Cataloging Snape's Behavior, Pt. II CoS (very long)

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 115129


Sophierom:

So, this is part II in my series on Snape as seen in canon (subtitled:
how to waste an enormous amount of time!).  Part I, if you're
interested, can be found at Message 114856
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/114856

Why am I doing this? Well, besides trying to procrastinate on things I
really don't want to do right now, I'm also looking at canon to
understand how it is that some people can adore Snape, while others
think he's worse than Voldemort and should be strung up by his
toenails.  I tend to fall on the Snape-o-phile side, as you'll see by
some of my comments. However, I have attempted, as much as possible,
to keep the descriptions of canon as objective as possible.  Still, as
complete objectivity is impossible, I've included references, all to
the American Edition of CoS.  It's actually quite a lot of fun to
reread these scenes for a specific purpose.  

Okay, onto business:

Chapter 5, 77-82: Snape's first appearance in CoS.

After their infamous run-in with the Whomping Willow,  Harry and Ron
peer through the window at the Sorting Ceremony. Harry notices that
Snape is missing from the head table.  Snape is described as
"Harry's
least favorite teacher.  Harry also happened to be Snape's least
favorite student.  Cruel, sarcastic, and disliked by everybody except
the students from his own house (Slytherin), Snape taught
Potions."  

Ron hopes that Snape is ill, Harry hopes that Snape has left because
he didn't get the DADA position, and then Ron hopes that
Snape's been
sacked.  "I mean, everyone hates him," Ron explains.  Of
course, Snape
is standing right behind the two of them.  In a "very cold
voice"
Snape demands to know why they didn't arrive on the train. 

Snape is further described as follows: "There, his black robes
rippling in a cold breeze, stood Severus Snape.  He was a thin man
with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black
hair, and at this moment, he was smiling in a way that told Harry he
and Ron were in very deep trouble."

 Snape leads them "away from the warmth and light" of the
Great Hall
and into the "cold passageway" that leads to the dungeons. 
Harry
shivers when he enters Snape's office, and the room is full of
"revolting things that Harry didn't really want to know the
name of at
the moment."  The fireplace "was dark and empty."

Snape accuses Harry and Ron with thinking themselves too good to ride
the train.  He believes they "wanted to arrive with a bang
[italics]."
 As Harry tries to explain the barrier at King's Cross Station,
Snape
"coldly" cuts him off.  When Snape asks what they did with
the car,
Harry suspects Snape has been reading their minds.  "This
wasn't the
first time Snape had given Harry" that impression.  But Harry
realizes
that Snape learned about the car through a article in the Evening
Prophet.

Snape "hissed" that the boys were seen.  He reads the article
to them,
then scolds them for damaging the "very valuable Whomping
Willow." 
When Ron tries to defend them, Snape again cuts them off. He says that
if he had his way, they'd both be expelled, but the decision is
not up
to him.  He leaves to get McGonagall.

When he returns with McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor lays into the
boys, also speaking "coldly." Dumbledore also comes into the
room, and
says that if they boys try such a thing again, he will have no choice
but to expel them.  "Snape looked as if Christmas had been
canceled."
He tries to convince Dumbledore that the boys should be expelled, but
Dumbledore says that decision is up to McGongall.  Dumbledore calls
Snape by his first name and responds "calmly" to Snape's
argument. 
Then he says, "Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking
custard tart
I want to sample." Snape "shot a look of pure venom at Harry
and ron
as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office." 

Neri made a great point in her post when she said that perhaps Snape
was painted so badly in the first book because he was the suspected
villain.  However, Snape gets no better treatment in CoS. He's
still
"greasy" and "hook-nosed," and "cold" seems
to be a favorite
description for him.  He seems to want Harry expelled from school, and
appears visibly disappointed when that doesn't happen.  Whether
or not
Snape and Dumbledore are playing "good cop-bad cop," I
can't say for
certain.  But, based on what we know of Snape and his hatred for James
Potter, I happen to think that Snape sincerely would like Harry gone.
 Still, I doubt he sees this as realistic, knowing as he does that
Dumbledore wants to keep him safe from LV.

