[HPforGrownups] Snape's mom-domestic abuse

[Marion Ros]

No: HPFGUIDX 159911

Prechi:

>>>I just joined, so forgive me if this has already been asked.

I think in this last book, Harry sees Snape's memories. He sees
Snape's muggle father abusing his witch mother. I thought this was a
major flaw, for no witch would put up with this.

I have worked in a women's shelter. I am not new to the issue of
domestic abuse. The thing is that women always try to escape--their
attempts may be too feeble and they may get squashed in the backlash
to any attempt to escape the abus. 

*BUT* if the woman is a witch, all she has to do is cast a spell.
So.....come on! a witch could not get trapped in domestic abuse with
a muggle for years. Gimme a break. I thought this was a major fumble
for JK.<<<



Marion:

But really, who says that the 'hooknosed man' was Snape's father? What if Tobias Snape had died or left, and Eileen had no other choice than return to her family. Snape takes after the Prince's side in colouring and ability, after all. Perhaps the 'hooknosed man' was Eileen's father or brother. I can imagine, since marriages between muggles and magical folk are so rare (we only know of *three* and Eileen's is one of them), that daddy Prince was not happy when Eileen eloped with a Muggle.
Can you imagine, daughter Eileen returning to her family and dad is screaming at her, "how dare you return with your halfbreed child in tow!"
They'd probably take Eileen and Severus in... reluctantly (like Vernon and Petunia took Harry in - reluctantly) Maybe Eileen left with Severus, but she died after a while as well and Sev was taken in by the Princes. But I can't imagine he was taken into a loving home. He was described as looking like a 'plant that had been kept in the dark too long', after all.
It would also go a long way to explain why he took 'the Half Blood Prince' as a secret nickname. If you've been told long enough by your family, "you? You are no Prince. You're a halfblood Prince", you might take that insult as a nickname in defiance ("I'll show them who's a Half Blood Prince!")

I've always been rather annoyed at the ease that people put Toby Snape into the 'abusive husband' category and Eileen in the 'gormless victim' category. For all we know Toby and Eileen were a very happy couple, but put to an early grave - perhaps even by early Voldemort supporters (Eileen was a 'bloodtraitor' for marrying Toby, after all)

Now *this* might explain quite a lot about Snape as well.

People have been arguing recently about when Snape 'turned'. I don't think he 'turned' at all. *I* think he was DD's man right from the beginning. I think he even joined the DE's to infiltrate them.
I mean, c'mon! Snape being a remorseful figure? *Snape?* Snape is a lot of things: strict, purposeful, nasty even and ruthless, but he is also a person who'd go all the way through Hell to achieve his aim, and if that aim was to avenge his mother's and father's death he'd infiltrate, spy and bring down the DE's without a thought on his own survival. Any means to achieve an end. 
But joining a club like the DE's and then crawling back to DD to beg forgiveness and DD grandiosely granting a 'second chance' and Snape living on charity... No chance! He's always struck me as too purposeful, too *focused*. 
No, Snape and DD have been cronies for a loooong time, from the time Snape was a student, would be my guess. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the reason that Snape was always 'spying on the Marauders' as Sirius claims was simply because DD was just as anxious about the Heir of the House of Black and a werewolf going the wrong way (not to mention James Potter, hexer of innocent children in corridors exraordinaire) as he was that the Heir of the Malfoys or any other of Slytherin House would turn out Dark. 
There is a *reason* that DD trusted Snape so completely.

Oooohhh, I bet you anything that people are going to get a surprise in Book 7...




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