Of Sorting and Snape

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 175378

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" 
<susiequsie23 at ...> wrote:
>
> lizzyben:
> > > I just meant that in the
> > > "Prince's Tale" chapter, every one of Snape's childhood 
memories 
> > > shows him doing something "bad" - from the nine-year old 
> > > dropping a branch on Petunia, to insulting Muggles, to 
defending 
> > > future Death Eaters. It's one of the places where I could 
almost 
> > > here the Author's Voice in the background saying "See, see, he 
> > > was a bad kid from the get-go!" 

Hickengruendler:

The same author who had him save Harry's life already back in book 1, 
made him show signs of genuine shock, when Ginny was taken into the 
Chamber of Secrets, called him, through Dumbledore and Harry, very 
brave, made him try to save Remus Lupin's life and made sure, that 
his very last deed, giving Harry the memories while dying, was to 
help bringing Voldemort down. (In a moment, where he thought both he 
and Harry had to die, therefore this suggestscould suggest *some* 
caring for the world in general.) And, to bring some non books 
arguments into the play, the same author who wished him a Happy 
Birthday on her website for three years in a row, now. JKR knows how 
to write characters, who are simply, bad, bad, bad (look at Umbridge, 
for example), if she wanted to write Snape as such, she would have 
done so. 


> 
> SSSusan:
> Wow.  I hadn't even *noticed* that every one of the memories showed 
> Snape doing something 'bad.'  So if JKR's intention was to 
say "See! 
> See!" and to forestall sympathy for Severus, it didn't work for me 
> that way either.  In fact, I do NOT believe that was her intention 
> at all.
 
Hickengruendler:

I think the memories should be seen as two developments. At first, we 
see Snape getting worse. In the first childhood memory he isn't too 
bad. He insulted Petunia, but she insulted him first, and while it 
isn't a nice moment for Snape, it's nothing really damnable either, 
and he could have chosen another way easily, if he had seen his 
errors back then. Next memory, he already is a bit worse, using magic 
to "punish" Petunia, but it isn't really worse, than what the Twins 
did to Dudley, for example. Then we hear, that he became part of a 
gang of wannabe Death Eaters. Next chapter, we see him insulting 
Lily, his only friend, and it becomes pretty clear, that he used 
the "Mudblood" insult regularly towards any Muggleborn not named Lily 
Evans. He hits is ultimate low-point, when he makes a deal with 
Voldemort to spare Lily in exchange for James and Harry, which is, as 
Dumbledore correctly said, disgusting.

But we also see a tiny glimmer of goodness in Snape even in this 
scene, not only because he still cared for Lily, but also because he 
admitted what he did in front of Dumbledore, and didn't seem 
particularly proud of it (compare this with Bellatrix' gloating after 
she killed Sirius, for example). From that point onwards, we see 
Snape getting a bit better every time (while still remaining a nasty 
teacher, admittingly). First, he agrees to help protect Harry, the 
very child, he wanted to sell out to Voldemort in the previous scene. 
It was still in remembrance of Lily, though, wanting to make sure, 
that her sacrifice was not in vain. Next time, we see him genuinely 
upset over the curse on Dumbledore's hand and the fact, that 
Dumbledore had to die, wishing, that Dumble's had come to him 
earlier. Than he is shocked, that Harry has to die, even though he 
still pretends it is all about Lily, which I'm not sure about at this 
point. Than we witness him saving Lupin's life, which has nothing to 
do with Lily at all. (In fact, Lupin is a character Snape hated.) 
Next time, he tells Phineas Nigellus not to call Hermione a Mudblood. 
And I will add his deathscene, even saw it wasn't a memory we 
witnessed. In that scene, he knew he had to die. He knew Lily was 
dead for a pretty long time, and he thought Harry had to die as well. 
*And he still gave Harry the memory, as Dumbledore wanted him to do.* 
That's nothing Snape had to do. It could not have been simply about 
Lily and her son. In fact, if it were simply about saving Harry, it 
would have been better not to give the boy the memories at all. Harry 
might die anyway, but as far as Snape knew, he definitely would have 
died after seeing the memories. So Snape had to have a different 
reason. There can IMO only be three explanations:

1.) He did it out of a favour for Dumbledore, whom he started to like 
over the years
2.) He did it to stop Voldemort, because he hated Voldemort and 
wanted to see him dead.
3.) He did it out of some general caring for the world in general, 
which he started to develop (to a degree) over the years.

I personally think it is a mixture out of all three possibilities. 
Anyway, his very last deed, no matter what his reasons were, helped 
Saving the school and everyone from Voldemort, therefore bringing his 
development full circle.

Hickengruendler