Chapter 7, 111: Though not actually in the scene, Snape appears
through a note he signs for the Slytherin team, giving them precedence
for the Quidditch field "owing to the need to train their new
seeker."

Chapter 9, 141, 143-45: Snape appears with the rest of the teachers at
the scene of Mrs. Norris's petrification (don't think
that's a word,
but hopefully you know what I mean!). 
After the teachers and the trio go into Lockhart's office, Filch
accuses Harry of harming Mrs. Norris because he knew that Filch was a
squib.  

"From the shadows," Snape speaks.  Initially, it seems as if
he's
sticking up for Harry.  "Potter and his friends may have simply
been
in the wrong place at the wrong time."  But he says this with a
"slight sneer curling" at his mouth, "as though he
doubted it."  He
then goes on to interrogate Harry, asking him why he, Ron, and
Hermione weren't at the feast.  Harry explains that they attended
Nick's Death Day party, and Snape asks why they didn't go to
the feast
afterwards.  Harry doesn't want to say that he's been hearing
voices,
so he lamely says that they were tired.  Catching him in a trap, Snape
asks, "Without any supper?" and a "triumphant smile"
flickers "across
his gaunt face." When Ron lies about being hungry at the same time
that his stomach growls, "Snape's nasty smile widened."  

Snape tells Dumbledore that because Harry isn't being
"entirely
truthful," he should be removed from the Quidditch team
"until he is
ready to be honest."  McGonagall protests, and Dumbledore gives
Harry
"a searching look," one that "made Harry feel as though
he were being
X-rayed."  Then Dumbledore tells Snape, "Innocent until
proven guilty,
Severus."  Then we're told, "Snape looked furious."  

When Lockhart butts into the conversation, offering to "whip up a
Mandrake Restorative Draught," Snape tells the DADA instructor
"icily"
that he is the potions master.

The trio is dismissed, and after talking about the voice, the Chamber,
and Filch's squib status, Harry says that they'd "better
get to bed
before Snape comes along and tries to frame" them again.

In this scene, it seems to me that Snape is quite aware that Harry is
not behind Mrs. Norris's state, but he's willing to use the
situation
to punish Harry and help his Slytherin team nonetheless.  Again,
I'm
not sure if he really expects to get away with such blatant unfairness
in the presence of Dumbledore and McGonagall. It seems almost like
it's something he knows he has to try, even if it won't work.
 And in
some ways, it seems like a little show the three of them put on –
rather like the scene in Snape's office when Ron and Harry have
just
landed the car into the Whomping Willow.  Snape is the "bad
cop" and
both Dumbledore and McGongall play some version of the "good
cop." 
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and this is simply another
sign
of Snape's hatred for Harry.  But I do think he's too smart
to expect
to get away with punishing Harry unfairly right under Dumbledore's
nose. One last thought on the scene – I wonder if he isn't
also trying
to show some sympathy or alliance with Filch.  They were working
together in PS/SS. 

Chapter 9, 146: Recounting the week after Mrs. Norris's
petrification,
JKR tells us in passing that "Harry had been held back in Potions,
where Snape had made him stay behind to scrape tubeworms off the
desks."

Chapter 9, 159-160: The Trio are discussing the possibility of using
Polyjuice Potion to find out if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin.  When
Hermione suggests the potion, both boys ask, "What's
that?"  Hermione
tells them that "Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks
ago," and Ron
mutters, "D'you think we've got nothing better to do in
Potions than
listen to Snape?" Hermione also reports that "Snape said it
[Polyjuice] was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's
bound
to be in the Restricted Section of the library."

Surely I'm reading too much into this, but rereading this scene, I
never realized how odd it was that Snape would not only mention the
potion (that doesn't seem odd in an of itself), but that he'd
also
mention the book it could be found in.  I'm almost 100% positive
this
is just a plot device, but still it makes me wonder
 

Chapter 11, 186-188: The Trio plan their theft of bicorn horn and
boomslang skin from Snape's stores.  

