Four Humours (wasRe: CHAPDISC: HBP5, An Excess of Phlegm

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 144268

>  
> As for Snape having an excess of yellow bile, I think it is quite  
fitting.,  
> Again, wikipedia desrcibes these people as "easily angered, and  bad 
> tempered."  
>  
...
>  
> Jaimee
>
It certainly goes along with his sallow complexion, "sallow" being 
defined as "of a pale, sickly, *yellowish* color". At one point, which 
I now of course can't find, he's described as pointing a long, 
*yellow* finger at his class. (Emphasis mine in both cases.)

Once again, I wonder if JKR is hinting that Snape is not in the best 
of health. That yellowish color is generally due to jaundice (and 
Snape certainly has a "jaundiced" outlook on life!), which is due to 
liver disease. Is JKR hinting that our boy drinks on the QT? I should 
think such a thing would be hard to conceal in a society as intimate 
as Hogwarts, where it is certainly no secret that Trelawney hits the 
cooking sherry a little more often than she should. However, other 
things can make for liver trouble, notably stress-related stomach 
problems like GERD (speaking from first-hand experience here). When we 
see young Severus in the Pensieve, he is already not in very good 
health, and it seems to be linked to chronic unhappiness. I wonder if 
he owes the Marauders, among other factors, for a lifetime of 
depression and stress-related illness.

--La Gatta