[HPforGrownups] Re: Perseus Evans theory

[Julie Stevenson]

No: HPFGUIDX 88262

>Anna says: I'm not quite sure that JKR would use another anagram since she
>already had for LV.  It was cool the first time but if she keeps
>using it will kind of cheapen the effect, I think.
>
>The Perseus Evans theory sounds interesting though.  I don't believe
>I've heard about it yet.  Can you explain what exactly it is?

The Perseus Evans theory is this: if you rearrange the letters of the name 
'Severus Snape', they form the name 'Perseus Evans'.

This name uncannily fits the naming pattern that Rowling has established in 
her books. She's stated in interviews that Lily's surname is Evans, and of 
course there's that reference to a 10 year old boy who Dudley Dursley beats 
up in the 1st chapter of Order of the Phoenix named Mark Evans (will we see 
him at the Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony in book 6? Who knows?). We don't know 
what connection Mark Evans has to Harry Potter or Lily Evans-Potter, but we 
all know that Rowling doesn't assign names or give toss-off details like 
that randomly, so it's certain that this will have greater meaning later in 
the series.

But I digress somewhat. Returning to Perseus Evans, the first name Perseus 
comes from a Greek myth (and we know how classical Greek/Roman names are 
popular ones for Rowling to use), the same one to involve the character 
Andromeda. Andromeda, of course, is the given name of Tonks' mother -- so 
there's speculation that there might be a connection there as well (some 
kind of tragic unrequited love, perhaps?).

Giving credence to the idea that perhaps Snape has changed his name is the 
sequence in Order of the Phoenix where Harry looks into the pensieve 
containing Snape's memories and sees student-aged taking his OWLs and being 
tormented by James Potter. We don't see what name Snape writes down on his 
exams, and later on he's referred to by the teasing nickname 'Snivellus' 
when he runs into the Marauders outside.

In other words, we have no contemporary record of him being called 'Severus' 
or 'Snape' during his Hogwarts years.

'Snivellus' (one who snivels/is snivelly) could be an equally pejorative 
term for someone named Severus or Perseus, since both names bear the -us 
ending.

Well, of course there are a number of ramifications to deal with, if this 
theory is correct:

1) What caused Perseus/Severus to change his name? Does it have something to 
do with his departure from the Death Eaters and joining Dumbledore & the 
Order of the Phoenix?

2) Given the precedent we have for Tom Marvolo Riddle/I am Lord Voldemort, 
is there some kind of magic inherent in anagrams which is the reason for 
Perseus Evans becoming Severus Snape (as opposed to Perseus Evans becoming 
Bob Jones or some other name)?

3) Why hasn't anyone made reference to the fact that Snape hasn't always 
been known as Snape, before now? It's not like he's a stranger in these 
parts -- there are still a number of Snape's yearmates and former teachers 
around who would know what his original name was. Or are they somehow part 
of a conspiracy to not call him by that old name?

4) Is Snape/Evans related to Lily Evans in some way? It's doubtful that 
they'd be brother & sister, if there is a connection since they were in the 
same year at Hogwarts. And Petunia has never mentioned anything about having 
a brother who was a 'freak' like Lily was. It's more likely that he'd be a 
cousin, if he's related at all. But again, it's almost unthinkable that 
Rowling would give two characters (three, if you include Mark Evans) the 
same surname and not have them related, since that would cause a great deal 
of confusion.

4a) How is Perseus Evans related to the mysterious young Mark Evans -- 
Father? Uncle?

It's well documented that Snape didn't like James Potter at all. However, if 
he was related to Lily Evans-Potter, that might be another reason for his 
seemingly paradoxical attitude towards Harry Potter (appearing to actively 
dislike/hate him, and yet taking a lot of trouble to watch out for him) -- 
if Harry represented a union between a member of Snape's family and someone 
he really, really abhorred.

A sticky bit in this theory, however, is the reaction that Snape has to Lily 
Evans calling off James from hanging Snape upside down and showing off his 
icky grey undergarments -- he calls her a mudblood, and Lily seems extremely 
taken aback by this.

On one hand, Rowling has guided the readers for a majority of this series to 
believe that Lily Evans is a muggle-born witch (i.e., a mudblood). But the 
new revelations that Petunia Evans-Dursley knows more about the wizarding 
world than we expected now causes readers to wonder if perhaps the Evans 
family is one which was originally magical, and then went into an extended 
phase of squib-dom, even to the point where it was believed that they were 
permanently muggles, and the magic had completely died out (this would 
explain why Lily & Petunia's parents had so gleefully exclaimed "We have a 
witch in the family!" in HP & the Philosopher's/Sorceror's Stone).

But being the child of squib parents is somewhat different from being the 
child of muggle parents, which might be the reason why it surprises Lily to 
have Snape address her as a mudblood. And of course, if he's related to her 
in some way, it would be similarly odd for him to call her this, since he's 
tarred with the same brush so to speak.

So! I know that was a rather long response, but that's intricasies of the 
Perseus Evans theory, for your enjoyment. Now, do I believe this theory is 
true? I think the jury is still out on that. It's a very interesting theory, 
and one with a lot of depth to it as you can see. On the other hand, I'm 
skeptical about most reader-theories about the books because they often turn 
out to be wrong. Rowling is an extremely clever woman, and it never ceases 
to delight me that what she's dreamed up is far better than most of the 
fan-speculation plot ideas. So in that manner, I partly agree with Anna 
about 'cheapening the effect' of the TMR/IaLV anagram by employing the same 
trick with SS/PE. On the other hand, if Rowling makes this a second example 
of a type of tricky concealing magic (remember, very few people know that 
Tom Riddle became Voldemort), then that might play against the 'cheapening' 
factor by showing it to be a 'cool' magical discipline.

Hopefully, all of this will be answered in the 6th book!

-- Julie

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