Canon, please

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 134359

Dashing through the posts at breakneck speed, whilst trying to keep 
with 2 other lists and JKR interviews, I must take time out to 
question an assumption that has been around since OoP and has never 
been fully explained to me.

Where in canon does it say that Snape was abused as a child? 

The only memory we have of his family is that of a hook-nosed man 
yelling at a cowering woman as a child looks on crying.

So... what are our options?

1) As the inimitable Kneasy is fond of speculating, the man is Snape 
and the woman and child are his wife and child.

2) The boy is Snape, and the man is Grandpa Prince who is yelling at 
his daughter.  I am starting to lean towards this one.  Now we know 
Snape's dad was Muggle, and it seems that Harry would assume by 
Snape's DE past that Snape was a pure-blood.  So if the man was 
dressed in Muggle clothes, Harry would mention it.  This does not 
seem to be the case.

3) If the man is indeed Tobias, and his choice of clothing has gone 
unmentioned, all we have is that he is yelling and a woman is 
cowering and a boy is crying.  Does this spell out abuse?  Not in my 
book.  All it tells us is that the guy was mad, the woman was 
(ashamed/scared/embarrassed/insert reason one cowers here) and that 
the boy was crying.

He may not have even been yelling at her, but to her.  The boy could 
have been crying because of the yelling.  Kids do that.  Try yelling 
around one once.  They go to pieces.  

In short, there are so many unanswered questions that it seems to me 
that an analysis of abused!Snape is way over what we see in canon.

I won't say that it is beyond reason.  If JKR wants to use it as 
foreshadowing, she is well on her way, but by itself, it's not 
there.  If people believe it as a gut feeling, I can certainly buy 
that.  I have gut feelings about many things ;o)  

So, if anyone is convinced that Snape was abused, and would like to 
share their reasoning, I'm all ears.  I would just be interested to 
know if I am just not sharing a gut feeling, or if I am missing canon.

Ginger, wondering how many horns can a Slughorn slug if a Slughorn 
can slug horns?