Apologizing to Snape?

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 139350

zgirnius wrote:
And, for the record, if I were Snape's mother...he's been needing lots
and lots of advice about how to treat other people for about 6 books
now. We could start far earlier in the books with the apologies!

vmonte responds:
I agree. I've been rereading the books and there are numerous times 
that Snape does Legimency on Harry (even as early as book one). Harry 
doesn't like it, and he feels the intrusion into his mind. Not only 
that, it's not until book 5 that Harry realizes that there is such a 
thing as Occlumency and Legimency--so it's obvious that when he felt 
that Snape was reading his mind, his feelings were right on the mark. 
How is what Snape does to Harry, without permission, any less worse 
than what Harry did to Snape when he saw that memory?

"Boiling with anger at Snape, his desire to do something desperate and 
risky had increased tenfold in the last few minutes. This seemed to 
show on Harry's face, for Dumbledore moved away from the window and 
looked more closely at Harry, a slight crease between his silver 
eyebrows.

"What has happened to you?"
"Nothing," lied Harry promptly.
"What has upset you?"
"I'm not upset."
"Harry, you were never a good Occlumens--"
The word was the spark that ignited Harry's fury.
"Snape!" he said, very loudly, and Fawkes gave a soft squawk behind 
them. "Snape's what's happened! He told Voldemort about the prophecy, 
it was him, he listened outside the door, Trelawny told me!" (Page 
548, HBP)

It's nice that Dumbledore doesn't use "mind rape" to get information 
from Harry.

It's also interesting that Snape did not get mad at Harry when he got 
glimpses of his awful childhood. Snape got angry with Harry over the 
penseive memory because Harry saw something that Snape was trying to 
hide--and it wasn't about being hung upside down. (Harry just doesn't 
realize what that info is yet--I'm pretty sure Hermione will, though.)

1. We know that question 10 is about how to identify a werewolf.
2. We know that Lupin was looking strange and that Harry wondered 
whether the full moon was approaching.
3. We get a glimpse of the kind of person Lily was. We know that she 
liked James (at least I got that impression), and that James liked her.
4. We know that Snape has a very strong reaction to her interference 
and oddly calls her a muddblood. (The next year he proudly gives 
himself the moniker: Half-Blood Prince.)

In PoA Snape makes fun of Lupin's third year students for not knowing 
how to identify a werewolf; but Snape takes his OWL exams in 5th year. 
Do you really think that he didn't know how to identify a werewolf? 
Let's assume that he didn't. What do you think he was thinking 
afterwards while he was going over his exam notes? I'm pretty sure 
that he was putting two-and-two together about Lupin. We know that 
Snape was always following James and gang around. And that he was 
trying to figure out why Lupin and the nurse where going to the 
whomping willow every month.Snape even gives this particular essay to 
Lupin's students--and guess who realizes what Lupin is because of it? 
Hermione! 

Hermione's mind works a lot like Snape's, by the way. She also has a 
nasty jealous temper (she attacks Ron with the birds in HBP). Since 
Snape seems to be proud of his mix blood background it makes more 
sense that he called Lily that particular name because he knew that it 
would hurt her and maybe because he didn't want James to know that he 
had any feelings for her.
  
Vivian