CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 28, Snape's worst memory

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 115569


I (Carol) wrote:
> I agree that the violation of his [Snape's] 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 shake 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 responds to her own post:
IIIRD? Maybe that's some distorted, backwards form of Richard III? It
was intended, however, to be IIRC, but of course I didn't see the
error till it flew by, winking Peevesishly, as I hit the Send button.
So, on the theory that people didn't respond because they found my
post unintelligible, I'll repeat my question:

Does anyone besides me think that the jar of cockroaches exploded as a
result of Snape's fury, not because he threw it? Was it involuntary,
wandless magic like Harry's blowing up of Aunt Marge? If so, the anger
wasn't an act (but did not remain at white heat, either).

Carol, who really hates typos, especially her own