Snape's walking pattern Was: Snape's resentment

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 94351

Carol wrote:
Actually, the adult Snape has never been described as "twitchy" and he
tends to sweep gracefully out of every room he enters (aided, of
course, by that long black cloak)

Berit replies:

Ah, sorry! My mistake; wrong choice of words. True, Snape has not 
been described as walking in a "twitching" manner as an adult. The 
word I should have used is "prowling" (if I remember correctly). In 
the scene in PS where Harry spots Snape on his way to the forest to 
have a chat with Quirrell, Harry says he recognised Snape by 
his "prowling" walk.

According to www.merriam-webster.com , the verb "prowl" means "to 
move about or wander stealthily in or as in search of prey/to roam 
over in a predatory manner." I'm not saying the sight of a predator 
moving stealthily after its prey is not a picture of elegance and 
power (it certainly is), but "prowling" is not the word I would have 
used to describe a human being moving gracefully and elegant with his 
cloak swishing impressively around his stately body... An animal on 
the prowl tends to crouch low, keeping its head down while it moves 
stealthily. I for one wouldn't choose the word "prowling" to describe 
the movements of an elegant and graceful human being keeping his body 
proud and erect. Can you imagine the upper class Lucius Malfoy or the 
dignified Dumbledore walking in a "prowling" manner? Nor can I.

The one doesn't necessarily exclude the other, but "prowling" to me 
adds an extra dimension to Snape's walking patterns! He's not JUST 
elegant and impressive; there's still some leftovers from his 
childhood in the way he walks. This fits nicely with the drawing 
Rowling has made of him: Not very Alan Rickmannish I'm afraid; he 
looks more hunched up and "twitchy" than graceful and elegant... Yes, 
his walk has an aura of elegance and power in the way he is described 
in the books, no doubt, but there's still the prowl which he haven't 
been able to get rid of... And canon suggests it is a usual way for 
him to move around, because it's his *walk* in that scene that makes 
Harry recognise him! If he saved the "prowling" for special occasions 
only, then Harry wouldn't have been able to recognise him for 
it. "Prowling" seems to be very snapish...

Berit
http://home.no.net/berjakob/snape.html