Snape: Childhood, Ambiguity, Love Life, and Afterlife (was: Sorting and Snape)

[Judy]

No: HPFGUIDX 175554

Lanval said, about the part where young Snape is watching Lily:
> IMO, there's no denying the sexual overtones, and the author meant 
> for them not to be overlooked. Yes, I know, he's nine or ten, but 
> kids that age have crushes and fall in love, even if they're not 
> aware of *why* they're feeling this way. I'm not suggesting he's 
> imagining her without her clothes here, or anything as overt. But 
> it is her beauty that gets to him. Not just the magical powers.  

I do think Snape is supposed to find Lily pretty; that's how I took 
the line "His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom, moved over the 
pale face, the dark red hair." So, I agree with you that there is an 
overtone of romantic attraction here. But, I don't think an extreme 
stalkerish interpretation fits, given his age.  (Not that you were 
making such an interpretation, but it seemed to me that some people 
were.) 

Interestingly, Snape never makes any insults about Petunia's looks, 
even though she insults his clothes.  He seems to find her lack of 
magical ability a bigger deal than her plain appearance.  This is 
another factor that makes me think Lily's magical ability is very 
important to Snape.  However, her beauty is presumably also a reason 
why he likes her, even when they are quite young.  



About what it meant that Snape lied about making the branch break,
I said:
> > Lily never asks him if he broke the branch *intentionally.*  
> > So, the "lie" was that he didn't cause the break at all, rather 
> > than that he didn't do it intentionally.
 
Lanval replied:
> I think it would be a huge stretch to ask for a young child in this 
> situation to choose the legally correct way of asking what happened.

Well, I don't think she'd actually use the word "intentionally."  But 
she could have asked something like, "Did you mean to do that?" 
or "Were you trying to hurt my sister?"  

On the same topic, Lanval said:
> And you're right, it was quite likely a gut reaction, something he 
> couldn't control. He certainly has a problem with controlling his 
> temper, even as an adult. So, I think this is inconclusive. He may 
> have consciously wanted to hurt Petunia and saw the branch as the 
> closest available weapon, or it was accidental, or a mix of both. 
> We all have angry reactions from time to time where we act without 
> thinking. I'd say that since he has no wand, and has not been 
> formally trained, it was unconsciously done. Perhaps the more 
> powerful the wizard, the more disastrous these uncontrolled bursts 
> of wandless magic? Snape was quite gifted, IMO.

I think we agree here.


On Snape's ambiguity, 
Lanval said:
> It probably won't come as a surprise to you that I love it. I 
> absolutely adore the fact that she left so many things open, and 
> I'm more grateful than I can say that she did not give us a 
> sappy "Forgive me, Harry!" -- "Oh, Severus, how could I ever have 
> doubted you!" scene. 

I wasn't necessarily expecting a face-to-face reconciliation between 
Snape & Harry, because I figured that Harry would likely not find out 
that Snape was on his side until after Snape died, or just as Snape 
died.  But, I was surprised that JKR left Snape's motivations so 
unspecified; I don't know if she had really intended that or not.  I 
can see how some fans would prefer Snape's motivations left 
ambiguous, though.

Lanval:
> Yes, that's a nice thought, Lily welcoming Snape after he dies. But 
> I hope that after thanking him for protecting her son, she also 
> whacks him over the head for being so mean to him. And then (after 
> Snape has spent some time in some purgatory-ish corner thinking 
> over his many sins) they can go floating off into the Great Beyond.

Well, I think we'll have to just agree to disagree as to whether 
Snape has already done enough penance; I see him as having done 
plenty.

Lanval:
> as I've said before, I find him for the 
> *most* part heartwrenchingly adorable in those early memories. The 
> way he flaps around like a little bat, his blushing, his eagerness 
> and the way he just can't seem to help Messing Things Up...),
and signed off as: 
> Lanval, who can't abide adult Snape and loves little Severus, yet 
> can't overlook the warning signs present even at that young age.

I'm surprised that you liked Severus as a child, Lanval!  I really 
saw him as not that different from the adult Snape.  But, I suppose 
that means I see adult Snape quite differently from how you see him. 

Lanval asked, earlier:
Are we cool? :)
Yeah, we're cool.  :-)

-- JudySerenity