My Character Analysis of Snape (was:The Geist Predicts)

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 129931

My apologies of being so late to the mark (RL, you now), but since
Nora and Amanda published some of their predictions regarding Snape, I
couldn't avoid posting mine. This is not a plot theory (like MAGIC
DISHWASHER or VASSAL) but more of a prediction or a character theory
(like LOLLIPOP or George or Diana). Much of it isn't based on hard
canon (since we have very little of it regarding Snape) but rather on
my gut feeling and the vibes I think I get from the canon that we do
have. Snape fans should be advised that my reading of Snape is quite
different from Fanon!Snape, but this is my little theory, and I'll hug
it and pet it and call it, er... maybe Fred? Anyway, in order to make
it easier I arranged it according to all the common Snape questions.
So here goes:


* What was Severus like as a child?

We only get two very short glimpses of Snape as a child (the memories
that Harry saw in his mind) so I take it that they show us the most
important things about him. Like Harry and Tom, Snape was an abused
child and ridiculed by other children. As a result he became obsessed
with gaining power through knowledge, and this is the origin of his
dedication to the Dark Arts. This is also the origin of his obsession
with fame and status ("you'll address me as Sir", "I'm the Potions
master in this school", "bottle Fame, brew Glory", etc.) and why he's
so vindictive. I believe the Snapes were purebloods, but probably not
from a distinguished or a rich family, since I find nothing
aristocratic about Snape (especially compared with Lucius).


* What was Severus like at Hogwarts?

As a pureblood and a passionate student of the Dark Arts, Snape was
naturally sorted to Slytherin. Was he indeed part of the Lestranges'
gang? I think they included him just because he was useful to have
around, with all his Dark Arts skills, but as a strange kid he was
never popular even in Slytherin. I find it significant that none of
the gang appeared to help Severus in his Pensive memory. Either they
were all older than him and had left Hogwarts by that time, or they
were not present at that moment, or they were there but stayed low.
Any of these options strongly suggests he was something of an outsider
even within his own gang. 

The responses of the watching kids in the Pensieve memory show clearly
that Snape was a hated kid at Hogwarts (at least among the
non-Slytherins). This could be the herd following the popular leader
in bullying a weak and strange kid, except that I can't see Snape as
weak (like Neville for instance). Even James was able to meet him a
curse for a curse only with the advantage of surprise and some backup
from Sirius. I doubt any other kid at Hogwarts could take on Snape
alone. This suggests to me that Snape was hated because he indulged in
his own more sneaky style of bullying, and the vendetta between him
and James was a two-side thing. In the light of grown-up Snape's
comments to Harry about his father I certainly buy Lupin's opinion
that Snape envied James' popularity. 


* Did Snape believe in the pureblood ideology? 

I think that as a pureblood and a Slytherin he grew up on it, but
being more intelligent than most of his fellow Slytherins I'm sure he
noticed that some muggleborn were more powerful and skilful than many
purebloods. I think Snape never hated muggleborn more than he hated
purebloods like James and Sirius. Snape was (and is) obsessed with
knowledge, power and status, but not with ideology. 


* The role of the Prank

I don't see the Prank as driving Snape to support Voldemort. I think
he would have gone to Voldemort anyway, simply because Voldemort was
the greatest Dark wizard in the world and Snape most probably
worshipped his power and knowledge. IMO the Prank was fateful only
because James saved Severus' life. Similarly to some Snape-like people
I knew, I believe Snape couldn't stand "owing" a favor to anybody,
especially not to his greatest adversary. For him this was like
admitting James' superiority. He felt that he must "get even" before
he could take real revenge of James. It is this twisted sense of
honor, I think, that might prove Snape's redeeming quality.  


* Why did Snape join Voldemort? 

I see no mystery here at all. It was the easy default choice because
all of his gang joined, but in Snape's case it was most probably his
passion to become Voldemort's student and learn the Dark Arts from
him. Snape also thought that in Voldemort's service he'll rise faster
than the more popular but less intelligent Slytherins, and finally
receive the status and fame that he deserved. 


