Snape again

[quick_silver71]

No: HPFGUIDX 146841

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Karen <kchuplis at a...> wrote:
<snip>
> One thing really struck me tonight and that is that Snape *is* 
truly 
> unhinged when it comes to  any of the Marauder boys. Sure, he 
didn't 
> hear the end of things, but he heard the *real* story of what 
happened 
> when he was tricked and that Sirius was the one to blame. That 
does not 
> keep him from feeling the same as he always has about Remus.
> 
> What I see clearly here is that this blinding rage is probably the 
key 
> weapon that LV used to get to Snape, who was probably a pretty big 
> recruit on the old DE list. And I suspect that this blinding, 
> uninhibited anger at the Marauders is merely the set of people 
that 
> took the stopper out of his repressed abusive past. 
<snip>

Agreed. The Marauders have an ability to unhinge Snape for some 
reason. 

> He's almost like a distorted image of Harry and by dint of that a 
third 
> version of LV in a way. Both Harry and Snape were raised in 
abusive 
> environments, which, makes them really pretty quiet and self-
effacing, 
> at least publicly. Keep quiet. Keep your ducks in a row. Don't be 
seen. 
> But whereas Harry is raised in a muggle environment, Snape has the 
full 
> benefit of the WW and its structure. Different pressures and 
> expectations (from others as well as themselves). For all we know 
> Harry's greatest ambition in life growing up was surviving long 
enough 
> to get shot of the Dursleys and work at McDonald's or something 
(but I 
> can imagine him wanting to "show" the Dursleys in some way with 
what he 
> does with his life), but I can well imagine Snape had set to "be a 
> great wizard and show them all" from an early age; hence his alter 
ego 
> of The Half Blood Prince. LV simply always "knew" and never 
doubted he 
> was special and had the biggest jump start of them all.

I agree but think there is one huge difference that separate Tom and 
Harry from Snape. Both Harry and Tom had no Marauders
 no James, no 
Sirius, no Remus, and no Peter. Tom seems to have had no real rival 
during his time at Hogwarts and the future seem to have dominated 
Hogwarts during that time
culminating in Tom getting away with 
murder. Harry has/had Draco and although Draco has been a problem to 
Harry he's never really been much more then a nuisance. 
 
> 
> And then there is just the genes we're given. Harry has an innate 
charm 
> and ingenuousness that Snape simply does not. Snape is socially 
> disfunctional; he has no real natural charm; he is not 
particularly 
> appealing or attractive in any way
<snip>

Yet when we see Snape in Spinner's End he certainly doesn't seem all 
that socially dysfunctional. Snape can clearly mingle with the pure-
bloods when he needs to and Narcissa describes him as being 
Lucius "old friend."  
 
> It's like looking at three versions of the same situation (though 
> Riddle's wasn't abusive, it certainly wasn't normal to be raised, 
as he 
> was, in a public orphanage. No real abuse but certainly no real 
family 
> - just as Harry and Snape) and the way people turn out in 
different 
> conditions. I can see LV pegging Snape after someone informs him 
about 
> an exceptional and creative potion and spell maker/finder at 
Hogwarts. 
> It might even be handy that he isn't a school paragon. And once 
again, 
> why isn't such an exceptional student more heralded? We don't ever 
hear 
> anything really stellar about Snape at school. No special awards 
> (Hermione would have spotted something in her hunt for the HBP in 
old 
> archives), no honorable mentions, no "could have been at the 
ministry" 
> stories. We don't even know what Snape did after he left school 
and 
> before he taught at HW. I doubt highly that had he been handsome 
and 
> charming his skills would have been so unnoticed. So, I think LV 
> charmed Snape. Promised him the things that he never got in school 
for 
> his talent. I wonder what the story is (and I'm sure we'll find 
out) 
> but Snape is not an idiot, and he isn't insecure in his abilities 
and 
> as such the scales might just fall from his eyes more rapidly once 
the 
> real promises aren't kept. I'm almost tempted to fall for 
the "Lily as 
> a prize" theory but just don't think Snape is that 
errr.....lascivious 
> or stupid enough to believe he'd ever get a cooperative Lily, once 
her 
> hubby and son were killed, especially.

But we've heard nothing of awards for James, the other Marauders, 
Lily, Dumbledore, Slughorn, McGonagall, and a host of other 
characters that are charming and/or powerful. If I remember 
correctly Tom Riddle basically set up getting his award for Special 
Service to the School and Ron and Harry got there awards by dealing 
with what Tom Riddle had set up. Snape is a talented wizard, there's 
no doubt about that, yet he is not the most brilliant student to 
attend Hogwarts (according to Dumbledore that was Tom Riddle) nor is 
Snape the undisputed Potions Master of the current generation (it 
was Damocles Belby that invented Wolfsbane
recently according to 
Lupin). 
 
Quick_Silver