Snape's Speech patterns (was CHAPDISC: HBP 2, Spinner's End)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 142141

> Marianne:
> I hadn't thought of that, but I like the idea of Snape reinventing 
> himself, or, at least, taking steps to hide or improve his 
> background to fit with the norms of the people around him that he 
> met at Hogwarts.  I think this also fits in with his penchant of 
> referring to himself in the third person, which I commented on 
> earlier in this chapter discussion.  Maybe it's time to resurrect 
> the discussion of Insecure!Snape.
> 
> Marianne

Carol responds:
If his mother was a pureblood and his father a working-class Muggle
(how they met is another question!), he would have had two sets of
speech patterns to choose from at an early age, and it's clear which
one he chose. Also, of course, we must assume that he did a good deal
of reading both to learn all those hexes and to acquire the vocabulary
and the ear for style (wit, poetry, etc.) that he has obviously
acquired and cultivated.

At any rate, we can see by comparing the nerdy little teen!Snape in
the Pensieve scene with the adult Sanpe that he has for whatever
reason, reshaped his image. He no longer walks around reading notes or
books. He's no longer round-shouldered; he seems to have an upright,
dominating posture and an intimidating expression (except when he's
wearing an inscrutable expression that hides his thoughts and
emotions.) Part of this makeover includes a dramatic flair for
sweeping out of doorways and a "prowling walk" (SS/PS). And part of it
involves, IMO, a mastery of Occlumency (which is what he's doing when
he's hiding his thoughts, even when no one present is a Legilimens. As
a boy, his only weapons are his intellect and his hexes. But as a man
(who of course can't hex his students except in special circumstances
like Occlumency lessons and DADA class), he relies on *presence* as
well as an actor's keen awareness of facial expressions and tone of
voice. He strikes me as a blend, most of the time, of elegance and
danger, a man you cross at your peril. And I think he has developed
this image in self-defense, in part as a reaction against the
humiliation he endured from MWPP (primarily James) and in part to hold
his own with the likes of Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Black. It's a
mask he hides behind, and it has served him well, both as Head of
Slytherin House and as double agent. Only rarely does he let the mask
slip, for example, when Harry sees anger and a trace of fear on
Snape's face when Snape looked at Draco at the Christmas party in HBP.
And the teenager Severus was almost pathetically thin. The man Snape
is surprisingly athletic, running across the Hogwarts grounds and
duelling Harry effortlessly and without becoming winded. All part, I
think, of a cultivated image of authority, sophistication, and power.

Carol