Snape and the Longbottoms

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 140384

Del wrote: 
> What I like in this theory is that it is very simple and yet
explains
> two pretty sticky points:
> 
> - why Snape has been bullying Neville : because he's a Longbottom,
and
> he even looks like his mother. It's simply a personal matter, just
> like it is with Harry.
> 
> - why Snape was surprised when LV decided to go after the Potters:
> because he had been fully expecting him to go after the Longbottoms
> instead, he had never considered the possibility that LV would
esteem
> the Potters' offspring to be a greater threat than the Longbottoms'.


Potioncat:
I generally avoid prophesy theories, so I'm probably saying something 
stupid here.  But HBP has made the whole thing more interesting, not
so 
much what the darn thing means, but rather, how it all got started.

I'm going to repeat one idea of mine that the book itself may 
contradict: the first part of the prophesy does not say the one who 
will defeat the Dark Lord hasn't yet been born. It says the one is 
approaching, born as the 7th month dies. Maybe I'm not taking it the 
right way, but to me, it could be anyone who had a late July
birthday. 
It's not until the end that it says will be born. If I'm right, LV
and 
the gang wouldn't be looking for a boy soon to be born.

At any rate, at the time Snape heard the prophecy, would he even know 
Lily or Alice were pregnant? He wouldn't know until much later, if
I'm 
correct, who the candidates were. While I'm sure DEs were keeping an 
eye on Order members, I doubt if they would know about pregnancies 
before they became obvious. Snape would have given LV the information 
long before he  had any idea of who the child might be. Also, it 
wouldn't be a given that the parents were Order members. I agree, 
once the boys were born and the candidates narrowed down, Snape might 
have hoped it was Longbottom rather than Potter.


On the other hand, Alice could be a "Prince" and as an uncle, sort
of, 
Snape is trying to force more magic out of Neville...just like the 
other relatives did.

Potioncat (who really doesn't believe that last part because Hermione 
had to search really hard for someone named Prince at Hogwarts. It 
looks like Eileen was the last one.)