Snape's Destiny/JKR quotes

[vituperative404]

No: HPFGUIDX 105166

Katie:
> 
> Hmmm... At this point, I don't think JKR would trick us about 
which 
> side Snape is on; I believe he's firmly on the side of the Order. 
So 
> I'd guess that it would be something in the past-- something we 
don't 
> know yet-- that she's hinting at. But what could be so terrible 
that 
> it would make her constantly temper her liking for Snape?
> 
> I'd guess he was indirectly responsible for or somehow complicit 
in 
> someone's death, back in his DE days. Maybe, just possibly... 
someone 
> like the Potters?

Melanie:
Well, I think the thing is that we're so ready to forgive Snape 
being a former DE that we haven't stopped to think what being a DE 
really means. According to Bellatrix-are-for-kids Lestrange in OoP, 
to cast an Unforgivable Curse "you need to realy want to cause pain--
 to enjoy it. . ." (715). And we know from GoF that "a spot of 
Muggle-torture" was all the rage among the DE set. Add let's not 
forget the unsettling image of the Muggle women being forced to show 
their knickers to the general public in the beginning of GoF. 

For Snape to really have been a DE means that we have to come to 
grips with the fact that he probably witnessed rape, torture, and 
murder and did nothing to stop it, at the very least. And if he did 
participate in the festivities (and let's be honest, you probably 
had to kill kittens and burn down orphanages to even be a DE 
candidate), chances are that when he was casting Unforgivables 
around, *he meant it.* 

My guess is, one good flashback of Snape crucio-ing a Muggle toddler 
will be enough for even the most die-hard Snape advocates to start 
looking over the evidence for the Defense. And while I think Snape 
is endlessly entertaining and a complex character if there ever was 
one, anybody who's done torture/murder/what-have-you with a smile on 
their lips and a song in their heart is not going on my Christmas 
card list.

Oh, and I'm new here, so Hello! :-)
-Melanie