Snape, bias, etc.

[krista7]

No: HPFGUIDX 141026

This bit of the HBP has been driving me nuts. 
I operate from the assumption that everything JKR does, 
she does for a reason; none of the action in the story is
 "just for the heck of it." Therefore, 
I want to know why it is that Snape fetches Harry, vs. Hagrid, 
from Tonks at the Hogwarts gate. (Chapter 8 of the 
US standard hardback; p. 155 the chapter begins.) Yes, there's a
simple time reason--Hagrid's running late to the Feast, as he
confirms to Harry later--but,  come on. Why is JKR so 
concerned with Hagrid's timeliness now, 
that she sends Snape down to the gates and has it 
explained several times over why Hagrid can't make 
it and Snape had to go? 

So I'm looking at this scene to see what we find out here that's so
essential to the book that this scene must be included. Let me toss
them out:

1.) We have Tonks' discussion of the heightened security now, and 
characterization of her depression. Still, you could include all that
and still have Hagrid meet them at the gate.

2.) We have the story of Harry's nose being fixed by Tonks, and when
he gets  into the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione carry on about 
the blood all over him. I  remember someone here commented 
that Snape let a bloodied Harry go past  him into the Hall, but we're
not sure he even sees the blood on Harry. JKR 
refers several times to how dark it is (Snape himself is carrying a
torch--at the easier arm level, I presume, vs. at the more constantly
difficult shoulder height, which would allow him a look at the 
colors of Harry's face; Harry virtually runs away from Snape once
they get into the castle, so we can't establish Snape has really seen
the blood) and JKR has Hermione seem bewildered when 
Harry asks about how his nose looks--
the blood is a give-away that there was a physical alteration, not a
substantial change to Harry's profile. 
So, I'm not at all convinced that what we
are meant  to get from this section is that a heartless Snape let a
bloodied Harry pass by.

3.) Snape demonstrates what seems to be negativity towards Tonks.
(I'm  being careful with my words here, because there are several 
ways you could see their encounter, from just plain nastiness,
 a hatred of showing weakness, or something else. I'm struck by how 
immediately defensive Snape is to Tonks, assuming first she thinks 
Harry's not safe with him, an impression not 
helped when Tonks repeats she wanted *Hagrid*, not Snape, to get the 
message.)  Do we need this encounter in the text to establish Tonks
is weak and Snape, at the least, is a thorny character? Onwards.

4.) P. 162, Snape tells Harry he can't wear the Invisibility Cloak.
What's really  interesting here is not that Snape wants Harry to be 
*seen* as late (which is in character with Snape's obsession
with rules and order), but that Snape 
doesn't take the chance to take that cloak away! Just like with his
potions  book, Snape doesn't take a clear chance to take 
a powerful tool from Harry.  Harry needs the cloak for his later 
adventures, as we know, so maybe
JKR just didn't want to detour into Snape taking the cloak/getting the
cloak back/etc. If that's the case, again, why is this scene 
necessary? Why not have Hagrid go back down to get 
Harry, if the whole point is to get Harry
into the  castle with his Invisiblity Cloak still in hand? 

5.) This is what screams to me to be "the point" of the entire
section, because it covers over one full page of text in a scene
 that runs from 160-162, and for the first time in the text, 
we see Harry reflecting, in an extended manner, on 
his emotions about Snape. This, I think, is the point, that Harry's
vision of Snape is twisted by a deep, irrational 
*hatred* of the professor. JKR is all but 
holding up signs in this section to say, "HARRY ALWAYS THINKS THE 
WORST OF SNAPE. HE FINDS EMOTIONAL GRATIFICATION IN HATING 
HIM. HE USES SNAPE AS AN EXCUSE, BECAUSE SNAPE IS NOT A 
PLEASANT PERSONALITY. HE IS EMOTIONALLY VESTED IN HATING 
SNAPE." 

Even before Harry and Snape speak together, "Harry felt as though 
his body were generating waves of hatred so powerful that
 it seemed incredible that  Snape could not feel them burning him."  
That's a rather clear statement of Harry's emotions, but JKR goes on:
 "He had loathed Snape from their first encounter." Now we know
 that Harry's feelings are a *bias* that have run back 
to Day One between them. JKR hammers on the point that Harry's
feelings about Snape are just that, feelings, powerful and
 irrational: "Whatever Dumbledore had said," Harry had decided on his
own that Snape was complicit in Sirius' murder by his "snide
remarks." 
(Harry does not accuse Snape of seeking to kill Sirius; 
instead, he accuses Snape of murder on what 
one must see is a pretty petty charge, that of calling names.)
 JKR even has Harry subconciously *acknowledge* 
he's being petty for reasons of personal 
gratification: "Harry **clung*** (my emphasis) to this notion,
because it enabled him to blame Snape, which felt satisfying," 
and also because he "knew" Snape wasn't sobbing in his 
pillow over Sirius--ergo, he "deserved" to 
be accused of murder, in Harry's very emotional line of thought.

JKR continues to emphasize the point of how irrational Harry's vision
of  Snape is by the contrast established between the silent 
Harry and the suddenly chatty Snape. Snape is, admittedly, being a 
brat.  I use that word because Snape's comments here are not 
especially deep; he's needling Harry on being late and wearing
 Muggle clothes, and he brings up past history of Harry 
crashing the car with Ron during their second year.
But let's face the facts: Harry's a student, he's late, and he is 
wearing Muggle clothes when he should be in his robes. 
It is reasonable to assume any other student 
would receive at the least a lecture from any professor at Hogwarts,
for showing up in such a state. 

Harry, while receiving this needling, isn't just angry, as someone
unjustly  accused might be. He experiences "fury and hatred"
 that "blazed white-hot." (He also makes it clear he is 
deliberately refusing to explain himself to Snape.) 
His "chest might explode" from anger and when they finally
get to the Great Hall, he heads off ASAP, 
"anything to get away from Snape." 

Is any of Harry's reaction rational here? Would you react in such a
way to a professsor who came down to fetch you, 
with you obviously being unprepared, late, and not giving an
explanation? 
(Given Harry's sullenness here, and the fact he's come late to the 
first day, I'd be more inclined to be snarky than Snape was!) 
Granted, Snape's not all sugar and sweetness here-
-but is he more likely to annoy/irritate you, or make you near to
wishing his murder? (Consider the implications of 
"burning with hatred" and all those 
words of loathing and deepest, most passionate hate that JKR uses;
Harry's not just ticked off here.) 

So, anyway, to throw this back out to the larger group--
what do you think about this scene? 

Krista