Snape's Remorse vs. Snape's Worst Memory

[lagattalucianese]

No: HPFGUIDX 139609

> 
> Unless of course, Snape's tale of remorse is a whole lot of hooey.  
> Or his remorse was for Lily only, and he secretly danced a jig about 
> James' death.  Or that, when titling chapters for OoP, no one 
> thought carefully about Snape's story line in HBP.
> 
> Marianne
>
I think you just caught the golden snitch. I've , considering the 
somewhat eventful life he's led since. Nowhere in the chapter itself 
does JKR say anything about what Harry sees being Snape's worst 
memory, only that it was among the memories that he didn't want to 
share with Harry if the kid broke through his Occlumency. Which leads 
me to wonder (a) what else was in the Pensieve; (b) whether in an 
earlier draft, that other something--Snape's real worst memory--was 
what Harry saw; and (c) whether, having drastically altered the 
content of the chapter, JKR or JKR's editor or somebody failed to 
notice that the title needed changing.

And finally, could that real worst memory that Harry saw in the 
earlier draft have been the event--the unwitting betrayal of the 
prophecy and its aftermath or whatever it was--that turned Snape back 
to the side of good? That would explain, to me at least, why JKR 
changed the content of the memory back to that vicious but generally 
innocuous school episode; the real thing could have seriously altered 
Harry's perception of Snape, Harry's relationship with Snape, and 
where the story as a whole was going. Not to mention being too heavy 
for young readers.

--Gatta