No, I'm not defending Snape

[ellencs44]

No: HPFGUIDX 105603

But.....

Regarding the Pensieve scene, I haven't been able to read all of the posts, it's getting too late, and I have to be up early (flimsy excuse, I know) 
but I had to post this.

What the encounter between Sirius, James, and Snape really reminds me of, 
more than anything else, is the scene in GoF at the World Cup, with the DEs.  James and Sirius are doing to Snape exactly what was done to the muggles at 
the world cup.  And for just as spurious a reason (Sirius was bored).  It wasn't an innocent fight between hot-headed boys, it was a scene of one 
person being assaulted, controlled, and humiliated by two others, for amusement's sake.  The only difference I saw was the ages of those involved.  But by the age of fifteen, I'd expect at least a little more fear of 
authority from James.  Seems like he must have grown up with very little 
reason to fear reprisal for his misdeeds.  In other words, spoiled rotten.  

Now, as far as Snape being able to use that sort of thing happening to him 
as a child, to excuse his behavior as an adult, sorry, won't wash.  If he is, as DD says, a skilled Occlumens, then he has the ability to not only control his emotions, but to rid himself of them, he says himself in OoTP that in 
order to learn Occlumency, he must rid himself of emotion every night before going to bed.  If he is capable of this, he is certainly capable of doing so while teaching class.  Besides which, he's a grown-up now, and makes his own decisions and choices.

I find it kind of hard, thinking thoughts like these, to really like either 
one of them, except as far as interesting characters.

Ellen