Severus and the DADA exam /James

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 123957


<Finwitch wrote:
You know, that's the big question, even if Snape did NOT know.
Honest, they clearly saw each other as enemies (and for the most
part, still do) - I can't so much as see a situation... what -
Snape taking orders from Sirius, particularly when they're not on
the same side? WHAT??? I just can't believe it.

<SSSusan wrote:
I thought the general idea was just that everyone knew Snape was a
nosy kind of guy, and that he *really* wanted to know what these
four were doing whenever they ran off. The idea, then, is that
Snape wanted to follow Lupin in order to spy on him, not to confront
him, convinced that he'd find him/them doing something illegal that
he could report them for, getting them expelled. Of course, if you
believe that Snape had figured out Lupin was a werewolf by this
time, then it doesn't really make much sense that he'd have
followed.

vmonte responds:
I don't know SSSusan, there is something about the penseive memory
that has always nagged at me, besides what happened to Snape.

In every book JKR has shown us a glimpse of the past. She did it
with Tom Riddle's diary, Dumbledore and Snape's penseive memories,
etc. I find it rather interesting that in Tom's diary we first
believe that Tom is a wonderful kid who helped to capture the
monster in the chamber. We are also lead to believe that Hagrid let
the beast out.

In Dumbledore's memories we see the DE trials. We are again led to
believe that perhaps Crouch Jr. is innocent and that his father is a
heartless person (we later find out that Crouch Jr. is in fact a
DE).

Now about Snape - I read a very interesting article at Mugglenet
(Snape Losing Control -2), which discusses Snape's penseive memory.
(Another poster on this site memtioned it a few days ago.)
Here is the link:

http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials...ower/nt36.shtml

This article claims that JKR named the chapter "Snape's Worst
Memory" because it was the worst memory of James he had. The article
claims that Snape specifically picked this memory for Harry to see
so that his hero worship of James would be destroyed.

Think about it, Snape had already had a few Occlumency lessons with
Harry and would have realized that Harry's childhood was not a happy
one. (Harry did not live a priviledged childhood like James.) JKR
even makes sure that we understand that Snape has caught glimpses of
Harry's miserable life with the Dursleys (Snape asks Harry who the
dog belonged to, etc.).

Snape even tells Harry about how Voldemort uses people who wear
their hearts on their sleeves, etc. Snape now knows that Harry is
nothing like his father, yet he obviously still hates him.

He plants the memory of James into the penseive as a trap. (Want to
make a bet that Dumbledore warned Snape that Harry might take a peak
into the penseive? How could Snape resist this setup?!)

So, of course, Harry looks into the penseive and he is emotionally
destroyed by what he sees (Harry even begins to day dream that his
father somehow forced his mother to marry him).

Snape puts on a show about being angry, and throws Harry out (but
not before telling Harry not to mention the memory to anyone).

I find it hard to believe that this is Snape's worst memory
(watching or participating in the torture of other people are not his
worst memories though). JKR also lets us see other humiliating
childhood memories of Snape, but Snape doesn't even react to Harry
seeing these--that's bizzare!)

I also wanted to point out that Snape has in fact made a mistake in
letting Harry see that particular memory because if you really pay
attention to what is happening in that scene you do find out a lot
about Snape. During the penseive memory (before Snape is attacked),
James and gang are discussing question 10 on the exam. The question
is on how to detect a werewolf. (I find it funny that Snape gives
this same essay to Lupin's students during PoA. Hermione realizes
what Lupin is because of this essay.)

Anyway, the marauders are discussing the exam (all the while calling
each other by their animagus nick names). Snape also seems to be
engrossed over the exam as he walks past James. Was Snape also
engrossed over question 10? (Thanks Finwitch for pointing this out.)
Was he putting two-and-two together about Lupin? If so, does it mean
that he already knew what Lupin was when he followed Sirius during
the prank? If so, what was Snape up to? (It really reminds me of PoA 
when Snape follows Lupin into the Whomping Willow. Was he planning 
on killing Lupin so that he could get some stupid award? Did James 
ruin his plan?) 

I remember reading somewhere that the books seem to be building on
the theme of mistaken identity and that by the 7th book something
large was going to be revealed. I think that Harry is going to tell
Hermione about this memory and she is the one who is going to figure
out what Snape is all about. She did it with Lupin, she will do it
again.