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

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 88089

Carol 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. <
>
Pippin responded: 
> 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.
><snip>
> 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.

Carol again:
Thanks for the explanation, which I sincerely appreciate. I don't
agree with you, but at least I understand you. I don't see Snape as a
foil to anyone, however; he's too important a character in his own
right, and (like Gollum in LOTR) has a role to play, for good or ill,
before the end--meaning that JKR has said we should watch out for him
in Book 7 and I think that means he'll fulfill his life debt to James
by saving Harry's life in some spectacular way (as he keeps trying to
do in every book). If there are any foils involved, they would reflect
Snape, not the other way around. Sirius, for example, resembles Snape
in more ways than Lupin does, even to details of physical appearance
and a tendency to be angry. Since he's the less developed character
and appears in fewer books, it makes sense to have him as the foil to
snape rather than the other way around. As for Lupin, he's just a
decent person and competent teacher who has the misfortune to be a
werewolf and is again out of a job. I imagine he'll play a role in
Book 6, at least, as a member of the Order, and maybe in that respect
he'll serve as a foil to Snape: a teacher and a former teacher, both
members of the Order, working in very different ways to help Harry and
Dumbledore conquer Voldemort. There's no need for a vampire motif to
present them as two men of the same age in a similar situation
reacting in opposite ways.

I do think that we'll see a vampire at some point, just as we've seen
centaurs, house elves, and giants. If we need a vampire, especially a
vampire as victim of discrimination, why not make it Viktor Krum,
viciously "outed" by a teammate or former schoolmate? That would fit
nicely with the Hermione-as-champion-of-the-oppressed connection. I
can't imagine her championing Snape as a victim, or his tolerating her
interference.

Nope. Snape is sufficiently complicated without adding being a vampire
to the mix. And as I'm sure you'll admit, there are alternative
explanations for all the "clues" on your list. (Snape doesn't refuse
to eat at Hogwarts, for example, only at 12 Grimauld Place. And that
may change with Sirius gone--unless, as someone has argued recently,
he's trying to keep memories of meals at Order headquarters out of his
memory in case of contact with Voldemort.)

I just want to know why he joined the Death Eaters and why he quit and
what he's up to now. That's plenty, don't you think?

Carol