[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape and Harry again.

[Kethryn]

No: HPFGUIDX 114176

>>Potioncat:
One of my favorite threads...getting to argue with Neri and Alla at 
the same time...made my  head spin!  A host of posters participated 
in this one, providing everything from canon to scientific data.

I'd like to suggest two more posts from the thread Pippen (pro 
Snape) 107919  and Neri (anti Snape) 108037.

One view was that Snape wasted time by not responding faster. Either 
out of negligence or apathy.  The other view is that he responded 
appropriately given information at the time.<<



Kethryn -

Now, just to add a bit of fuel to the fire.  Last night, I had an epiphany while lying in bed, waiting for sleep to come (and I had to exercise severe self control not to leap out of bed, turn on the computer, and email it in) so let's see if I can recreate the thought process.

And this is all about Snape and his attitudes and a couple of things that have been bothering me.

1.  In the Sorcerer's Stone, all those "chats" Snape had with Quirrel are bugging me.  Of course, we don't know a lot of what was said but, since Quirrel had Voldemort for a pet parasite, Snape took a real risk in speaking to Quirrel.  If Snape knew that Voldemort was leeching on Quirrel, then I'm not sure that he would have even talked to Quirrel, not if he wanted to protect his identity as a double agent.

2.  Snape must act the way he does towards Harry in order to protect his [Snape's] life, which is kind of selfish but goes hand in hand with Slytherin doctrine.   Wait, think about it for a second.  Who is in Potions with Harry?  Malfoy, right?  And we all know that Malfoy carries home tales to his father - "everyone thinks he is so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick - [...] You have told me this at least a dozen times already" (CoS, American ed, p.62).  So, with Voldemort out on the loose and with a Malfoy spy in his class, Snape must act like a jerk towards Harry (and he might enjoy it a little bit because of his hatred for James).  Snape knows,also, that there are other DE children in Slytherin, those children are taking home tales to their parents (the ones that aren't locked up in Azkaban that is) so he has to assume that Voldemort (or at least the other DEs) is getting an earful from the kids.  Those DE parents, to say nothing of Voldemort, could make life very unpleasant for Snape and maybe, in trying to go for Snape, they might kill a student or someone close to him.  No, it would be much easier if Snape pretended to hate Harry in order to protect his identity and his position.  I mean, if Snape dies, who would replace him in Potions?  Sheesh, if Umbridge did, I wouldn't put it past her to poison the class or something (something Snape threatened to do but never actually did).  

3.  On the whole threatening to poison the class issue, I think Snape would be right to do so if he did poison the students.  Snape would not let a student that he poisoned actually die, he would be testing their reactions to the attack, if you will.  Kind of like throwing the child in the water to see if they can figure out swimming while the parent is right there to rescue the kid if he or she gets into trouble.  Another thing too, since we know the WW is not a safe place by any stretch of the imagination, it is quite likely that one or more of his students will be poisoned sometime in their life.  If Snape had poisoned the class and they knew how to react to the poison because they had already done it in a controlled enviornment, they would be much less likely to panic and would, theoretically, be able to get help before they died.  Snape's teaching will stand between the students and Death, literally, and that is not an easy thing to impress upon students so he rides them harder than the other teachers do.  Can you imagine how he might feel when word gets back to him that one of his former students died because of poison? 

4.  Snape really was in Slytherin House while he was at Hogwarts.  I read that last night either in the Sorcerer's Stone or on the beginning of the Chamber of Secrets.  Hagrid, I think, told Harry but I didn't write down the page number and I can't find it again (well, not with the few seconds I had to look at any rate, I have to go to class soon).

So, therefore, Snape is acting as he must in order to retain the faith with the other Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort without arousing suspicion.  I mean, it would look very bloody odd if Snape was actually nice to Harry, the boy who killed his master, after all.  No, if Snape were really working for Voldemort still, he would treat Harry exactly the way he is treating him now which, if you notice, is merely an extention of how Malfoy treats him.  Damn, Snape is a good actor.

Kethryn - who is rather pleased with this particular theory even if it sounded better at 3AM.


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