Snape's Potions Abilities and His Relative Maturity

[Jessica Bathurst]

No: HPFGUIDX 140419

Responses from a few different threads (but oddly, all to Valky.  Hi, 
Valky!):

Valky:
<snip>
>There is a definite connection between Snapes fashionable eloquence and his
>genius in incantation, but it's a different kettle of fish to
>mery, shimmer, and an elegant touch with nature itself. These
>things would translate into a well groomed person (nice smelling
>potions), with a gentleness about them (removing less pleasant side
>effects from the potion), a love and affinity with nature (bean
>juicing).
<snip>

I've always thought potions had more in common with chemistry than with any 
of the creative arts.  That's not to say that brewing potions isn't an art 
(shoots a nervous glance at a glowering Snape), but that it's far more 
craftsmanlike than, say, DADA.  Just as some chefs cook fabulous meals 
without really appreciating the experience of the food, I think it's 
perfectly possible that someone with a encyclopedic knowledge of potions 
could brew something that he'd have no interest in using.  I admit to 
falling in the camp that sees Snape as a pointy-headed intellectual, so I 
can totally see him finding improvements/alternatives for just about any 
potion he was assigned to prepare in class, just because he can.  (Among his 
other charming qualities, Snape appears to believe that he is way smarter 
than the average bear, and I can imagine him feeling quite superior to the 
textbook writer as he annotates his recipes.)

Valky:

<snip>
>While we were on the subject of Snapes sense of humour I wanted to add
>a note about the Bezoar. I forgot there so I'll just notch it in here. Just 
>shove a bezoar down their throats. Cheeky, no? Cheeky was Lily's
>style. It's falling in the wrong field of wit to have Sarcastic Snape
>behind it.
<snip>

When I first read that part of HBP, what struck me was the crudeness of 
"just shove a bezoar down their throats."  It's so very blunt - like the 
bedside manner of the poorly socialized laboratory docs that sometimes get 
stuck doing patient rounds.  It didn't read as cheeky at all to me, but I 
may be alone on that one.  It read as the most Snape-like of all of the 
HBP's notes.

vmonte:
<snip>
>  If Dumbledore could find it in his heart to forgive Snape, who was a  
>DEATH EATER (and God knows what he did when he was one), then Snape  should 
>also be as generous with his students. After all, they are  just children, 
>and he is a grown man.
<snip>

You are absolutely right.  Snape SHOULD be more charitable towards his 
students, and to the world at large, because as an adult, he should have the 
maturity to move beyond his past.  Problem is, he's only an adult in the 
chronological sense - Snape has got what appears to be the most noticeable 
case of arrested development in the WW this side of Sirius Black.  (I could 
write for days on the parallels between those two, but suffice it to say, if 
Sirius had been sorted into Slytherin and didn't hate his family, they'd be 
BFF.)  Snape SHOULD behave like an adult to his students, but he doesn't, 
and I don't think it's a ploy, or sadism, or some sort of evil manifestation 
of his blackened soul.

I think it's fear.  I think Snape truly believes that EVERYONE - including 
eleven-year-olds - is out to make a fool of him, and that the only way he 
can prevent this is to make them "respect" him.  (He's confused "respect" 
with "fear" here, but that's probably irrelevant to him.)  Regardless of any 
part he may have played in James Potter's death,  I think his extreme 
reaction to Harry stems from a fervent belief that this kid could, if he 
wanted to, make the entire class think Snape is one big joke.  Thus he 
attacks first, impressing on Harry the folly of ever trying to take on the 
intimidating, powerful Severus Snape.  (There's also no little shortage of 
jealousy here, but that's another story.)  The fact that Harry a) has NO 
IDEA who this guy is and b) is most emphatically NOT his father never 
registers with Snape; even after those Occlumency lessons, after finding out 
about Harry's rough childhood, Snape's first assumption after pulling Harry 
out of the Penseive is that Harry enjoyed seeing Snape humiliated and is 
going to tell everyone about it, sniggering as he goes.  Snape misses a true 
chance to make a little peace with Harry because he would rather be hated 
than laughed at.

Being a person who believes that Snape is, at the very least, anti-Voldemort 
(and probably pro-Dumbledore), I find it fascinating that a person like that 
- emotiionally stunted, bitter, immature - would volunteer to be a spy for 
the good guys, to work with the Order to bring down someone he must have 
once believed in.  What makes horrible Snape fall in with people he hates, 
or who hate him?   I think it's far more interesting to speculate on why 
this schmuck is so trusted by Dumbledore, than to assume that he is not a 
schmuck at all.

I love this character.  Of course, if he turns out to be a true bad guy, 
he'll be a lot less interesting to think about.  *sigh*

Yours,
Jessica
(who is a bit of a schmuck herself, and thus an authority on schmuckiness)