Calling Tonks Nymphadora (Re: The nature of Patronuses (Patroni?))

[triinum]

No: HPFGUIDX 152116

houyhnhnm:
> But.  A few weeks ago someone brought up the suspicious "ah".
> ("There's no need to wait, Nymphadora, Potter is quite--ah--safe 
> in my hands") along with the similarity to the way Snape spoke 
> about Harry to Fake!Moody ("I merely thought," said Snape, in a 
> voice of forced calm, "that if Potter was wondering around after 
> hours again...it's an unfortunate habit of his...he should be 
> stopped.  For--his own safety.")

T:
The first time I read this "-ah-" moment, I automatically interpreted
it as *irony* at the expense of her distrust in him. I concluded that
Tonks must have somehow given him an impression that she didn't trust
him completely. (It's fairly plausible, for we know a number of order
members who don't, and who are not afraid to say so.) So now Snape is
teasing her about it: "I know you don't trust me, but you still have
to leave Potter alone with me; I *say* that he's --ah-- safe, but you
won't know for sure, will you? And yet you have no choice but to let
me take him! And besides, your lovesickness is pathetic."

In this scene, by the way, Tonks is the first aggressor. Her "I sent
my message to Hagrid" is not very polite, is it? It shows clearly that
there is some animosity between them already, and IMO it's aslo
suggestive of her distrust in Snape (Why else would she be upset that
she'll have to hand Potter to him instead of Hagrid? Because she
thinks Potter doesn't like to walk with Snape? Come on, she's not
*that* protective around Harry!).

And Snape is just a little too nasty and cruel for it to be his
default behaviour to a randomly picked individual from the street.
He's usually almost passably *civil* to grownups. At least the ones
that haven't shown any hostility against him. But it probably doesn't
take much to turn him against you. He's paranoid. A slight unwilling
expression of distrust by tonks would have done the trick. In this
scene, Snape is responding to her rather offencive, unnecessary and
uncalled-for "I sent my message to Hagrid" comment, and he's doing his
cruellist for reprisal.

Of course, Tonks was probably his student just a few years ago, and
maybe he hasn't accepted her as a *grownup* yet. Maybe he didn't like
her as a student. And she's in love with the werewolf who once tried
to eat him up. So there are other reasons for him to dislike her. But
I still thik that her distrust in him is clearly hinted to.

T