"I see no difference" and an analysis of Snape's Insults

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 160830

The recent discussion of Snape's "I see no difference" comment in GoF 
has caused me to notice something that I had never seen before. If he 
indeed was making a cruel remark about the usual appearance of 
Hermione's teeth, as the statement is usually interpreted, it 
constitutes a marked departure from Snape's usual practices. It is 
the only instance in canon that I can find in which Snape insults 
someone based on their physical appearance.
We have an excellent baseline of his usual practices, since he is 
always insulting someone. 

A list of Snape's preferred targets and the insults he uses:

Harry: enjoying his fame, attention seeking, arrogance,  inability to 
follow instructions on Potions/ Occlumency, being a thoughtless rule-
breaker, being a liar and a cheat
(No mention of his unruly hair, scar, or glasses).

Neville: being stupid, sloppy, and lazy in his work, incompetent
(No mention of his chubbiness).

Hermione: being an insufferable know-it-all, parroting textbooks
(No mention of the hair, no mention of having a cat's head, there is 
of course the `I see no difference' comment, which might be the sole 
exception to my proposed rule)

Ron: inability to Apparate
(No mention of his handmade or secondhand clothing)

Lupin: criticizes his teaching style and organization of his class
(No mention of his ragged clothing)

Sirius: implies he is a coward, and useless to the Order
(No mention of the complete change in his appearance)

Peter: calls him vermin. I take this is a reference to his Animagus 
form, which in the Potterverse says something about his character, 
not his external appearance.
(No mention of his looks).

Bellatrix: implies she is useless to Voldemort, and not the sharpest 
tool in the shed
(No mention of the complete change in his appearance)

Tonks: criticizes weakness of her Patronus

Draco: criticizes his actions in HBP as clumsy and foolish, implies 
he is being childish
(OK, Draco's appearance does not seem to be an available target, as 
he is well dressed, well-groomed, and at worst not handsome).

Why might this be? Well, one thing we see Snape do a lot is criticize 
the Marauders. I think an avoidance of appearance-based jokes is 
probably something that gives him a sense of superiority about 
himself. (They were certainly into that sort of humor, as he well 
knows). It is juvenile; and it is something over which people have no 
control. An awful lot of Snape's insulting is based on people's 
behaviors and actions.

This observation of mine makes me more open to an alternate reading 
of the `I see no difference' scene I first ran across, ages ago, on 
CoS forums. I couldn't say who originated it.

OK, here is the scene, with some comments by me:
> GoF:
> "And what is all this noise about?" said a soft, deadly voice.
> Snape had arrived. The Slytherins clamored to give their 
explanations; Snape pointed a > long yellow finger at Malfoy and 
said, "Explain."
> "Potter attacked me, sir -"
> "We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted.

Snape arrives and wants an explanation for the commotion he observes. 
Draco and Harry provide it.

> "- and he hit Goyle - look -"
> Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would 
have been at > home in a book on poisonous fungi.
> "Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.

I wonder about the contrasting description of Snape's speech here and 
in the infamous final line. `calm' vs. `cold'. In whose opinion? That 
is not a difference I would expect to be able to tell from tone 
alone, I would need context to decide. So who is making this call? 
The narrator of the HP series has typically refrained from reading 
Snape's mind, so I tend to thin this is Harry's perception.

> "Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron said. "Look!"
> He forced Hermione to show Snape her teeth - she was doing her best 
to hide them with > her hands, though this was difficult as they had 
now grown down past her collar. Pansy > Parkinson and the other 
Slytherin girls were doubled up with silent giggles, pointing at > 
Hermione from behind Snape's back.
> Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

OK, the infamous line. What else could Snape mean by it, other than 
that Hermione has grotesquely large front teeth? Well, Ron is making 
a big deal out of the hex. He is pulling her to Snape, and forcing 
her to show her teeth. Perhaps Snape perceives that Ron is suggesting 
that she has suffered worse than Goyle (presently, Fungus-Face). He 
can, after all, see the problem for himself, since her teeth are now 
down to her collar.

If this is what he meant (he sees no difference in the two hexes 
used), I can't see him running down the hallway after Hermione to 
tell her he didn't mean it that way. If, in fact, Snape of the 
crooked, yellow teeth ever even noticed there was something notable 
about Hermione's. If not, he must wonder at her hysterical reaction 
to a fair assessment of the situation. Either way, he certainly would 
not tolerate being insulted in ways not suitable for a family 
audience by Harry and Ron.

--zgirnius, still not 100% convinced, but now finding that comment by 
Snape
odd.