Snape giveaway by JKR in BBC interview?

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 134160

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "desastreuse" 
<desastreuse at y...> wrote:
<SNIP>

 It seems to me 
> that Rowling is truly hedging when it comes to Snape's nature 
(e.g., 
> the recent Leaky Cauldron interview) but did give herself away here 
> a bit. The omission of Snape is very telling, indeed. The small-
> potatoes cruelty of Umbridge, the smarminess of Lockhart, the
> priggish bullying of Dursley capped only by the predictable 
violence 
> of Voldemort leaves a hole big enough to drive a Mack truck through 
> when it comes to Snape's "apparent" cruel, evil, and violent 
> treachery. Certainly she hasn't forgotten potentially and arguably 
> the worst villain of the entire series, he of the gross greasy hair 
> and the yellow teeth, the one she just wrote most recently about in 
> her most controversal text yet? 
> 
> Indeed, at times it not what we say, it's what we don't say that 
> matters most. 
> 


Yes, sometimes omission is a vital key to understanding a statement, 
but sometimes it isn't.  You have to be extremely careful with this 
kind of reasoning, as it can very quickly get you into deep 
problems.  It is true she didn't mention Snape.  However, she didn't 
mention Bellatrix, Lucius, or Wormtail either.  I doubt we can imply 
from such an omission that those characters are not evil, or that 
they are people she would like to be stuck on an island with.

Lupinlore