Snape liked Hogwarts? was Re: Prank question/Dumbledore and Evil (?) Snape

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 154199

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > I've always imagined that young!Snape *adored* Hogwarts.  That   
> > it was a sort of haven for him where he was able to fully       
> > stretch his intelligence and creativity.  He found a mentor in   
> > Lucius, a friend in Lily, and a ready-made network in the       
> > Slugclub.  I think, for the most part, Hogwarts was Snape's     
> > ideal.
 
> >>Pippin:
> Nope, don't think so. Snape obviously loves learning, but I'm not
> sure he was in the Slug Club as a student. And stretching his
> intelligence and creativity brought him into conflict with students
> who were scared silly of the Dark Arts. I think he did his HBP
> experimenting on his own, for fear it would be considered dark
> just because it was his,  a Slytherin and a noted student of      
> curses.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
The entire school is not made up of Gryffindor ideologues.  From the 
pensieve scene it doesn't seem that Snape was popular, but it looks 
like, other than the Marauders, he was pretty much left alone.  And 
Snape has never struck me as a man (or a boy) who needed or even 
wanted popularity.  A few friends would make all the difference.  
And he had that.

I do think he was in the Slug Club, mainly because he was at 
Slughorn's Christmas party (which I realize isn't seen as definitive 
proof), a club we know for sure did *not* include any of the 
Marauders.  Yes, Snape was a Slytherin, but I don't think Slytherins 
hate each other for being Slytherin.  He was one of a group of 
outsiders.  If other houses hated and/or feared him, well, they felt 
the same about his housemates. (Though I don't recall anyone saying 
Snape actually scared his fellow students.)  He did become part of a 
group of older Slytherins, and it seems that Lucius took him under 
his wing.

Snape may well have done his Prince experiments on his own.  But I 
think that's how he'd prefer it. (Though I do wonder if Lily wasn't 
there for a few experiments.) 

> >>Pippin:
> <snip>
> Nobody appreciates the power of wealth and breeding like 
> somebody who hasn't got it.

Betsy Hp:
But he would have seen that Lucius Malfoy, and the Black sisters 
were just as much outsiders to Hogwarts as he was.  Plus, I think 
Snape is the sort of person who really *would* think that rules are 
the same for everyone.  (The logical mind, etc.)

> >>Pippin:
> I see Snape as lurking at the edges of things, always on the      
> outside looking in, and wishing he could go to Durmstrang, where  
> he'd be appreciated for his interest in the Dark Arts instead of   
> shunned.

Betsy Hp:
Where do you find evidence of Snape being shunned?  Also, where is 
the evidence of a remarkable or unusual interest in the Dark Arts?  
>From his book it seems that Snape was able to experiment to his 
heart's content.  Harry doesn't find any arrested spells or 
unfinished potion improvements.  What Snape wanted to do he did.

Snape wasn't popular, but he didn't give me the impression, in the 
few scenes and hints we have of his youth, of *wanting* to be 
popular.  He didn't want Sirius and James to *like* him, he didn't 
want to *join* the Marauders, he wanted them gone.

I'm not sure what he stood outside of.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > But does Snape hate teaching?  Does he hate being Head of 
> > Slytherin?  I don't think so.  I've had teachers who hated their 
> > jobs.  They didn't act like Snape.  The social ones spent class 
> > time chatting about anything and everything not about their      
> > subject with their students.  The non-social ones droned through 
> > a lecture or wrote their lecture on the chalk-board for the      
> > class to copy.

> >>Pippin:
> Not teaching in general, but teaching basic potions to dunderheads
> who have no appreciation for the subject and wouldn't be caught 
> dead near a cauldron if it weren't required.  If Snape were
> allowed to teach DADA, or NEWT or Auror level Potions only, then   
> yeah, he'd love his job.

Betsy Hp:
Since we've never seen Snape teaching NEWT Potions, and since he 
handles his NEWT level DADA exactly as he handled his first year 
Potions class I'm not sure what you base this on.  Snape never 
struck me as a teacher marking time, going through the rote, etc.  
He's engaged, he's alert, and he's able to adjust his class plan 
depending on his students' performance.  None of that points to 
someone hating where they are.

> >>Pippin:
> Meanwhile he pushed for that high pass rate as a matter of pride  
> and a passport to a more rewarding post when Dumbledore  found him 
> worthy, IMO.

Betsy Hp:
Higher than Head of Slytherin?  I was under the impression that the 
Heads of Houses are pretty high on the school totem pole already.  
And Snape seems to rank just below McGonagall amongst the staff.  
(Pretty darn impressive for such a young man, I think.)

I do think Snape is proud of his high pass rate, that it's part of 
what motivates him.  But again, I don't see anything in the text 
that suggests he doesn't enjoy teaching.

Betsy Hp