Deatheater Snape/Maybe humiliation was the worst

[mnaper2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 99673

Ally:
> > Problem:  surely Harry would have recognized the adult as Snape, 
no?  
> > The text has him see a dark haired man with a hooked nose.  If it 
was 
> > Snape yelling at his wife, why wouldn't Harry have immediately 
> > recognized him and the text reflected it?  I think it was 
probably 
> > Snape in the corner there as a child and either a father or 
> > grandfather in the foreground yelling at the mother. 
> 
> Kneasy:
> Ah. You're not as suspicious as I am. There's an interesting 
difference
> between the three memories and the "Worst Memory" that caught my
> eye.
> 
> Harry has no difficulty in identifying a teenage Snape in the 
latter, but
> in the group of three *nobody* is identified. Why not? Could it be 
that
> JKR is allowing (encouraging) us to jump to the wrong conclusions?
> 

Ally:

Well, I agree JKR encourages false assumptions, but this would be a 
downright dirty trick.  It would be one thing if she wrote it so 
Harry only saw the man from he back or otherwise had an obscured view 
of him, but Harry at least sees him from straight on enough to know 
that his nose is hooked.  In SS, when they see Snape mumbling and 
think he's uttering a curse, they - and therefore we the reader - 
can't tell its not a curse b/c of their distance from him (and maybe 
their lack of experience in magic).  She tricks us in a way that 
makes sense literally within the story, so its not a cheap trick.  
But for Harry not to ID Snape if he clearly saw him - that would not 
be a mistake of perspective by the character.  That would a cheap 
trick, so I HOPE that's not the case.

As for why being hung upside down being Snape's worst memory, I was 
thinking and have decided:  why not?

Many of us want to assign romantic flaws to Snape, but maybe being 
humiliated in front of his peers really is the worst memory Snape 
has.  He craves fame and the first thing he goes after with Harry is 
his celebrity.  If he wants to be well-known and regarded more than 
anything, doesn't it make sense that being humiliated might be the 
worst thing that could happen to him.

So what if his worst memory is not being a DE or killing someone or 
anything like that?  Who said Snape was that deep?  JKR maintains 
that he's a nasty person, regardless of being complicated.  If being 
humiliated really was Snape's worst memory, despite all the other 
things he's done, that would make him fairly shallow and emotionally 
retarded, but maybe that's what he is.  

He could still be shallow and nasty and know right from wrong or love 
someone or that he didn't change to the Order's side.  It just means 
he's got serious issues, and wouldn't it also fit in with everything 
Snape has done so far externally and everything JKR has said about 
him?

Ally
Who is seeing the theory someone posted about Snape sacrificing 
himself - solely for the glory involved - as a lot more possible 
after reflecting this afternoon.