldn't say 
that he was necessarily a victim. At least not an entirely innocent 
victim.


Naama