Apologizing to Snape? (was: Harry's story, not Snape's)

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 139091

Lady Indigo:
It has nothing to do with JKR's intentions there; often things like 
that are dismissed, but to me that's what it was. I'm not talking 
about being dangled upside-down in public and humiliated, though 
that's bound to hurt anyone; I'm talking about where James threatens 
to take his pants down. If you feel at all sexually exposed, that's 
enough to warrent the term for me. We're all affected by things 
differently, and I've seen and heard of people damaged by less. So I 
can only hope James didn't do this.

vmonte responds:
Yes, I don't like what James and gang do to Snape in this memory 
either. I was also very uncomfortable when James threatened to expose 
Snape--it was wrong--and it bothered me emmensly. 

I'm in the middle of rereading the books right now and I've also seen 
this type of behavior in Snape's interaction with the children--Harry 
in particular. I know people have been saying that Harry has been 
wrong about Snape throughout the books, but I just don't see it. 

Now that we know that Snape is a great legimens/occlumens I'm struck 
by the many times (even in book 1) Harry has felt that Snape was 
invading his mind and extracting information. Harry always feels it 
and it makes him feel violated. 

"Harry didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed 
to keep running into Snape wherever he went. At times he wondered 
whether Snape was following him, trying to catch him on his own. 
Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was 
so horrible (I'm reminded of JKR's comment that Snape is a "deeply 
horrible" person) to Harry. Could Snape possibly know they'd found 
out about the Sorceror's Stone? Harry didn't see how he could--yet he 
sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds" 
(p221, SS).

"Harry wondered whether he could slip his Invisibility Cloak back on, 
thereby gaining his seat at the long Gryffindor table (which, 
inconveniently, was the farthest from the entrance hall) without 
being noticed. As though he had read Harry's mind, however, Snape 
said, "No cloak. You can walk in so that everyone sees you, which is 
what you wanted, I'm sure" (p162, Snape Victorious, HBP).

I can't help but feel that this is like "mind rape." It makes me also 
feel very bad for Ginny who had to endure this kind of "emotional 
rape" for a whole year.

I agree that James was wrong, but Snape is no better.

Vivian