Snape Question

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 105703

"Firedancer" (June) wrote:
Snape is one of those folks you're always going to wonder about.  My
question is, where did the wimpy teen get the how-with-all to become
so menacing?  I don't think being a death-eater is for sissies, unless
you're Wormtail.  Any thoughts on that one?  

Carol responds:
My thought on this is that, first, he must have developed a bit
physically, going from being skinny at fifteen to thin and wiry as he
reached eighteen or twenty. More important, I think he deliberately
cultivated an image, possibly in direct response to the Pensieve
incident and the Prank, that made him less of a geeky little oddball
and more formidable, more clearly someone who should not be crossed
without the risk of embarrassment or worse. He probably developed a
more upright posture, a sweeping walk, an intimidating stare, a
sarcastic manner, all as defenses against the Jameses and Siriuses of
the world. Whether he became a Death Eater before or after he
developed this persona I can't say, but he certainly has it in his
thirties as Potions Master. The ability to control his anger (most of
the time) and possibly occlumency, which I think he uses to hide his
emotions even when he's not facing Voldemort, may be part of this same
carefully cultivated personality.

Unlike several recent posters, I don't think he was ever a member of
the original Order or Sirius would have known it and told Harry. I
think Severus was merely a Hogwarts student who was "on our side" in
that he had not (yet) joined the Death Eaters. He who is not against
me is with me, to reverse the saying.

Carol, who is only presenting thoughts here, not theories