"Harry privately felt he'd rather face Slytherin's
legendary monster
than let Snape catch him robbing his office." When Hermione tells
the
boys that "all you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape
busy for five minutes or so," Harry thinks that "Deliberately
causing
mayhem in Snape's Potions class was about as safe as poking a
sleeping
dragon in the eye."

A nice description of a "usual" potions class: "Potions
lessons took
place in one of the large dungeons.  Thursday afternoon's lesson
proceeded in the usual way.  Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between
the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients.
 Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the
Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively. 
Draco Malfoy, who was Snape's favorite student, kept flicking
puffer-fish eyes at Ron and Harry, who knew that if they retaliated
they would get detention faster than you could say
`Unfair.'" 

Harry is so nervous about creating the diversion that he "hardly
listened as Snape paused to sneer at his watery potion.  When Snape
turned and walked off to bully Neville, Hermione caught Harry's
eye
and nodded."

After Harry causes Goyle's potion to explode and shower the whole
class with Swelling Solution, "Snape was trying to restore calm
and
find out what had happen." This is when Hermione slips into
Snape's
office.

"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared.  "Anyone who has been
splashed, come
here for a Deflating Draft – when I find out who did this –"
After
administering the antidote to everyone who needed it, Snape goes to
Goyle's cauldron and finds the remains of Harry's firework. 
"There
was a sudden hush."

"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, "I
shall make
sure [italics] that person is expelled." Snape is looking right at
Harry as he says this, and Harry leaves the classroom worried.  Ron
tries to reassure him by asking, if Snape can't prove it's
you, "What
can he do?" "Knowing Snape, something foul," Harry
responds.

Noteworthy here is JKR's use of the word "bullying" in
relation to
Snape's treatment of Neville in potions class.

Chapter 11, 189-195: Dueling Incident.

Lockhart introduces Snape as his "assistant" and assures the
crowd of
students that "you'll still have your Potions master when
I'm through
with him, never fear!" In response, "Snape's upper lip
was curling."
Harry wonders "why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been
looking at him[italics] like that he'd have been running as fast
as he
could in the opposite direction."

As Lockhart and Snape prepare to duel, Lockhart bows to Snape
"with
much twirling of his hands," where as "Snape jerked his head
irritably."  When Lockhart assures the students that "Neither
of us
will be aiming to kill," Harry mutters, "I wouldn't bet
on that,"
seeing "Snape barring his teeth."

Snape's resulting "Expelliarmus!" spell blasts Lockhart
off his feet.
When Lockhart recovers and says that Snape's disarming spell was
obvious and easy to stop, Snape looks "murderous."  Snape and
Lockhart
then pair off students to practice.  Snape comes over to Ron and Harry
and sneers, "Time to split up the dream team."  He then pairs
Harry
with Malfoy.

As the Dueling Club breaks into chaos (Harry and Malfoy hitting each
other with jinxes, Neville and Justin lying on the floor, poor
Hermione in a headlock), Lockhart tries to create order. Snape
isn't
mentioned as trying to help calm the crowd at all.  And when Lockhart
suggests that Neville and Justin duel in front of the entire club,
Snape responds as follows: " `A bad idea, Professor
Lockhart,' said
Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. `Longbottom
causes devastation with the simplest spells.  We'll be sending
what's
left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox.'
Neville's round, pink face went pinker.'"  Then, "with a
twisted
smile," Snape suggests Malfoy and Harry.

As Lockhart tries to show Harry how to respond to Malfoy (messing up
badly in the process), "Snape smirked" and then
"whispered something
in [Malfoy's] ear." When the two boys duel, Malfoy casts a
spell that
creates a snake.  It moves toward Harry, "ready to strike."

