The Good, the Not so Good and the Downright Ridiculous Snape

[Goddlefrood]

No: HPFGUIDX 167280

A Post in Four Parts

Goddlefrood, with a few introductory quotes:

"It's fun to write about Snape because he's a deeply horrible 
person."

JKR in an extract from Katy Abel - Family Education, Summer 1999

"Inspiration for Professor Snape, the spine-chilling teacher at 
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who made Harry's 
life a misery, was drawn from a teacher at Rowling's former 
school - although she declined to name him." - Danielle 
Demetriou - The Daily Telegraph, 1st July, 2000.

"Why did you make Quirrell the bad guy instead of Snape? 

Because I know all about Snape, and he wasn't about to put on a 
turban."

JKR in America Online Chat, 19th October 2000

"So, is Snape good or bad? In our opinion, everything follows 
from it. 

JK Rowling: Well, Salman, your opinion, I would say is ... right."

>From An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp, 2nd August 2006.

Enough quotes, for now ;)

This series of posts will be split into four separate portions. 
The first post is to give a little background on Severus Snape 
and goes up to the time of the incident with Lupin when Severus 
was saved from death by James (I say this because, as I have said 
before, it makes sense that a life debt would only be incurred 
in a situation where the person saved is sufficiently proximate 
to death to incur such a debt). I also present this (from joint 
Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling: 
Part Three, 16 July 2005):

"MA: Someone put it to me last night, that if Ginny, with the 
diary - 

JKR: Harry definitely destroyed that piece of soul, you saw it 
take shape, you saw it destroyed, it's gone. And Ginny is 
definitely in no way possessed by Voldemort.

MA: Is she still a parselmouth?

JKR: No.

MA: Does she have a life debt to Harry from book two?

JKR: No, not really. Wormtail is different. You know, part of 
me would just love to explain the whole thing to you, plot of 
book seven, you know, I honestly would."

Full interview available here:

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-
3.htm

>From this it seems not unreasonable to conclude that someone 
owing a life debt must have been nearer to death than Ginny was 
in the Chamber. There is, of course, that "not really", but it 
is surely safe enough to conclude that Ginny does not owe Harry 
a life debt. This view also receives support from the incident 
with Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black in the 
Shrieking Shack in PoA. Had Harry not intervened the rat would 
not be alive, pure and simple. Then again had he not intervened 
in the Chamber Ginny would not be alive, but then I think I have 
struck on the explanation for that matter to. It runs something 
like this:

Ginny would not have died; she would have continued to exist 
without a soul, much as those whose souls have been sucked out 
by a Dementor's kiss exist. They would still be undead in the 
usual understanding of the term, being zombies, but this is not 
my world and I comment no further on this aspect of it. Just an 
explanation that would fit with what we have to work from, as it
were.

The second post will be my interpretation of how Severus Snape 
could be, from a certain viewpoint, that I do not necessarily 
believe, good. The third post, which is the view of Severus I 
favour, is a not so good, but nevertheless not working for 
Voldemort, Snape, and the fourth is, as the title says, a 
downright ridiculous Snape, and just a little fun, but it will 
also contain some conclusions and give an account of how I think 
his story ark may play out in Deathly Hallows.

I ask you to bear in mind throughout this series that I do not 
believe Snape loved Lily, his paramour lies elsewhere, what 
material I have on that will be placed before you at the 
appropriate points ;)

Whichever of these three possible Severuses Snape may be, I will 
start with a little of his background, what we know of him up to 
the point he started at Hogwarts and up to the point of taking 
his OWLs.

The son of Tobias Snape and Eileen Prince, Severus grew up in 
misery. This suggestion I draw from certain matters contained 
in Chapter Twenty-Six: Seen and Unforeseen in OotP. A cowering 
child who learned any number of hexes and curses in order to 
alleviate the depravity that surrounded him and his own boredom. 
A gifted child who was clearly magical from birth.

An interjection here on the names of Severus's parents, the 
possible origins of his own first name I will leave for one of 
the later posts. Tobias first. "Think baby names" has this as 
the origin of the name: `The boy's name Tobias \t(o)-bias\ is 
of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "God is good". Biblical 
name from the Old Testament, used by the Puritans and revived 
in the 19th century.' Further down it says `Tobias is an 
uncommon male first name and a very popular surname.' Intriguing 
of course ;). The link for you:

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Tobias

Tobias as a surname is of old usage. The family has its own 
coat of arms. This incorporates some kind of bird of prey's foot 
(possibly an eagle?) as a part of it. You can see the full Coat 
of Arms for Tobias here:

http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/tobias-family-crest.htm

I save further comment about Tobias until the next post in this 
series.