* Did Snape take part in any atrocities while being a DE? 

Considering the canon regarding Regulus Black, I find it very
difficult to believe he managed to avoid them completely, but I
definitely see Snape doing more spying, planning and research than the
actual torturing. This was more up his ally, and intelligent servants
like him were certainly a rarer commodity than thugs like Crabbe and
Goyle, or even fanatics like the Lestranges.


* The Key Question: what is Snape's connection with Voldemort?

I believe most Snape theories grossly underestimate the full
implications of being a DE. It's not just taking part in atrocities. I
think being a DE means, in some yet unspecified way, surrendering a
part of your soul and become connected with Voldemort through some
symbiotic, extremely powerful, super-evil Dark Arts link. As
Crouch!Moody noted, some spots *never* come off. I believe this
connection is The Key to Snape's character and all the mysteries that
surround him, and it also what'll go BANG once it's revealed. We
weren't told the exact nature of this connection, of course, so I'll
have to use metaphors here. It might be helpful to think of Snape as
if he was addicted to an extremely powerful drug. Voldemort had made
him an addict, and only he can supply him with the drug. Or think of
Snape as the servant of a vampire, supplying his master with blood and
fast on the way to become a vampire himself. Only I suspect it's not
standard vampirism that Voldy and the DEs are practicing, and it's not
blood that they're addicted to, but other people's fear. Voldemort's
existence and/or powers depend in some way on people fearing his name,
and the connection of the Dark Mark with fear suggests that this is
also true for his DEs (reminds you of Bella crucio-ing Neville and
saying "that was just a taster"? Did she mean for Neville or for
herself?). It also explains why Snape terrorizes his students in
class, and why he goes especially after Neville. Neville is so afraid
of Snape that Snape became his Boggart. Such an acute fear must be a
special treat for Snape.   


* So why did Snape change sides? 

This is the great mystery, and IMO the reason wasn't moral,
ideological, or romantic. It wasn't even just revenge, although (since
Snape is a very vindictive person) this is most probably a part of it.
The real reason is a plot reason that is related to the secret
connection between Voldy and Snape. I suspect that Snape, being more
intelligent and versed in the complexities of the Dark Arts than the
other DEs, discovered the connection with Voldy is not symbiotic but
parasitic, with himself in the role of the victim. Using the addiction
metaphor, Snape discovered that Voldemort is slipping him the drug,
and he realized that this drug will kill him in the end. DD is the
only one who has an antidote that might cure Snape of his addiction. 


* How does Snape spy on Voldemort?

I'm working on it <g>. My work hypothesis is that the very secret that
Snape had discovered about Voldy, the one that made Snape change
sides, is also what enables him to spy on Voldy, or at least spy on
the DEs. This would be elegantly economical plotting. Also, canon
hints this has something to do with Lucius, although this of course
might be a red herring.


* Why does DD trust Snape? 

Simply put, because without DD Snape is dead, period. DD is Snape's
only shield against Voldemort, and the only one who can help Snape to
cut the connection and stay alive. But more than that, I think DD
trusts Snape as a matter of principle. DD is battling with Voldemort
over Snape's soul, and this battle is personal ("we both know that
there are other ways of destroying a man than killing him"). DD
believes in free will and choice. He thinks that *only* if Snape is
given a truly free choice, he'll choose what's right over what's easy.


* Why does DD let Snape teach?

Because he must keep Snape at Hogwarts under his protection and
guidance, but I think it's more than that. I suspect DD knows that
Snape cannot survive without a small taste of other people's fear now
and then, so he lets him feed on the kids, as long as Snape doesn't
take too deep a bite. DD figures the kids can learn how to withstand
it and even become immune, so they can stand better against their fear
of Voldemort. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  


* Why did Snape undertake the mission that DD asked of him in the end
of GoF? 