Snape "lazily" tells Harry not to move; he's "clearly
enjoying the
sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. 
Then Snape says "I'll get rid of it."  Of course,
Lockhart butts in
and casts a spell that makes the snake fly into the air.  In a rage,
the snake looks to strike the nearest person, which happens to be
muggleborn Justin.

After Harry tells the snake to back off, and after Justin angrily asks
Harry what he's "playing at," Snape comes forward and
vanishes the
snake.  "Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way:
It was
a shrewd and calculating look, and Harry didn't like it."

A couple of things here: first, Snape does publicly humiliate Neville;
second, Snape tells Malfoy to cast the serpent spell (some have
suggested that he picks this spell on purpose because he wants to find
out if Potter speaks Parsletongue): and third, Snape gives Harry a
"shrewd and calculating look" after Harry speaks
Parsletongue.  I
actually think that Snape doesn't pick the spell in order to find
out
about Harry's parsletongue abilities; after all, Snape offers to
get
rid of the snake, and it's only because Lockhart interferes that
we
get to see Harry's ability.  However, once Harry does use
Parsletongue, Snape is quite interested.  This scene also shows
Snape's continuing mean behavior (bullying? Abuse?) toward
Neville.

Chapter 13, 228:

A passing mention: "Snape had given them so much homework, Harry
thought he was likely to be in the sixth year before he finished
it."

Chapter 13, 236-237: 

Lockhart, in pink robes,  decorates the Great Hall with lurid pink
flowers and hearts.  All the teachers are described as looking
"stony
faced," but Snape is also described as looking "as though
someone had
just fed him a large beaker full of Skele-Gro." And after Lockhart
suggests the students ask Snape for some love potion, "Snape was
looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would
be force-fed poison."

I have to say, when there's a bumbling idiot like Lockhart on
staff,
Snape really does come off a great deal better.  I want to cheer
whenever Snape responds badly to one of Lockhart's stupid moves. 
Of
course, when there's a good DADA professor like Lupin, Snape looks
much worse, but that's for another post.

Chapter 13, 239:  When Malfoy tries to nab Riddle's diary (after
Harry's bag has burst in the corridor," Harry "pulled out
his wand and
shouted `Expelliarmus!' and just as Snape had disarmed
Lockhart, so
Malfoy found the diary shooting out of his hand into the air."

I included this quote because Harry actually learned something from
Snape! However, I find it odd that Expelliarmus would work for a diary

 thought it was only for wands. Guess not.

Chapter 14, 259: Very brief mention as Ron and Harry use the
invisibility cloak to sneak out and see Hagrid.  "Their
Invisibility
Cloak didn't stop them from making any noise, and there was a
particularly tense moment when Ron stubbed his toe only yards from the
spot where Snape stood standing guard.  Thankfully, Snape sneezed at
almost exactly the moment Ron swore."

Chapter 15, 267: Potions class after Hagrid's been arrested and
Dumbledore has been forced to take a leave. As Malfoy makes derogatory
comments about Dumbledore and McGonagall, "Snape swept past Harry,
making no comment about Hermione's empty seat and cauldron."
Malfoy
asks Snape why he doesn't apply for the position of headmaster. 
Snape
"couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile" and says that
"Professor
Dumbledore has only been suspended 
 I daresay he'll be back
with us
soon enough." Malfoy responds with a cheeky, "Yeah,
right," and then
says that his father would vote for Snape as headmaster.  Malfoy
continues to kiss up to Snape, calling him "the best teacher
here." 
In response, Snape "smirked as he swept off around the
dungeon."  He
makes no comment when Malfoy says that it was a pity that the mudblood
Hermione wasn't killed.  

Ron scrambles to get Malfoy, but Harry and Dean grab him and hold him
back.  Just as Ron says he's about to "kill [Malfoy] with
[his] bare
hands" for that comment, Snape tells the class to "hurry
up" because
he has to escort them to Herbology (now that they're not allowed
to
walk alone in the halls).  

