Why did Snape teach Occlumency?/Snapes Trustworthiness

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 103649

> Potioncat:
> Interesting...first Alla, now Neri...
> 
> Now "I'm" starting to suspect Snape!

Neri: I believe this is called "reverse psychology" or something 
similar ;-)

> Potioncat: 
> Funny that you mention PoA as Snape's worst.  I know he has that 
fit 
> at the end, but to me he's much worse in GoF. Or perhaps he's at 
his 
> worst from the fit at the end of PoA to the scene at DD's office 
> toward the end of GoF.  (where he appears to delay Harry)

Neri:
You are right, but I tend to treat each book separately, as I suspect 
many readers do. In the end of each book DD acquits Snape of the 
blame, except than in CoS and PoA. But in CoS Snape doesn't do 
anything that needs acquitting (except of being his usual unpleasant 
self) and he even gets some points for antagonizing Lockhart. In GoF 
he is suspected of being the bad guy, but not more so than Bagman or 
Karkaroff, and the bad guy turns out, in a spectacular way, to be 
Crouch!Moody. Then Snape makes the noble gesture of showing Fudge his 
dark mark, and DD says he trusts him as he trusts Sirius and sends 
him for some secret dangerous mission. But throughout PoA Snape is 
contrasted with the pleasant and unassuming Lupin. Snape starts PoA 
by tormenting Neville, which in my book at least is much worse than 
tormenting Harry, and then tries quite convincingly to hand an 
innocent man to be executed by the dementors. The "fit" is only 
recapping it. Then DD fails to acquit him, and he ends the book by 
exposing Lupin in an ugly way. But even after PoA most readers 
(including myself) still believed that Snape is on the side of good, 
so it doesn't look like JKR will ever manage to make him appear 
really suspicious. We'll just think it is more red herrings.

The funny thing is that I don't think JKR had planned it that way. It 
took her three books to realize that making Snape appear bad only 
makes him more popular.

Neri