Snape's walking pattern Was: Snape's resentment

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 94562

> 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. <snip>
> 
> 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...


Carol:
And yet on numerous occasions, the verb used to describe his movements
is "swept"--possibly reserved for when he's leaving (or possibly
entering) a room, though it may be used on other occasions when he
wants to appear impressive. "Prowling" is primarily used when he's
walking the corridors or silently leaving Hogwarts to meet with
Quirrell in the forest. I imagine that "prowling" walk serves him
well, too, when he's spying and doesn't want to be seen. I don't see
"prowling" and "sweeping" as contradictory--both require a kind of
grace and both fit with the adult image he has cultivated, which is
very different from that of the "twitchy" adolescent of the Pensieve
memory. 

Carol