There has been a great deal of speculation that Snape's job as a
spy
relies not on being a part of LV's inner circle but instead
through
maintaining a close connection with Lucius Malfoy.  You could read
this scene, along with Snape's favoritism toward Draco, as a
piece of
evidence for this idea.  You could also read the scene as a sign of
Snape's cruelty (perhaps he simply doesn't care about
Hermione and/or
he shares the sentiment about "mudbloods.") Being a
Snape-o-phile, I'm
tempted to read the scene a little more optimistically.  Just as Ron
is about to attack Malfoy, Snape butts in and tells the class to get a
move-on.  If Snape was paying attention, he passed up a golden
opportunity to punish Ron; he could have waited two more seconds,
broken up the fight, and then given Ron detention (while letting
Malfoy get off).  Instead, his timely call to order keeps Ron from
making a stupid move, in essence, saving him from punishment.  I'd
like to think Snape intervenes because he also despises Malfoy's
sentiments and he really doesn't want to reward Malfoy for them by
allowing Ron to get into trouble.  I'm also tempted to read
Snape's
failure to make a remark about Hermione not as indifferent cruelty but
instead as a very subtle sign that he's not happy with the
situation.
 We all know Snape is one to pick on the Gryffindors.  It wouldn't
have been out of character for him to say something like, "Oh,
what a
pity the know-it-all isn't here to answer any questions
today."  Given
his typical mean behavior, I'd take silence as a compliment! 
I'm also
optimistic about his affirmation of Dumbledore's imminent return;
he
seems to be offering his own version of support to the headmaster
there.  Of course, I'm quite possibly reading way too much into
this
scene (okay, almost definitely reading too much into it!). 

Chapter 16, 293-295: McGonagall calls a staff meeting to announce that
Ginny's been taken to the Chamber.  Harry and Ron are hiding in
the
wardrobe, eavesdropping.  When McGonagall says that a student has been
taken into the chamber, "Snape gripped the back of a chair very
hard
and said, `How can you be sure?'" 

After McGonagall has told the staff that it was Ginny, Lockhart comes
banging into the meeting, late, but "he didn't seem to notice
that the
other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably like
hatred."  Snape steps forward and tells Lockhart to go search for
Ginny since he'd been complaining that he'd not gotten a
chance to get
the monster before Hagrid's arrest.  Lockhart runs off to his
office,
and McGonagall, relieved, says, "that's got him[italics] from
under
our feet."  All of the rest of the teachers head back to their
houses
to prepare the students for an early departure from Hogwarts.

Again, being a Snape-o-phile, I read this scene with a small glimmer
of hope.  However mean he can get, he seems concerned about the
possibility of a student's death, and he shows solidarity with
the staff.

Chapter 16, 298: Harry uses the "Expelliarmus" spell to disarm
Lockhart as he tries to use a memory charm on them. Harry
"furiously"
tells Lockhart, "Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us
that one."

Wow, he uses the title Professor! Again, it's amazing how much a
good
guy Snape can look in comparison with Lockhart!

Well, that's it for CoS.  In many ways, Snape is still the cold,
greasy, nasty professor we saw in PS/SS.  His bullying (JKR's
word) of
Neville has continued, perhaps even escalated.  But as I've
mentioned
several times, he does seem rather more appealing than Lockhart! And,
he shows, in my opinion, loyalty to the school, Dumbledore, and the
overall safety of the students (concern for Ginny – not as Ginny
Weasley, but as student taken down into Chamber; his quick actions to
reverse Swelling Solution when Harry causes Goyle's cauldron to
explode; his marching the students to Herbology when the students are
no longer allowed to walk alone between classes. It's true that
these
last two actions are part of his job, so it's not as if he's
doing
anything extraordinary
 but he does seem to take his job as a
teacher
seriously, at least.).  

PoA, when/if I get to it, will be much more difficult for me to do. 
With Lupin's caring as a foil, along with Snape's hatred of
Lupin and
Black, my favorite greasy git is bound to look pretty bad in the next
book! Still, will he look evil? We'll see. But he certainly
didn't
appear evil in CoS.