Cataloging Snape's Behavior, Pt. I - PS/SS (very long)

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 114856


After reading all of these posts on Snape lately, I find myself
blinking in amazement at some of the extreme responses he's garnered.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised; he is a fascinating character. 
But, being an admitted Snape-phile, I was rather shocked to read that
there were those out there who considered Snape more evil than
Voldemort and hoped that he died some sort of horrible death by the
end of the series.  

As I said, I'll admit openly to liking the character of Snape.  Note,
this doesn't mean I like all of his actions, nor do I want to make
excuses for him.  But, I did want to clarify, for myself, the things
we see him do in canon.  And so, in a grand effort to avoid my own
work, I've gone the first book and picked out every scene with Snape.
 I've tried to give a short, objective summary, but then I've also
included my own take on the behavior. I hope to do this with the next
four books as well, time permitting. We'll see.

Of course, the way I see and catalogue these scenes is based on my own
vision of him as an embittered, mean man who, despite all this, could
still find some redemption in the end. Naturally, there are those who
disagree. But, I do hope that in future discussions of Snape, perhaps
we can refer to specific canon points as evidence. How we interpret
these points will lead us our conclusions. 

 So, here it goes.  All references are from American editions:

PS/SS:

Chapter 7, p. 126 - Harry first notices Snape, a "teacher with greasy
black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin." When Snape looks directly
into Harry's eyes, Harry feels " a sharp, hot pain" shoot across his
scar.  Although the pain disappears quickly, Harry found it hard "to
shake off ...the feeling [he'd] gotten from the teacher's look - a
feeling that he didn't like Harry at all."  Harry asks Percy about
Snape, and he learns that Snape teaches potions, though he really
wants the DADA position.  As Percy puts it, Snape "knows an awful lot
about the Dark Arts."  Harry continues to watch Snape, but Snape
doesn't look at Harry again.

Chapter 7, p. 130 - Harry dreams he's wearing Quirrell's turban, and
Draco Malfoy, who is laughing at him, turns into "the hook-nosed
teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold - there was a burst
of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking." 

So, our first intro to Snape is meant to cause suspicion, naturally.
Whereas Quirrell comes off as the timid teacher, Snape appears quite
evil.  Of course, we later learn that appearances are deceiving, but I
can't help but think that such a bad first impression (both for Harry
and for us, the readers) is very difficult to overcome.

Chapter 8, p. 133 - Harry and Ron discuss Snape.  When Harry asks Ron
what they've got on their schedule that day, Ron replies, "Double
Potions with the Slytherins...Snape's head of Slytherin House.  They
say he always favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."

So, apparently, Snape's favoritism is not something that develops just
because Harry is in Gryffindor.  There is precedence for it.  Makes me
wonder what Snape would have done if Harry had succumbed to the
sorting hat and become a Slytherin!

Chapter 8, pp. 136-140 - First potions lesson.  As Harry sees it,
"Snape didn't dislike Harry - he hated [italics] him."   

When he calls Harry's name at roll call, Snape pauses and says, "Ah
yes...Harry Potter. our new - celebrity [italics]."  

We learn that Snape's eyes "were black like Hagrid's, but they had
none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think
of dark tunnels."  

We are also told that Snape has "the gift of keeping a class silent
without effort."  

After Snape's infamous first-year speech, he calls on Harry, asking
him about different potions ingredients.  When Harry can't answer,
"Snape's lips curled into a sneer."  Hermione is trying to answer
these questions, but Snape ignores her, instead continuing to ask
Harry.  

When Snape says to Harry, "Thought you wouldn't open a book before
coming, eh, Potter?", Harry "forced himself to keep looking straight
into those cold eyes. He had[italics] looked through his books ... but
did Snape expect him to remember everything ...?" 

When Snape asks Harry yet another question that he doesn't know the
answer to, Harry responds.  "'I don't know,' said Harry quietly. 'I
think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?' A few people
laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked.  Snape,
however, was not pleased."  Snape then tells Hermione to put her hand
down. He tells the class the answers to the questions he asked Harry,
then tells them to copy down what he just said.  Then, he took off one
point "for your cheek, Potter."  

Snape then puts them into pairs and has them work on potions.  "He
swept around" the room "in his long black cloak," "criticizing almost
everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like." 

When Neville "somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted
blob,"  Neville and Seamus's potion seeps across the floor, "burning
holes in people's shoes....Neville, who had been drenched in the
potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils
sprang up all over his arms and legs."  Snape calls Neville and "Idiot
boy!", clears away the potion, then asks Neville if he added porcupine
quills before taking the cauldron off the fire.  When Neville whimpers
in response, Snape tells Seamus to take him to the hospital wing.  

