Are there no depths to which Siriophiles wont sink?

[LadySawall at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 99514

In a message dated 05/26/2004 6:52:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Lee writes:
Like I said, Snape is a complex character, indeed, so, what are his reasons
for being so horrible to not just Harry but the Gryffindor kids in general?
Could it be that, as an adult, he feels he can wield power over the house
from whence his tormentors came?
Jo Ann:

Something hit me last night after running across a very interesting piece of 
fanfic on the Sugar Quill, called "They are the Marauders, and they Hunt in a 
Pack."

Much has been made of the fact that Snape hated James, envied him, and 
resented being in debt to him.  This undoubtedly extended to the other three 
Marauders, and quite possibly to the House of Gyrffindor as a whole.

What doesn't often seem to get brought up is the strong possibility that 
(though I'm sure he would throw himself off the Astronomy Tower before admitting 
it) he was probably scared to death of him, too.

As an aside, this is not to say that I consider Snape weak or a coward.  Yes, 
he and James may have been equals or near-equals individually; but with his 
Marauders behind him, James always had the advantage, and even if the Marauders 
weren't around at a given moment, you could be sure they would hear about 
anything that happened to James.  Snape undoubtedly found this out the hard way 
fairly early on.

Which to me, goes a long way toward explaining his reactions to Harry.  Harry 
looks just like James.  He's in James' House.  He shares some of James' 
talents.  Some of Harry's actions, and more importantly, the reactions of people 
around Harry, can be misinterpreted as James-like.  By the time he got to 
Hogwarts for the first time, he'd already acquired one hanger-on (Ron), and by the 
end of his First Year he had another one (Hermione) plus a potential third 
(Neville.)  Might as well call them the Marauders: Mark II.

So what do you think is Snape's gut-instinct reaction to Harry?  Hatred, 
envy, resentment--and fear.

Think how much that would piss him off, to find himself irrationally scared 
of a child.  Probably perfectly well aware of where it comes from and why, but 
unable to shake it off, just as Sirius knew quite well that Harry wasn't 
James, but treated him as though he was by reflex...

And it would be a vicious downward spiral.  Harry started out more or less 
powerless and without a bias toward Snape one way or the other; but the more 
powerful he becomes and the more the two of them clash, the more *genuine* 
reasons Snape has to fear him, and the worse his attitude will get...thus, the more 
he'll pick on Harry himself and Harry's friends and Housemates, especially 
those that present easy targets.

Yeah, he's become what he hates.  He may be aware of that, too.  But who do 
you think he'll blame?

Jo Ann

...who thinks DD's greatest mistake re. Snape is not insisting that the guy 
get into therapy!


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