Why ole Snapey is a vamp was Re: No fire in the office

pippin_999 foxmoth at qnet.com
Sun Jan 4 16:23:42 UTC 2004


No: HPFGUIDX 88069

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:

> Whose evidence? I'm a bit confused. Anyway, I'm about to give 
up, not on my belief that Snape is not a vampire but on 
convincing people who are determined to believe that he is. <

I believe Amanda was referring to my post 35299, which gathers  
the vampire evidence pre-OOP. The significance of the frosty 
temperature of Snape's office  escaped my notice and I thank  
Jake for this useful addition to Snapelore.

 OOP evidence, briefly:
Snape's refusal to take meals with the Order
His preference for shade in the Pensieve scene
His supernaturally acute hearing, if he could actually hear what 
James and co were saying, and this was not a trick of the 
Penseive.

Carol:
>"Snape threw back his cloak and opened his mouth to reveal 
his heretofore concealed fangs, which were dripping with blood. 
He reached for Harry and was just about to bite his neck when 
Dumbledore walked into the room. 'Stupefy!'" All right,
 I'm presenting the idea in a ridiculous light, but that's how it
strikes me. What I don't understand is why anyone, even the 
most virulent Snape hater, would *want* Snape to be a vampire. 
What purpose does it serve? How does it advance the plot? He's 
a complex character with no need for supernatural explanations 
for his attitudes and actions. I much prefer real, human 
motivations.<

You might want to look at  the Mysteries FAQ 
http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/mysteries.html
under Severus Snape for past discussion of this. 

I don't think Rowling's point in making Snape a vampire would 
be to have him suddenly succumb to bloodlust, any more than 
that was her reason to  make Lupin a werewolf. 

I'm not a Snape hater, far from it, nor am I a huge fan of 
vampire-fiction. Mostly I see Snape's character as a mirror and 
foil of Lupin's. Lupin wants desperately to "pass" as a normal 
wizard and his whole life has been colored by his inability to do 
this. Vampire!Snape, OTOH,  *can* pass, and I think Rowling 
means to show us that this too has a cost. In any case, the 
desire to be accepted by human society is the most human sort 
of motivation I can think of.

Pippin





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