Bond btwn Harry and Snape (was Snape and other Sorcerers Stone Musings)

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 159996

 
<snip some of Nancy's musings>
 
Julie:
A lot of your musings pertain to the first movie rather than  the 
first book. The films do deviate in places from the books, thus 
are not considered "canon" in the same way as the books. (FYI,
there is another list for discussing the movies specifically.).  So
I'll stick to commenting on the following subject, which is certainly
relevant to both book and film versions of HP:
 
Nancy:
To me, there is some bond b/t Harry and Snape that is still not   
understood, and Snape is protecting him, but hiding that fact by   
treating him indifferently. And , at least in this book/ movie, he   
appears to show favoritism to Draco, but with a wary eye.

 
Julie:
I very much agree. I believe Snape has protected Harry  throughout
the series, and I believe we don't yet know the full reason. I  think
it is more than simply an effort to repay his old debt to James, and 
more than Snape blindly following Dumbledore's orders to keep 
Harry safe. 
 
What is this bond between Harry and Snape? They're not related,
that much we know, as JKR has said Harry had no other relatives  to
take him in. One possibility could involve Snape making some sort
of promise or vow to Lily to protect her son if anything should  happen
to her and James. Another possibility is that Snape somehow
magically tied himself to Harry right after the Potters' deaths  (during
that "missing" 24 hours?) as penance for being unable to prevent
those deaths. (I know that last is vague, but it's all I have at the 
moment!)
 
One thing I doubt is that it involves any sort of Unbreakable Vow. 
Just as Dumbledore wouldn't force or accept that from Snape, I don't
think Lily would either. They'd both put much more trust in Snape
(or anyone) acting of his own volition and conscience. 



Obviously I don't have a solid theory about this bond, but I do think
it is there. JKR hasn't yet failed to surprise me by revealing  something
I didn't forsee, and I expect she'll do the same in Book 7. As much  fun
as it is to try and guess, it's even better to finally read JKR's  version, 
which in this case will probably bring about one of those "Aha!"  moments 
where we understand what this antagonistic yet ambiguous  relationship
between Snape and Harry has really been all about. 


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