High Noon for OFH!Snape

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 149428

Nora:
> Here's the classic problem I feel obliged to raise over and over 
> again.  OFH!Snape is defined by wanting what he wants (at least to 
> me); this does not preclude actions which might be read as 
> altruistic, if they're towards an end which he's interested in.
> 
> This is the Utilitarian problem AGAIN.  I cannot define what makes 
> you happy.  I can look and say "You're crazy to enjoy that, how can 
> that make you happy?", but that has absolutely no impact on you.  
> Happiness is incommensurable.

Pippin:
Maybe in RL, but it's generally the author's responsibility to know 
what makes the character happy and to demonstrate this to the reader.
A universe where love is the most potent power and the future
of mankind is written in the stars is not the sort of existentialist 
place where you can't really understand why anyone else acts the 
way they do.

I don't doubt it does make Snape happy to be a jerk to Harry, but 
you'd have to ignore canon, specifically the jerk of Snape's hand, 
to say it made him happy to take the vow. And you'd have to ignore 
canon again, specifically the look of hatred and revulsion, to say it 
made Snape happy to fulfill it.

Nora:
> OFH!Snape may well *get* something out of this action with the Vow; 
> this is not an option which can be automatically dismissed, because 
> frankly, none of us have a clearer window than anyone else into his 
> psyche, because he's such a sketchily drawn character.  That's 
> deliberate.

Pippin:
On the contrary, Snape's gratification is not sketchily drawn at all. We
have copious descriptions of what makes him happy, and we also see
him failing to conceal happiness.

"Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most
peculiar expression: It was as though he was trying hard not to smile."
-CoS ch 9

What we don't know is where Snape's loyalties lie. OFH! basically
says he hasn't got any, which would make him redundant, just a
lesser copy of Voldemort, incapable of allegiance. 

> -Nora waits with amusement for the potential scream of "That's IT?" 
> when Snape's mysteries collapse, just like the screaming onlist after 
> the Prophecy

Pippin:
In a way I think you're right. IMO the plot's going to twist like a 
pretzel, but the motives will be simple enough for a ten year old to
understand. That's another reason why I don't like OFH as I keep 
saying -- if Snape sometimes favors Dumbledore and sometimes 
Voldemort, then for every situation you'll have to explain which 
side Snape thought he was helping and why -- and it won't be 
self-evident, since  Snape's actions must sometimes be self-defeating,
or you  end up with Puppetmaster!Snape.

Pippin