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

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 115270



> Sophierom :
> >  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."
> > 
> 
> Neri:
> Why does Snape prefer the cold dungeon so much that he made it his
> office? It might be due to a mechanistic reason (like "Snape is a
> vampire") but I tend to think it is a metaphor. IMHO JKR tells us 
that
> Snape is a cold person. Unnaturally cold, actually, so much so that
> there is something suspicious about his humanity.

Hannah: I think his quarters are in the dungeon because that's where 
the Slytherin common room is.  Snape is head of Slyhterin house.  We 
see in PoA and OotP that McGonagall must sleep near the Gryffindor 
common room, close enough to get there quickly when Neville runs to 
fetch her after Harry's snake vision, and even to be woken up by the 
disturbance after Black broke in.  

So it makes sense that heads of house sleep in rooms close to those 
of their charges, in case they are needed.  Now we know that Snape 
was a Slytherin himself, he spent 7 years sleeping in a dungeon 
dormitory and hanging out in a dungeon common room, so he's used to 
it.  Snape is paranoid about his office and supplies (and with good 
reason) so he has them close to his rooms.  And it makes sense to 
have his classrooms down there too.

On a side note, has anyone ever realised that when the troll is 'in 
the dungeons' in PS/SS, DD sends the children back to their 
dormitories, which for the Slytherins, are *in* the dungeons.  Is he 
trying to get rid of them all? ;-)

Hannah