Will the Real Severus Snape please step forward?

[Goddlefrood]

No: HPFGUIDX 167762

> Julie:
> I'm afraid I don't see either the real of fake Moody as 
exactly unbias judges. Barty Jr was a pyschopath, and real Moody 
is known to be highly distrustful and paranoid. It's a bit like 
asking Snape his opinion of Sirius and vice versa. 

Goddlefrood:

Quite right, however they can not be entirely written off either.
Biassed they may be, but we should also ask ourselves why? What
had Snape done to make Moody suspect he had not turned? What had
Severus done to Barty Jnr to inspire the latter to scorn him?

One thought I have on that matter is that Snape had a hand in
ensuring Barty Jnr would not give evidence that might exonerate
Sitius. It could equaslly well be that Severus was pleased enough
for Barty Jnr to suffer the Dementor's Kiss because of his own
desire to make sure whatever Barty Jnr might have known that was
adverse to Snape's own interests would not have been discovered.

> Julie:

> And as for Snape "snapping"...well, we have seen that happen 
a couple of times, when Sirius "escaped" in POA, and again after
he pulled Harry out of his worst memory in the Penseive. 

Goddlefrood:

I agree with this, but my thought was that the decision made by 
Snape was a snap decision, influenced by his hatred of Dumbledore. 
I do not think it likely that Snape would completely lose it, as
I acknowledge he has before, in front of a number of Death Eaters.
No more nor less than that ;)

> Julie

> Additionally, the stick point for me with the Tower scene 
will always--ALWAYS--be Dumbledore's pleading before Snape even
reaches him or meets his eyes. Until that can be explained in
terms that make true sense for any interpretation but Dumbledore 
pleading for Snape to "do it", then I will never buy a Tower!
Snape who turned suddenly turned evil at the last moment.

Goddlefrood:

Well, I'm not saying Severus turned suddenly evil. I do not 
believe he is necessarily evil, just not Dumbledore's man, and
simultanewously not LV's man either. Just that he is working
ostensibly as a rogue with an influence from another in the
background :)

I had obviously overlooked including the explanation I have for
the words spoken by Dumbledore, sorry about that, when I wrote 
that up last night I was recovering from some shocking revelations
in Desperate Housewives ;).

Here and now, I present a further expansion on the "Severus, 
please" business. Basically Dumbeldore realised at the time 
Snape appeared that Severus was, in Dumbledore's own mind,
bewtraying Dumbeldore. Having this revelation his words were
meant as quite simply a question to reconsider what Snape was
about to do, vis kill Duymbledore. It was neither pleading nor
was it asking to fulfill a promise in other words. I hioe that
makes some sense :). It does to me.

> Julie:

> I got the impression from the books that Irma Pince was 
> somewhat older than Snape, making it possible for her to
> be his mother, but really not possible for her to have been 
> a schoolmate of his. Besides, she laughed at him. Why 
> later would Snape be tied to her?

Goddlefrood:

As many have before you. Unfortunately there is little descriptive 
material relative to Irma to confirm this either way. Shye could 
be older or she may be nearer Severus's age, it is not easy to 
discern. Anyone who wants to convince me otherwise is welcome to 
try, but I would need descriptors from canon :), and not the
booming kind ;)

 Julie:
> Okay I'm going to do this once again. You didn't include the 
first few sentences of this quote. Here it is again in full:

> 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 ...

Goddlefrood:

Thanks, but you'll see that was in one of my earlier posts on
this thread :)

> Julie:
 
> In other words, her astonishment and promise of an explanation 
in Book 7 refers to Snape falling in love, NOT to Snape's 
redemptive pattern (JKR's definitive response to the latter is 
"It is, isn't  it...")

> That's my reading anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

Goddlefrood:

Well, as you say, and that is your entitlement ;)