Vengeance on Snape?Re: Snape--Abusive?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 115834


I (Carol) wrote:
> > <snipped and edited for typographical correctness!>  I don't see
Snape as at all superfluous or "leftover from another time." He'll be
all of forty when the series is over, hardly a  senior citizen even by
Muggle standards and quite a young man within the WW. Moreover, he's
highly intelligent and gifted. I would love to see his gifts
acknowledged--maybe a position with the MoM as a reward for his
services to the Order. He'd make a hell of an auror, IMO. 
> <snip>

> Jen responded: 
> My thought is, does Snape really want his gifts acknowledged by the 
> WW? The only information we have about this is in POA, when 
> Dumbledore interprets that Snape is reeling from the loss of the 
> Order of Merlin. That seem legitimate, but once again it's 
> Dumbledore's interpretation. Maybe Snape is actually reeling from 
> the fact that Sirius "got away" with something again. Or that three 
> school children made him unconcious in the Shrieking Shack. 
> 
> Snape appears to be a loner with low regard for societal 
> approbation. He doesn't seem the type to need outside monetary 
> reward or intangibles. And there's always that question of whether 
> the WW at large will ever *really* forget he was once a DE. I'm all 
> for him finding another job, though ;).
> 
> Jen, thinking this is yet another unanswerable Snape question 
> because of all the details held back for plot purposes.

Carol again:
You're right, of course, but that doesn't keep us from speculating!

My thought is that Snape joined the DEs in the first place in the hope
of using his talents in a way that would earn him the recognition he
seems not to have received at Hogwarts. We know he wasn't Head Boy; he
seems not to have been a Prefect, either, or he would have docked
points from James and Sirius or given them detention rather than
fighting back. I think that Lucius Malfoy convinced him that Voldemort
would appreciate a young man of his talents and provide a chance to
make great discoveries in the Dark Arts. I'm sure there was an element
of revenge as well, and he let himself be talked into what he knew was
wrong. And then something happened that was more than he could
tolerate and he had no one to go to but Dumbledore, who offered him
trust and responsibility and forgiveness--a second chance, as
Crouch!Moody put it. But still I think that need or craving for
approval or appreciation was not fully satisfied--and won't be until
he earns the DADA position. He certainly cares about Dumbledore's
approval, as his words to Crouch!Moody indicate: "Dumbledore trusts me!"

I agree that he doesn't seem to value money very much (as long as he
has decent dress robes for banquets and nice green ones for special
Quidditch matches), but I do think that he would have valued that
Order of Merlin for trying to save the Potter boy and his friends from
a werewolf and a murderer (his view of the situation as indicated by
his words to Fudge in PoA chapter 21). A reward like that might help
make up for being bit on the leg by a three-headed dog and for all the
various indignities and frustrations he's endured trying to keep Harry
out of trouble, not to mention the dangers he's encountered working
for the Order. (I'm trying to present this from Snape's viewpoint, as
I think he sees himself rather than as the reader sees him. To him,
Harry is a boy who breaks the rules and he's trying to treat him as
any other student would be treated, PoA Am. ed. 387). 

Of course there's a lot more to it than that, and not all of his
motives are as noble as they appear from this post, which again
reflects what I think is his own perspective.

Anyway, there's no question that he's resourceful, intelligent, and
gifted in both potions and DADA, whatever his faults as a teacher, and
I also think that DD is right to trust him. So if he lives, and if he
comes through for the good side as I hope he will, I hope he gets his
reward at last, if not the DADA post then a position as an auror.

Carol