Snape rounds on Harry and berates him for not helping Neville. He also
takes away another point.  "Thought he'd make you look good if he got
it wrong, did you?" Snape asks Harry.  Harry considers this "so
unfair" that he's about to argue, but Ron stops him, muttering "I've
heard Snape can turn very nasty." 

Harry leaves potions, "his spirits ...low. He'd lost two potions for
Gryffindor in his very first week - why[italics] did Snape hate him so
much?" Ron tries to cheer Harry up, saying that "Snape's always taking
points off Fred and George."

A few things struck me here: 1. Snape only takes of two points.  This
seems rather restrained, compared to what I can remember from later
behavior. 2. Harry is also restrained. His response to Snape is a
little cheeky, but well within the bounds of politeness. He responds
"quietly" to Snape's unfair questioning.  3.  Neville really was, in
this case, a danger to himself and to the class.  Snape was obviously
pretty mean ("Idiot boy!"), but he sends him to the hospital wing
fairly quickly. (A side note, not related directly to this scene: we
learn, in later parts of the book, that Neville is not only bad at
potions, but also at charms - a class in which Harry doesn't want to
partner up with Neville because he's so bad - and flying - where he
breaks his wrist.) 4. Snape is a fairly competent potions teacher, at
least in this scene.  He has "the gift" of keeping the class quiet
("Like McGonagall" a quote I didn't add, but is on page 136). 5.
Still, he is blatantly unfair, as Ron predicted, not only calling out
Harry, but also making Malfoy his teacher's pet from day one. (Some
people have speculated that this is motivated by a need to keep the
Malfoys believing that Snape is still loyal to Voldemort; this scene
can't prove this theory one way or the other.) Ron, however, seems to
think nothing of Snape's favoritism, indicating that Snape's "always
taking points off Fred and George."  Of course, one has to wonder what
Fred and George are up to in potions! :-)  

Chapter 8, p.  141, 142 - Hagrid's hut.  Hagrid calls Filch "that old
git," but tells Harry not to worry about Snape.  "Hagrid, like Ron,
told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the
students.  'But he seemed to really hate[italics] me.' 'Rubbish!' said
Hagrid. 'Why should he?' Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid
didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that." (141) Then, as Harry
leaves Hagrid's hut, he's just heard about the Gringott's break-in,
and he asks himself "And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he
didn't want to tell Harry?"

Of course, we know that this is misdirection, to some extent.  JKR
wants us to associate Snape's hatred of Harry with the mystery of the
Gringott's break-in, but having read later books, I'm assuming that
Hagrid's failure to meet Harry's eyes has to do with the hatred
between Snape and James Potter, which Hagrid would surely have known
about.
Still, I find this scene interesting because on JKR's site, she
responded to a question about bullying by saying, go tell someone, go
tell a teacher or an adult.  If we see Snape's actions in this scene
as bullying, Hagrid (and even Ron) don't seem to agree. 

Chapter 10, pp. 173, 177-178: Troll incident.  As Ron and Harry make
their way to the girl's bathroom to get Hermione, they see Snape,
making Harry wonder why he's not with the rest of the teachers
searching the dungeons.  Then, after fighting the troll, Snape,
McGonagall, and Quirrell come into the bathroom.  Snape looks at the
troll while McGonagall scolds the boys.  Then "Snape gave Harry a
swift, piercing look." Other than a quick reference to Hermione's
lying to a teacher being as unlikely as Snape "handing out treats,"
Snape doesn't figure into the rest of this scene.  

Some have argued that Snape's piercing look was an attempt at
Legilimency.  Also note, Snape's bloody knee (movie contamination)
isn't in this scene.  

Chapter 11, 181-183: The trio is outside, and they see Snape "limping"
across the yard.  Snape scolds Harry for having the library copy of
Quidditch Through the Ages outside. He takes off five points and takes
the book from Harry. Harry mutters angrily to Ron in response to
Snape's actions, and Harry also wonders why Snape's limping.

That evening, Harry goes to find Snape so that he can get the book
back.  He goes to the staffroom, and, after knocking and getting no
response, decides to go inside and look for his book.  "A horrible
scene met his eyes....  One of [Snape's] legs was bloody and mangled.
Filch was handing Snape bandages. 'Blasted thing,' Snape was saying.
'How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?'"
Harry tries to leave the room unnoticed, but Snape catches him,
screams at him to get out, and Harry runs to tell Ron and Hermione
what he's seen. Ron believes Harry; Hermione is skeptical. 

Chapter 11, 190-191: Harry's playing his first match, broomstick goes
wack.  Hermione looks through binoculars, sees Snape.  "He had his
eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath." 
Hermione believes he's jinxing Harry's broom.  Hermione hurries to
where Snape is standing, knocking over Quirrell in the process.  She
sets the hem of Snape's robes on fire.  

