Snape and the Longbottoms

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 140503

Del wrote:
<snip> So I theorise that there's a very simple way to connect all
those facts: Snape hated the Longbottoms, considered them even more
dangerous than the Potters, and fully expected LV to think that the
Prophecy applied to their kid. And just like he has with Harry, he's
reported the hate he had for the Longbottoms on their kid. <snip>

Carol responds:
I can't find the original post (this paragraph is copied from a
response I'm ignoring), so forgive me for taking it out of context. I
don't think the word "facts" is quite justified here, since you're
speculating, but I'll let that go.

Rather than speculating that Snape hated Neville because he had some
grudge against the Longbottoms or that he had any idea of Neville as
the alternate Prophecy boy, I think we can just look at the canon for
Snape's Potions classes, particularly the first one, to figure out why
he treats Neville as he does. Snape takes roll, so he knows Neville is
present and he knows who he is. He presents his ode to the "subtle art
and exact science of potion-making," then spoils the effect somewhat
by making it clear that he has no patience with "dunderheads." He
immediately focuses, not on Neville, but on Harry, "our new
celebrity," quickly establishing (to his own apparent gratification
and that of the Slytherins) that Harry knows nothing about the
subject. (He may have other reasons for presenting this particular
lesson, but I won't go into that here.)

He does not address Neville or single out any other student (other
than telling a certain annoying know-it-all to sit down). Instead, he
gives them the instructions for making a simple potion and starts
"prowling" around the room. He praises Draco's stewed slugs--not that
different from Flitwick praising Hermione's hovering feather except
that Draco is in his own house--and then he's interrupted by an
instance of student incompetence possibly beyond anything he's
previously experienced: Neville, without any provocation on the part
of Snape beyond the generalized use of "dunderheads" in his opening
speech, has managed to melt Seamus's cauldron "into a twisted blob"
and cause the students around him to break out in boils.

Snape notices Neville for the first time and addresses him as "idiot
boy!" He identifies the step that Neville has failed to follow, cleans
up the mess with a flick of his wand, and sends Neville to the
hospital wing without deducting a single point from Neville (though he
takes the opportunity to criticize Harry for not helping him and
deduct a point from *him*) (SS Ame. ed. 138-39).

Unfortunately for both Neville, this incident has apparently
established him in Snape's mind as a "dunderhead," and since he
regards himself as "almost a Squib" (CoS am. ed. 185), he continues to
be clumsy and forgetful, reinforcing Snape's contempt, which in turn
magnifies Neville's fear to the point that he actually believes that
Snape will poison Trevor in PoA. Snape does not, however, make any
such threat. When Neville's potion turns orange, he asks rhetorically
whether anything penetrates Neville's thick skull, identifies
Neville's errors, and reveals his own frustration: "What do I have to
do to make you understand, Longbottom?" Then, after Hermione offers to
help, Snape says, "At the end of this lesson, we will feed a few drops
of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will
encourage you to do it properly." (PoA Am. ed. 126) Not a word about
poison, only Snape's wrongheaded idea of how to "encourage" a timid
and unskilful student. He knows quite well that Hermione is helping
Neville, and when he walks up to Neville after class, he sees quite
clearly that the potion is the proper color, green. Only then does he
mention that if Neville has done it wrong, Trevor is "likely to be
poisoned." He feeds Trevor the potion, which works, and gives him the
antidote. He takes points from Hermione for helping Neville but takes
no points from Neville himself (128). Still in a bad mood over this
incident, Snape embarrasses Neville in front of Lupin. He has no idea,
of course, that Neville's boggart (which logically ought to be
Bellatrix Lestrange or an anonymous DE) is Snape himself.

The boggart incident, in which Neville overcomes his fear of
boggart!Snape by making him ridiculous in front of his classmates, 
spreads through the whole school, embarrassing and infuriating Snape,
who bullies Neville even more. His animosity, which until now has been
the result of Neville's incompetence, may well turn personal at this
point, but there's no evidence whatever that it relates to Neville's
parents.

Snape has not attended a teacher's college, much less been taught
modern Muggle educational theory. He has never taken a psychology
course. He has, as Del pointed out in another thread, found his only
friends among the older students in his Slytherin gang, the same ones
who no doubt enticed him to become a Death Eater. He knows Potions
inside out and he expects students to learn the lessons he presents.
He has no clue as to child psychology and consequently no idea that
kindness and understanding might help students learn. He simply
despises incompetence and thinks he can intimidate students into
paying attention and following directions. But he never gets personal
with Neville, never mentions his parents or his past. It's only Harry,
the Prophecy Boy and the son of arrogant, bullying James who receives
that kind of treatment. 

Carol, thinking that if Neville were in Slytherin, he'd simply be
ignored like Crabbe and Goyle