Defense of Snape in POA. Was:Re: Snape, Apologies, and Redemption

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 152597

Leslie41:
> Oh, I don't think Snape is innocent by any means.  And I don't think
Black is evil.  I *like* Sirius Black.  As I said in a previous
post, I tend to give all the characters a good deal of slack. My
point is that people seem very willing to indict Snape for his
behaviors (or even *invent* nasty things he's done), when other
characters do things that are just as, or far more blameworthy.  But
(IMHO) because those other characters are charismatic, or handsome,
or well-liked, they don't seem to have to bear the responsibility or
the blame for their actions the way Snape does.  They're given
a "pass".  Not fair.  Just not fair.

Ceridwen:
Then you are taking the extreme position here in order to argue and 
expose various points?  I've enjoyed the exchanges.  This only makes 
me want to answer differently, that's all, since I agree with several 
points presented here.  Just a note, though, before I jump in: It 
seems that an extreme viewpoint coaxes equally extreme viewpoints out 
of people.  I enjoy reading the debates, but I start to cringe when 
they become polarized.  There is middle ground...

Now, for my own polarization.  *g*

The Prank, for all of its weight in the dynamics between Snape and 
the Marauders, is never fully explained.  What do we know?  That 
Sirius said or did something to lure Snape to the Shack; that for 
whatever reason, Snape decided to put some faith in what Sirius did 
or said and went; that Remus was in full werewolf mode and Snape got 
a glimpse of him; that James saved him; that Sirius was never 
expelled; that Snape kept quiet about it.  We can speculate until 
book 7 is released, but this is all we really have to go on.

My own interpretation, and this is all it is before someone asks for 
canon, is that this is part of an escalating 'war' between the 
Marauders and Snape.  Sirius says that James disliked Snape from the 
beginning due to his interest and skill with the Dark Arts.  By fifth 
year, the Marauders are tormenting Snape when he is seemingly doing 
nothing to them at the time.  And we are told, by Sirius I believe, 
but I could be wrong, that Snape is nosey about them and where they 
go on the full moon.  Either the person who said that is delusional, 
or Snape did something not revealed to us that gave that impression.

So, Sirius, having been shown to be impulsive even in his thirties 
(Azkaban effect, I know, but he was in his early twenties when he 
went in, so he should have been that mature at least) devises a way 
to get Snape into the Shrieking Shack.  At that time he doesn't think 
about what might happen, only that he's 'curing' Snape from being so 
nosey at his and his friends' expense.  At some point, he either has 
a laugh with James about his clever plan, or he begins to worry after 
the fact that Snape might be killed and confesses to James.  Because 
otherwise, when Remus was a werewolf, James would have been a stag, 
and not as likely to be able to save Snape in time, in such cramped 
quarters.  I know that the point of the three friends becoming 
Anamagi is to both keep Remus company and to try and buffer what 
might otherwise happen, but in a closed-in place like a house, a stag 
would be too large to do much of anything, unless and until Rowling 
shows us differently.  That's why I think James had prior knowledge, 
though I could be wrong, and was not transformed when Snape went in.  
In fact, I think James followed Snape in, too far behind to prevent 
his seeing Remus, but close enough to save him before anything 
happened.

This is yet another landmark in the escalation of hostilities between 
the Marauders and Snape.  Only it turns out to be a watershed 
moment.  Sirius went beyond the line, not on purpose in my opinion, 
but because he has been shown to act before he thinks.  Snape may 
have had an inkling about the werewolf aspects - I believe that this 
happened after the Pensieve scene - so the students had already 
covered the symptoms of werewolves in DADA.  Snape is sharp.  There 
is every possibility that he suspects.

Alla is right that we don't know that Sirius wasn't punished, only 
that he wasn't expelled.  I wonder if some of the detentions Harry 
was set to copy might have revealed the punishment if he went far 
enough into the cards?  That could be some clue, though we don't 
know.  On the surface, it looks like Snape set Harry a unique 
punishment, nothing more.  But if the entire incident was hushed up, 
which it seems to be, then the reason for the detentions would not 
have been listed as 'trying to kill SS'.  So, would Harry even know 
then?

I disagree that Sirius purposely wanted to kill Snape.  As I 
mentioned, I think he was an impulsive man who was an impulsive boy, 
and the reason this is called a 'Prank' is because that's how Sirius 
envisioned it.  Yes, Snape could have been killed.  And, Remus could 
have been guilty of killing him, which I don't think would have set 
well with Remus.  It would all have been Sirius's fault.  But not 
maliciously thought of beforehand.  Manslaughter, perhaps?

I keep returning to the fact that there was animosity between the 
Marauders, or at least James, and Snape from their first year, 
according to Sirius.  And as the years progress, based on real life, 
it probably escalated from just griping about each other and some 
sniping, to more physical things such as the Pensieve scene and the 
Prank.  Sirius never tells us, through Harry, what Snape did to 
them.  So we are left with less information than we would like.  The 
Prank just seems like the extreme that would be logical given their 
feud and Sirius's and Snape's personalities.  It also seems like one 
of those incidents that give all parties a wake-up call, a watershed 
event that turned out to be a major turning point in all of their 
lives.  It bound Snape to James with the Life Debt, it exposed Remus 
to the possibility of killing a fellow student, it may have showed 
James and Remus at least that Sirius was out of control on some 
issues, and for some reason, Dumbledore did not find it enough to 
expell Sirius but did find some reason for Snape to keep quiet about 
it.

The Prank seems to play some important part in the backstory leading 
up to the Potters' death, the temporary vanquishment of LV, Snape's 
damaged emotions, in fact, the entire underlying base of the story 
that we're reading.  I sincerely hope there is something more to it 
than merely a schoolboy prank gone wrong.  I hope we learn everything 
about it in book 7, because it does seem to be important to the 
current events.  Until then, all we have is speculation based on how 
we each interpret the characters and surrounding events.

Dang, that's disappointing!

Ceridwen.