Mainly because he knew this mission was necessary for defeating
Voldemort, and thus for saving his own life, but again I think there's
more to it. The "strange glitter" in Snape's eyes is telling. He's
been abstaining for 14 years now, except for some meager doses of
school children's fear, and now he's asked, for the greater good, to
take a big dose of The Real Stuff one more time. It's extremely
dangerous and it might kill him, but at least he'll have this one big
feast.


* Is Snape passionate about Potions?

IMO, not really. Snape's real passion is and always has been the Dark
Arts. Since it isn't taught at Hogwarts, Snape would have settled for
teaching DADA, but DD wisely realized this would be too much of a
temptation. So Snape is stuck in Potions, and he teaches it the way he
would like to teach the Dark Arts. Analyzing the famous first lesson
in SS/PS, practically all of Snape's "poetry" and questions have
sinister connotations (addiction, mind control, poison, death, etc.)
except for the "fame" and "glory" (which hint to Snape's obsession
with status). I don't see any reason why Potions as a subject has to
be sinister, why it has to be taught in the dungeons, etc. These are
all clues to Snape's character, not to Potions.


* Is Snape a good or a bad teacher? 

I actually think that strictly speaking he's not a bad teacher in
Hogwarts standards <g>. He's certainly better than Trelawney or Binns,
not to mention Lockhart or Umbridge. I won't say he's a good teacher,
mainly because I think (and I suspect JKR thinks so too) that a
teacher's first duty is to teach his students to behave like human
beings, and only after that the subject. Snape would have to get
extremely good results to offset his behavior in class. If it turns
out in HBP that Harry, Ron and Neville all got an `Outstandng' in
Potions I'll have to change my mind, but I don't think it'll happen. 


* But Snape is entertaining!

That he's most certainly is. So? JKR is an entertaining writer. Lucius
Malfoy, for example, while getting much less stage time than Snape,
also makes some of those entertaining sharky remarks ("you call this a
house?" "Longbottom! Your grandmother is used to losing family members
to our cause"). Does this mean we were intended to like him, or that
he's a-good-person-although-his-not-a-nice-person?


* Was Snape intended to be a romantic character?

IMO, not in the sense of romance literature. I suspect many think so
because he's so mysterious, which leaves a lot of room for reader's
projection, and because he superficially resembles the
dark-and-dangerous type that is frequently casted as the hero in
romantic literature. But generally, JKR is not a romance writer. In
five books none of the major plot developments happened because of
romantic love. I doubt that anyone but James was ever in love with
Lily, but if there must be someone my first bet would be Peter, then
Remus. Severus as I read him wouldn't be attracted to Lily, not
strictly because she was a muggleborn, but because she didn't
represent enough status. As a whole, I think the "poetic" and "gothic"
suggestions regarding Snape (billowing black robes, cold dungeons,
potions and poisons, fame and glory and death...) were intended to
portray him as romantic in the, er... classic meaning of this word.
That is, Snape is a Faustian character, someone who had made a pact
with the devil to get power and knowledge and is now trying to wriggle
out of it. 


*  Will Snape be redeemed?

Surprisingly perhaps, I give him a very good chance. Voldemort and
Snape both sold their soul for power, presumably in the same or a
similar way. Voldemort is obviously a lost case, so I think Snape has
to be the one to prove that DD isn't wrong about second chances. It
might literally kill him, but I predict he will redeem himself.  


* What's in a name? 

JKR is devious with names; we all know that. But I suspect she's been
twice as devious with Snape's name. On the surface, the interpretation
of the name is as follows (using Webster Online):

Severe: of a strict or stern bearing or manner.
Snap: to retort to or interrupt curtly and irritably.

This is obvious enough, but there's might be a second, more sneaky
meaning:

Sever: to remove (as a part) by or as if by cutting.
Snap: to break suddenly with a sharp sound.

So what is it that Snape severed, or is going to sever? May I suggest
it will be his ties with a certain Dark Lord? 



Neri