Chapter 11, 192-193: In Hagrid's hut, Ron says "It was Snape." But
Hagrid again replies "Rubbish." When they accuse Snape of trying to
steal the PS, Hagrid again says, "Rubbish."  And later, when Hermione
says that she knows she's right, Hagrid says "hotly," "Snape wouldn'
try an' kill a student!"

Chapter 12, 194: As it nears Christmas, certain parts of Hogwarts
become extremely cold: the corridors and the classrooms, but "Worst of
all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their
breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible
to their hot cauldrons."  

I find this somewhat noteworthy because what Harry (or narrator,
rather) is complaining about here is the temperature of the classroom.
 Also, there's a mention later about how Malfoy taunts Harry in
potions class, but nothing about Snape.  So, what I take from this
(perhaps wrongly) is that Snape's classes are going about the same as
always - he's probably continuing to show favoritism, continuing to
make mean comments to Harry or Gryffindors, but not anything extreme
enough to make it into the story. 

Chapter 12, 196: Malfoy insults Ron's family, and Ron dives at him.
Snape catches them and takes 5 points away from Ron, even after Hagrid
sticks up for Ron.  Ron is incensed with Malfoy, and Harry says that
"I hate them both ... Malfoy and Snape."  

Chapter 12, 207: Harry, in his invisibility cloak, is running from
Filch in the Restricted Section.  Harry overhears Filch tell Snape
that, "You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was
wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library - the
Restricted Section."  Snape goes with Filch to look for the culprit,
but they pass by Harry without noticing him.  

I read this, combined with the scene where Filch is helping Snape
bandage his knee, as Snape trying to keep an eye out for
Quirrell!Mort.  I do wonder, though, why he didn't go to the Hospital
Wing when his knee was hurt - does he not trust Poppy Pomfrey, and if
not, why does he trust Filch?

Chapter 13, 216-217: brief mention of Snape, when Wood tells Quidditch
team that Snape is refereeing the next match.  Hermione and Ron urge
Harry to get out of the match, fearing for his safety. 

Chapter 13, 220-221: Again, brief mention, as Harry decides to play. 
He says he wants to show the Slytherins that he's not too scared to
face Snape. 

Chapter 13, 221: "Harry didn't know whether he was imagining it or
not, but he seemed to keep running into Snape wherever he went.  At
times, he even wondered whether Snape was following him, trying to
catch him on his own.  Potions lessons were turning into a sort of
weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry.  Could Snape possibly
know they'd found out about the Sorcerer's Stone ... he sometimes had
the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds."

So, Snape is getting meaner - or being consistently mean - to Harry in
class. At the same time, he's following him around, either trying to
keep him from being caught by Quirrell!Mort alone, or trying to keep
him from nosing around about the Stone, another surefire way to get
hurt.

Chapter 13, 222-224: Quidditch match where Snape is referee. 
Dumbledore has come to watch the game, and Harry feels confident now
that he was safe from Snape.  Snape "was looking so angry...'I've
never seen Snape look so mean,'" Ron told Hermione.  Snape awards two
penalties to Hufflepuff, one because "George Weasley had hit a Bludger
at him," the other "for no reason at all." Harry, searching for the
snitch, almost runs into Snape, but Snape turned "just in time" to see
Harry catch the Snitch, perhaps faster than anyone in school history.
 As the match ends, Snape lands, "white-faced and tight-lipped,"  and
after Dumbledore congratulates Harry, "Snape spat bitterly on the
ground."

If James Potter was a Quidditch hero, I can imagine just how
"bitterly" Snape spat!

Chapter 13, 225-227: As Harry leaves the Quidditch locker room, he
catches Snape sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest.  Following him on
his broomstick, Harry climbs into a tree and sees Quirrell and Snape
talking. Snape interrogates him about the Stone and tells him, "We'll
have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things
over and decided where your loyalties lie." Harry tells Ron and
Hermione what he heard.

This scene has led many to wonder how Snape could be a spy if
Quirrell!mort knew that Snape was working against him.  I have no
thoughts on this, just thought I'd bring that up.

Chapter 14, 228: "Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper,
which surely meant that the Stone was still safe."  

Chapter 14, 232: Hagrid tells the Trio that several professors have
made enchantments to protect the stone, including Snape.  He rebukes
them again for suspecting Snape. Harry figures that Snape must know
how to get past all the enchantments except Fluffy and Quirrell's. 

Chapter 15, 246: Harry overhears Quirrell whimpering, "no - no - not
again, please," and assumes that Snape is threatening him.  He tells
Ron and Hermione, and they all figure that Snape now knows how to get
to the Stone.  

Chapter 15, 260: Harry, after detention in the Forbidden Forest, finds
out from Firenze that Voldemort is probably on the rise again.  He
assumes that Snape is working for Voldemort and tells Ron this. 

