Snape's Bucking Broomstick Memory (Re: What is with the "Prank" ?)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 99915

> Carol wrote: 
> > The memory we see in the occlumency chapter is of a young boy, 
> perhaps
> > eight or ten years old, trying to control an unruly broom. The 
> broom's
> > behavior is not in itself an indication of the rider's skill: We 
> know
> > that a good broom doesn't try to throw off its rider. 
> snip
>  Most likely he's trying in the memory to
> > ride a hexed or jinxed broom, bound and determined to control it
> > despite the laughing girl. Wish I knew who she was and why she 
> found
> > his struggle so amusing.


> Potioncat:
> Hi Carol, haven't seen you in a while!
> Not to be picky, but why do you think Severus was only 8--10 in 
this 
> memory?
>   
> But I do agree, the broom must have been hexed.  I'd like 
> to know who the girl is too.  Although most people seem to take 
this 
> as a bad memory and partial proof of a sad life, I've also seen it 
> explained as a small part of a bigger memory, with much less 
> unhappiness associated with it.


Jen: I wonder if this particular Snape memory is important because 
of the girl herself, perhaps someone Snape was close to--a friend or 
sister? The memory would be painful if she died in the First War, or 
he somehow lost touch with her. It doesn't tell us the boy was upset 
or angry about the girl laughing; perhaps he was even showing off 
for her.