Why Snape Hates Neville (Another New Wild Hare theory)

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 127772


> > Sabrina wrote:
> > <snipped>
> > I was wondering if the reason as for Snape hating Neville, and 
Harry 
> > has to do with who is "the one."  
> > This may also explain why Snape is so much more horrible to 
Harry.  
> Not 
> > only because of his gripe with James Potter, but also because he 
> knows 
> > that Harry is not "the one."
> 
> KarentheUnicorn's Reply:
> 
> Ok so maybe it might not be new, this is probably the dumbest 
> Idea/theory I've had, but I was thinking about why Professor Snape 
> would hate Neville. Now, I'm not sure of the ages of the 
Longbottoms? 
> Alice and Frank, there is no mention of there ages so, is not sure 
how 
> well this theory holds up, but, I'll just toss it out and see what 
> everyone thinks.
> 
> A lot of people have had theories that Snape is in love with Lily, 
ok, 
> so, what if he was in love with someone else. What if Alice and 
Frank 
> are the same ages as Lily and James, and were in school with that 
> whole group? What if it was actually Alice he might have been in 
love 
> with?
<snip> 
> My other Theory on why he hates sweet ol' Neville so much, maybe 
> because perhaps, Neville may remind Snape of himself in school his 
> first few years at Hogwarts
<snip>

Hannah:  Great crazy (and not so crazy) theories, KarentheUnicorn!  

I'd not heard the theory of Snape being in love with Alice, but it 
would work as well as it does for Lily - in fact, probably better.  
The timing is a bit of a problem, as the Longbottoms were almost 
certainly older than the Potters.  

It takes several years (three I think) to become an Auror, and Frank 
and Alice are spoken of as though they had already qualified and 
acheieved positions of respect within the profession.  This would 
make them at least two years older than the Potters, probably more.  

OTOH, that doesn't mean that Snape couldn't have had feelings for 
Alice.  He could have known her as an older girl at school (Snape 
canonically hang around with students from higher years) or maybe he 
knew her through a family connection from outside of school.

The second theory, about Neville reminding Snape of himself, is a 
very interesting one, and I rather like it.  Snape is exactly the 
sort of person who might dislike a child on that basis.  Look at 
his 'fools who wear their heart on their sleeve' speech.  Slight 
case of the pot calling the kettle black...

There is an excellent fanfiction by After the Rain 
called 'Distorting Mirrors' (on FA), which explores the idea that a 
lot of Snape's horrible behaviour stems from his inability to let go 
of the past and his seeing not just himself, but the friends he once 
had who've since been killed/ imprisioned, in the students that he 
currently teaches.  

In that case, it's the Slytherins that he is seeing in that light, 
but it's quite possible that the same applies for Neville.  We know 
that Snape doesn't always see people for what they are, rather for 
what he thinks they are.  At least, that's true of Harry, whom he 
seems to genuinely believe is arrogant, over-confident and pampered, 
when the opposite is the case.  Whether Harry is a special case due 
to his hatred of James is uncertain.  I suspect he's not.  Snape 
seems to form very strong convictions and refuse to let them go even 
in the face of contradictory evidence.  

I still lean towards the reluctant belief that Snape is horrible to 
Neville because he is an easy target.  But these are some really 
interesting alternatives. 

Hannah