CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 28, Snape's worst memory

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 115163



> Alla wrote:
> > > 10. What do you make out of Snape's reaction after Pensieve
fiasco? Will he ever want to see Harry in his office again?
> 
> Hannah wrote: 
I don't think he *wanted* to see Harry in his office in the first
place :-)  Of all the times Snape loses control, IMO this is  when he
loses it most.  In fact, I would argue it's the only time he 
> really loses his rag (the PoA scene with Fudge doesn't ring true to 
> me).  
> 
> I think he was actually beginning to trust Harry just a little bit 
> more, and that was why he left him in the office, with the 
> pensieve. That Harry betrayed that trust made it feel much, much 
> worse for Snape.
> 
> Snape reacts hysterically. He's white and shaking, he physically 
> attacks Harry (which isn't in character), and his cry of 'get out, 
> get out!' sounds as distressed as it is angry.  He throws that jar 
> of cockroaches, not to hit Harry, but because he is in such a state 
> that he has to take his frustration out on something, and he throws 
> the jar as opposed to seriously injuring Harry.
> 
> The impression I've always had of Snape's reaction is that he's not 
> just angry, he's upset.  I think that he completely broke down once 
> Harry was out of that office.  We don't know why he has such an 
> extreme reaction to that memory, as we don't know what happened 
> afterwards. If James really did remove his pants, for a man like 
> Snape the humilation would probably be as traumatic as anything he 
> witnessed as a DE. <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree that the violation of his tentative and fragile trust of Harry
made his reaction much worse than it would have been the previous year
(when he believed that Harry had stolen potion ingredients out of his
office). He expected to come back to a closed and empty office and
instead found Harry violating his privacy and witnessing his
humiliation. Of course he's furious, and as other posters have pointed
out, he throws Harry *from* him, as if he's afraid he'll do more than
sheke him if he's too near.

But does he actually *throw* the cockroaches? IIIRD, the jar bursts
over Harry's head as he's leaving. I wonder if it was an instance of
involuntary wandless magic like Harry blowing up Aunt Marge. (And
Snape will have to deal with the escaped cockroaches after he's
gone--surely if he'd thrown something he'd have chosen a different
object?) If so, Snape's fury is genuine, not a performance for Harry's
benefit as some posters have suggested. And of course he has no idea
that Harry felt compassion after witnessing that scene. Instead he's
back to his view that Harry is James reincarnated--a sad and ironic
misunderstanding all around. And yet Snape tried yet again to rescue
Harry, searching for him in the forest and contacting the Order to
tell them he'd gone to the MoM. Maybe the breach isn't irreparable
even now.

Carol