Chapter 16, 262: Harry and his fellow students find classes more
stressful as exams approach.  Talks about their exams in Flitwick's
class, McGonagall's class, then says that "Snape made them all
nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how
to make a Forgetfulness potion."

Chapter 16, 268-269: After Harry realizes that Hagrid accidentally
told the mysterious man in the cloak how to get past Fluffy, he tries
to get McGonagall to do something about the Stone.  After she
dismisses his concerns, Snape comes up behind the trio and tells them
they'd better watch their step and that if they are caught wandering
around at night again, they'll be expelled. 

 Chapter 16, 284-85: Hermione and Harry are at Snape's protection. 
Hermione believes this "brilliant" as it doesn't have to do with magic
but with logic. 

Chapter 17, 288-90: Harry is in shock when he realizes that it's
Quirrell, not Snape, who's been behind it all. He's especially stunned
to find out that Snape wanted to save his life, not take it, during
the Quidditch match.  Quirrell says, "Why do you think he wanted to
referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it
again ...All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop
Gryffindor from winning, he did[italics] make himself unpopular." Also
mentions that Snape tried to stop him from getting the stone during
Halloween (Troll scene), and Quirrell was disappointed that Fluffy
"didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly." Harry tries to
keep Quirrell talking, asking about the Snape's confrontation in the
forest. Quirrell responds, "He suspected me all along.  Tried to
frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side
..." Then Harry says, "But Snape always seemed to hate me so much." 
"Oh, he does," Quirrrell responds.  "Heavens, yes.  He was at Hogwarts
with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other.  But he
never wnated you dead[italics]."

That last sentence is telling, to me.  For those who think Snape is
worse than Voldemort, I would point to this idea: Snape hates Harry
but doesn't want to kill him.  It's hard to ignore the distinction JKR
sets up beginning in Book 1 between Snape and Voldemort.  

Chapter 17, pp. 299-300: Harry asks about Snape; Dumbledore corrects
him with , "Professor[italics] Snape, Harry." Harry responds with a
"Yes, him - Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is
that true?" Dumbledore then goes on to compare James/Snape's
relationship with Harry/Draco's and says that James "did something
Snape could never forgive ... He saved his life....Professor Snape
couldn't bear being in your father's debt ....I do believe he worked
so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him
and your father even.  Then he could go back to hating your father's
memory in peace...."

So, Dumbledore shoots down (if you believe him) any abstractly noble
reasons for Snape's protection of Harry.  It's a truly Slytherin
motive, I suppose: save Harry, pay off life debt, hate in peace.  And
the comparison to Draco is telling; there's been a thread about
Draco's place in the story, some indication that he's no longer a true
foe for Harry, not now that Voldemort has become powerful.  Perhaps
this quote could also suggest that Harry's struggles with Snape, while
interesting, stressful, troubling, are not nearly in the same league
as his struggles with Voldemort.

Chapter 17, 306-307: When Dumbledore awards those last minute points,
Snape shakes McGonagall's hand "with a horrible, forced smile" on his
face.  Then Snape catches Harry's eye, and "Harry knew at once that
Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed one jot.  that didn't worry
Harry."

I sometimes wonder if Harry had gone up to Snape, thanked him for his
help that year ... or if Dumbledore had told the story about Snape and
James's relationship a little differently, if things might not have
gotten so bad between Harry and Snape.  It's hard to say.  But I am
struck by that line: "Harry knew at once that Snape's feeling toward
him hadn't changed one jot.  That didn't worry Harry."  What about
Harry's feelings toward Snape? I'm always surprised, when I read this
book, that he's not a bit more graetful for Snape's behavior, or that
he doesn't feel a bit ashamed about the assumptions he jumped to about
Snape.  I think a lot of it, actually, has to do with what he finds
out from Quirrell and Dumbledore: that Snape hated/hates Harry's
father.  Harry is, after all, a boy, a boy who never got to know his
father, who idolizes what little knowledge he has of his father
(mirror, etc.).  So, i can see how this piece of information, told in
the way it was, would be enough to keep Harry from changing his
opinion about Snape.  And as for Snape changing his opinion about
Harry - the boy's adventurous streak (which we all love - it's the
plot, after all!) - causes Snape a great deal of trouble and confirms
(perhaps unfairly) Snape's opinion that Harry is a carbon-copy of his
father.  

So, book 1 has ended, and the feud continues, unchanged by the events
of that story.  And thank goodness, too, or what else would we have
left to discuss?  Still, at this point in the series, at least, I'm
convinced that Snape is mean, unfair, but not really abusive, and
certainly not evil, not in the way of Voldemort.  

Sophierom - who now wonders if she'll get to the other books - that
took a long time! But it was kind of fun! Just don't tell my
dissertation adviser I stopped doing research for a few hours to do
this! :-)