Oh, the People Snape Knows...

[hedwigstalons]

No: HPFGUIDX 107490

Erin - I just wanted to say that this is SUCH an intriguing post! I 
am all fired up to search through the books and see who Snape speaks 
with and what the conversations entail.

Thanks!
HedwigsTalons

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Erin" <erinellii at y...> wrote:
> I was thinking the other day about Snape and how he relates to 
> others. 
> 
>  ::pauses and and reflects how much she appreciates having a group 
> she can say this to without people looking at her like she's crazy::
> 
> Anyway, as I was mentally going through Snape's interactions with 
> those around him, something became undeniably clear to me.
> 
> Severus Snape doesn't have *any* insignificant relationships. None 
> at all.  In fact, throughout five books, there's not a single scene 
> where he speaks to Hagrid, or Sprout, or Flitwick, or Binns, or 
> Pomfrey.  Or even about them.
> 
> OK, so the man doesn't fancy inane small talk.  I'm cool with 
that.  
> But wait just a minute;  if he doesn't talk about the inane stuff, 
> that means all his talk must be... ane?  Relevant, at any rate.  I 
> sensed a new theory taking shape....
> 
> And yes, to my delight, the hypothesis held true.  Snape's 
> conversations and confrontations in each book hold the clue to the 
> ultimate resolution of the mystery within that book.  
> 
> It's not so much what he says, as who he says it to.  Other than 
his 
> students, Snape doesn't even bother speaking to non-suspicious 
> characters.  Nearly every single conversation he has is with 
someone 
> who either *is*  a Death Eater or a traitor to Dumbledore, or who 
is 
> *suspected* of being a Death Eater or a traitor to Dumbledore.  
> 
> Let me break it down by book so you'll have a better idea of what 
> I'm talking about here.  This is a list of the people Snape has had 
> key exchanges with.
> 
> PS/SS:  Argus Filch
>         Quirrell
> 
> CoS:    Gilderoy Lockhart
> 
> PoA:    Remus Lupin
>         Sirius Black
>             
> GoF:    Moody aka Barty Crouch Jr.
>         Argus Filch
>         Cornelius Fudge 
>         Igor Karkaroff
> 
> OotP:   Umbridge
>              
> 
> And to these, I would add a few others; Snape's recurring 
> relationships, as I think of them.  These are the people whom Snape 
> is shown interacting with in more than one or two books:
> 
> Dumbledore
> McGonagall
> Harry Potter 
> Draco Malfoy
> Neville Longbottom 
> 
> So.   Hopefully you're starting to understand what I'm getting at 
> here.  But I'll expand a bit further just in case.
> 
> PS/SS:
> In the first book, Snape is extremely prevalent as the trio 
mistakes 
> him for the villain of the piece.  He has two major relationships; 
> Quirrell, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Filch, the 
> caretaker of the school.
> 
> Quirrell: 
> Quirrell, of course, turned out to be the villain hosting 
> Voldemort.  The trio think Snape is bullying Quirrell in order to 
> get the secret to the Philosopher's Stone, but at the end find out 
> Snape had suspected that Quirrell was helping Voldemort, and was 
> literally asking Quirrell to decide where his loyalties lay.
> 
> Argus Filch:  
> Snape hangs out with more with Filch in this book than any other.  
> When his knee is injured at Halloween, it's Filch he goes to for 
the 
> fix-up.  When Harry sneaks into the library's restricted section at 
> night, Filch runs to Snape and they hunt for Harry together.
> Before OotP, spotting the pattern of Snape's relationships wouldn't 
> have been possible solely because of Filch.  But in OotP, Filch 
> shows his true colors.  He hates Dumbledore, loves Umbridge, and 
> would be willing to turn the school over to anyone who would let 
him 
> punish the students as harshly as he so desperately longs to do.  
> Reason enough for him to be a suspicious character and for Snape's 
> interest in him.
> 
> Also in the first book, Snape sets the tone in his treatment of 
> Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, coddling the latter and getting off 
> to a bad start with the former. 
> 
> In CoS:
> 
> Gilderoy Lockhart:  
> He wasn't exactly the main villain, and Snape's utter contempt of 
> him reflects that.  But he did prove capable of breaking the law, 
> and erasing the memory of students-- 12-year-olds!-- entrusted to 
> his care, as well as memory-wiping countless others in his quest to 
> become famous.
> 
> Also in the second book, Snape cements his place as Dumbledore's 
> trusted lieutenant.  Any time there's trouble, he and Minerva 
> McGonagall are right behind the headmaster.
> 
> 
> PoA:
> Remus Lupin: 
> A werewolf!  The man suspected by the Potters of being Voldemort's 
> spy when they went into hiding  And guilty of withholding 
> information from Dumbledore which could have helped recapture 
Sirius 
> Black.   Even though he turned out to be a good guy, it's easy to 
> see why Snape was suspicious of him.
> 
> Sirius Black:  An escaped criminal convicted of murdering the 
> Potters.   And with whom Snape just coincidentally has a history.
> 
> 
> GoF:
> The central mystery of Goblet of Fire is, of course, 'Who put 
> Harry's name in the Goblet?'.
> 
> Throughout the book, JKR tried to distract us by using red herrings 
> and decoys.  And she did a darn good job of it, too.  There are 
> *still* people running around the fandom arguing that Ludo Bagman 
is 
> a Death Eater.  But I know he isn't.  *Because Snape never talked 
to 
> him.*
> 
> Now, this book is where we should have begun to catch on to Snape's 
> special function in the text, namely, that if he speaks to someone, 
> that someone is an important or suspicious character.
> 
> Think of the suspects JKR set up when Harry's name was drawn from 
> the Goblet. 
> 
> Ludo Bagman, a shady character with a mysterious penchant for 
> helping Harry.  Mr. Crouch, with all his unexplained absences.  
> Madame Maxime, a half-giantess.  Igor Karkaroff, headmaster of a 
> school known for teaching the Dark Arts.  And Snape himself, who 
> hates Harry.
> 
> Excepting himself, Snape speaks only to one of these: Karkaroff, 
who 
> turns out to have been a former Death Eater.  Veeeery suspicious.
> 
> And he also speaks to the one person we didn't suspect. Moody, 
> a.k.a. Barty Crouch Jr.   Harry and co. never had much luck 
figuring 
> out who was responsible for dropping Harry's name in the Goblet, 
but 
> Snape zeroed right in on him (though unknowingly).  
> 
> Also in the fourth book Snape speaks to Cornelius Fudge (the 
> Minister of Magic, an important person who becomes suspicious when 
> he refuses to acknowledge Voldemort's return) and continues his 
> tradition of late-night rendezvous with Argus Filch.
> 
> OotP:
> 
> In Order of the Phoenix, Snape argues with Sirius Black (now 
> revealed as the lone heir of an extremely Dark wizarding family)
> 
> He pretends to cooperate with Delores Umbridge (who set the 
> dementors on Harry and Dudley)
> 
> And he spends time coaching Harry, who ultimately makes the mistake 
> of falling into Voldemort's trap.
> 
>                    ****************                               
> I know I haven't said all of this very well; I'm so excited about 
it 
> that I'm sort of rushing into posting.  I plan to refine it a lot 
> more based on the feedback that I hope it will get.  
> 
> But I will say this; if you want to know what's going on the very 
> first time you read the sixth book, all you have to do is watch 
> Snape.
> 
> --Erin
> 
> 
> This message has also been cross-posted at The Hog's Head: 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hogs_Head/  for the benefit of those 
> who prefer a smaller and more intimate group of adult fans who are 
> knowledgeable about Harry Potter.