Snape's childhood WAS: Re: Snape: Hero AND Abuser

[zeldaricdeau]

No: HPFGUIDX 143567

> Alla:
> 
> Well, I am not sure that we can apply Occam razor here with such 
> certainty as you suggest.
> 
> As many remarked, Eileen was a witch, Tobias was a muggle and it is 
> NOT a certainty IMO that witch would allow muggle to abuse herself, 
> it is just not, unless of course as Potioncat speculated that Eileen 
> was expelled from Hogwarts and was not allowed to use magic or 
> something like that.

<SNIP>

zeldaricdeau now:

I'd like to throw in my two cents here. It is not uncommon for an 
abuse victim to allow their own abuse to continue even when in 
possession of the power to stop it. It's a sad course of events, but 
often times an abuse victim may believe, on some level, that they 
deserve the abuse they receive. I would speculate that even a witch 
with magic powers that her abuser did not possess is just as human 
and, therefore, just as susceptible to such beliefs. Please, correct 
me if I am mistaken, as I do not have my books with me now, but I 
believe that in the memory in question, Eileen does not attempt to 
defend herself. This could be because of many reasons: 1.) We simply 
do not see this portion of the memory 2.) She is afraid to for some 
reason 2.) She feels she deserves the tirade because she has, 
honestly, done something to deserve it 4.) She feels she deserves the 
tirade despite the fact that she has, in actuality, done nothing to 
deserve it. Among other possible reasons of course, but these are the 
primary four I could come up with off the top of my head .

We might even speculate that Tobias had convinced Eileen that it 
was "wrong" for her to use her powers, or, in a converse fashion to 
the situation with Lilly and Petunia Evans and family, that it made 
her a "freak." It might sound far-fetched (and this being JKR's world, 
might BE far-fetched) but I have known several women who have fallen, 
through marriage, into religious groups (read: cults) that have 
managed to convince these women that their former way of life, 
beliefs, etc. was/were wrong/unnatural/sinful/etc., and that, by 
extension, they themselves were as well. Sometimes the desire to be 
loved romantically by someone is strong enough to destroy a person's 
own belief system, sense of self-worth, or familial connections. 
Certainly, we see a similar course of events at work with Merope 
Gaunt. The difference being that she had forced Tom Riddle Senior into 
the marriage without his knowledge or consent. Personally, I find no 
difficulty in believing that Eileen Prince, an unattractive, maybe 
unpopular, and perhaps poor witch from a once-prestigious but now 
fallen old wizarding family, might jump at a proposal of marriage from 
the first person who offered her some attention only to fall into the 
aforementioned type of abusive relationship.

A lot of speculation and maybes? Of course! But I think that any talk 
of Eileen and Tobias Snape’s relationship with the little knowledge we 
have at this stage must be mostly speculation.

All we know, for sure, of Eileen is what Hermione and Harry read in 
the Daily Prophet clippings. We know she was the Hogwarts Gobstones 
Team Captain and was rather unattractive and stern looking (at least 
according to the narrator’s eyes). To my mind, none of this 
information precludes a scenario like the one outlined above. Nor, of 
course, does it require it.

In short, I see no reason to believe that the “Snape came from an 
abusive family” scenario is any less probable now than it was prior to 
the release of HBP.

-ZR