Eileen is a derivative of Helen, this from "think baby names" 
again `The girl's name Helen \he-len\ is pronounced HEL-en. It 
is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "sun ray; shining light".' 
Further intrigue. The link:

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Helen

And one to Eileen itself:

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Eileen

If you care to follow some of the names around that site you will 
see a link to the name Avila. This is also the name of a lovely 
hillside town in Spain with its Mediaeval Walls still intact, a 
town most famous for St. Theresa of Avila, a sixteenth century 
nun whose autobiography is considered a leading work in expounding 
on personal theology and giving guidelines on how to lead a 
blameless life. Also of interest perhaps :)

The origin of the name Snape has been mentioned by JKR in the 
eToys interview, Fall (as a concession to the origin of the 
quote ;)) 2000, where this:

`"Snape" is the name of a place in England.'

will be found. The full interview:

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/fall00-etoys.html

Some two years ago I trawled the net and placed a picture in a 
little blog I keep with a question, that being, "Is this a fair 
representation of the Slytherin ring?". Why, you may ask, is 
this relevant in a post about Snape? Well, the ring in that blog 
post came from the Village of Snape's web site, the Snape Village 
in Suffolk. Here is the source:

http://www.snapevillage.org.uk/indexfr.html?home.html~info

Thereafter scroll down a short way and click on "About Snape" to 
find the ring.

There is also further down the page from the ring a sketch of 
the old priory barn. When I read the books, and before the movies 
(what can I say?, my son likes them) polluted the images somewhat, 
that barn, on a larger scale, was how I pictured the Great Hall 
to look :)

Also quite intriguing, I think you can agree.

To return to the narrative, it may or may not be relevant whom 
the people glimpsed in the memories Harry broke into in Seen and 
Unforeseen are. I believe it partially is not and partially is, 
further expansion will follow later in this post. The first two 
snippets of memory (the hooked-nosed man shouting at a cowering 
woman and the greasy-haired teenager shooting down flies) are 
shown, in my divination, to demonstrate Snape had an uncaring 
and depressed background. The third is of particular interest to 
me, hopefully you'll see why :) A partial explanation, but the 
rest will be in the third post of this series, I will now give 
you. This quote from Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet interview with 
J. K. Rowling: Part Three, 16th July, 2005:

"MA: Oh, here's one [from our forums] that I've really got to 
ask you. Has Snape ever been loved by anyone?

JKR: Yes, he has, which in some ways makes him more culpable 
even than Voldemort, who never has."

Found in full here:

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-
3.htm

The sniggering little girl, I divine, will be the one whom 
Snape loved. Who she is I have as yet to divine. Not, IMHO, 
as stated above, Lily Evans.

There is also this, from an early interview, this time 
Christopher Lydon, The Connection (WBUR Radio), 12th October, 
1999:

"Lydon: Er - one of our connec- ... one of our internet 
correspondents wondered if Snape is going to fall in love?

JKR: Yeah? Who on earth would want Snape in love with them, 
that is a very horrible idea. Erm ..."

That is available in full here:

http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/1099-connectiontransc2.htm

A little odd, IMHO, Snape it appears loved, but he was not, as
a reasonable extrapolation from this latter quote, loved in 
return, nor will he find love. Possibly because he is doomed :>

Upon arrival at Hogwarts Severus was sorted into Slytherin 
House. He fell in with a group, first with Bella as its leader 
and then with Lucius, of Slytherins. Snape was impressed with 
their pure blood status and I see no reason why he would ever 
have divulged his own half-blood status to them. Had he done so, 
and with what we have been shown of Bella and Lucius and indeed 
others, he would almost certainly have been friendless within 
his own house as well as throughout the rest of the school 
during his time at Hogwarts (at least, that is, up to the time 
of his OWLs). Severus may be many things, but he is certainly 
no fool :|

For his first two years at Hogwarts, at least, there were 
others of this Slytherin circle at the school. As Severus grew 
older there were less and less friendly people around him. He 
was unpopular from the beginning, or so it seems, with the group 
now known to us as The Marauders. By the time he, and the rest 
of his year, sat their OWLs he was ostracised by many and back 
to his solitary ways. Snape's Worst Memory refers, shortly after 
which IMO the incident between Snape and the Marauders that led 
to Snape owing a life debt to James Potter occurred. That is 
where I leave you, for now. Next up when I am inclined will be 
the version of "Snape is good" that I personally could live 
with, although obviously, as somewhat of an addict of the books, 
I could live with any version of him :)

Do feel free to add material in any responses that would shed 
light on Snape's formative years, and if there are any pertinent 
matters up to the point where Severus sat his OWLs that I may 
have missed I would be interested to find out about them.

Goddlefrood, with a little date for you once more, this time 
1492, the death year of Nearly Headless Nick (and I wonder if 
JKR, when putting this date had taken account of the Julian 
Calendar?). It was the same year in which, not only was America 
"discovered" by Christopher Columbus, but it was also Year 7000 
from the Dating Creation, and one of the many in which an 
anticipated Apocalypse failed to happen :)