Poison intentions? (was Re: What does Snape owe Harry?)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 97583

Caesian wrote:
<snip> I'd like to be a Snape apologist.  It would be a much nicer
world if poisonous mushrooms could change their spots, and if so, I
wouldn't put it past him.  But, Snape is the one character that
Dumbledore and JKR seem to be in disagreement on.  I may trust 
Dumbledore, but I trust JKR even more - because she *is* omniscient in
the Potterverse.  
I'm sure they both have their reasons, but I just can't bring myself
to defend Snape's character when JKR has stated that we are entirely
too fond of him, and may probably change our minds.  I can't even
begin to imagine (logically without wildly extrapolating 
 from canon as in my previous post) what mind-altering revelation
about Snape awaits. 


Carol:
I can't find any reference where JKR actually tell sus not to be too
fond of snape. If you mean the October 12 1999 Connection interview
where JKR says, "He's not a particularly pleasant person at all.
However, everyone should keep their eye on Snape, I'll just say that
because there is more to him than meets the eye," I get exactly the
opposite impression from those words: i.e., he *seems* unpleasant, but
we should keep an eye on him because he's not what he seems. She adds
that we'll find out more about him in Book 4--which is where we first
see quite clearly both his courage and his loyalty to Dumbledore.

In the same interview she says she's slightly stunned that someone has
noted a redemptive pattern to Snape and adds that we'll find out why
she's stunned in Book 7. While that remark could mean that the
questioner is wrong, I doubt that she'd have been "stunned" by a wrong
guess. So my money is on Snape being redeemed. In fact, I'll fell
cheated if he isn't.

If this isn't the interview you had in mind, I'd appreciate it if
you'd link me to it. I've searched the Lexicon to no avail.

BTW, the books are more canonical than the interviews. They present
the actual evidence for us to interpret--the characters' words and
actions(somewhat colored by the narrator's point of view)--whereas the
interviews are merely off-the-cuff commentary from an author who likes
to be tricky. I trust my own interpretation of Snape over any sly
hints JKR wishes to give me--at least until Book 7 comes out--and even
then, if Snape continues to fight for the side of good, I'll disagree
with her assessment of him as a "deeply horrible person." 

Carol