[HPforGrownups] The Continuing Tragedy of Severus Snape: Reflections on Books 1-5

[SnapesSlytherin at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 164488

Cassy V wrote:      
 PS/SS:
 Already Snape's bitter, childish jealously of Dumbledore's
 relationship with Harry (manifested in his spitting at the Quidditch
 match) seems to be warping his judgment. Snape ill-advisedly pursues
 his own investigation of Quirrell (though we assume Dumbledore had it
 covered) perhaps hoping to thwart him single-handedly and so regain
 DD's favour? As it is, Snape fails (despite his best efforts) to
 prevent Harry a) rushing into danger, b) nearly dying and c) defeating
 Quirrell and taking the credit. Add to that DD's public demonstration
 at the Leaving Feast and no one wonder Snape is determined to press
 for Harry's expulsion at the earliest possible opportunity next term!
 
 Oryomai: Do we know that Dumbledore didn't ASK Severus to look at Quirrell? This is a point in the story where Harry gets little to no information on what is actually going on. He never asked if Severus was doing this on DD's orders. How is it Severus' fault that Harry goes after the Stone? Hagrid is the one who told Harry how to get past Fluffy -- why doesn't anyone want to rush to blame him for this? 
  Cassy V:
   COS:
 Snape has his revenge by 'outing' Harry as a Parseltongue and
 potential Heir of Slytherin. In the end, this leads Harry to risk his
 life (again) in the Chamber of Secrets and to defeat Riddle (&
 Lockhart, which is a relief all round). But Snape must be worrying
 about Harry dying before he can discharge that life-debt...
  
  Oryomai: Do we know Severus knew Harry was a Parseltongue? This isn't something that he has told Ron or Hermione yet. I don't have my books with me, but I thought that Draco did that spell to be funny not because Severus knew anything. How can we expect Severus to know Harry's a Parseltongue when Harry himself doesn't tell anyone and doesn't actually know what one is? 
 
  Cassy V:
 POA:
 Well, the result of Snape *totally* losing it in the Shrieking Shack
 (Lily-died-despite-my-warning -because-James-trusted-you-Sirius!) is
 that the real culprit, Wormtail, escaped... to rejoin Voldemort.
 Sirius Black is (still) the Most Wanted, Remus Lupin is a disgraced
 werewolf and Fudge thinks that Dumbledore employs deranged staff. Nice
 one, Severus... still it's good to know you're (supposed to be) on our
 side! 
 
 Oryomai: Okay, so Severus lost it in the Shrieking Shack. As an occasionally rational person, what is he supposed to think? An escaped criminal from Azkaban has three students trapped in the Shrieking Shack. Severus does not know that Sirius is innocent at this point. Obviously he's happy that he gets to take down someone who tortured him, but Sirius was, at this point, a dangerous fugitive. Outing Remus was a petty thing for him to do, but we all have to admit that by not taking the Wolfsbane that night, Remus DID endanger alot of people.
  
 Cassy V:
   GOF:
 This is the one I find *really* tragic. Moody-Crouch made one crucial
 mistake that should have been enough to unmask him as a Death Eater.
 Namely, his (completely false) claim that Dumbledore had authorized
 him to search Snape's Office, which betrayed a fundamental
 misunderstanding of Dumbledore's character. Snape was appalled and
 furious – 'Dumbledore happens to trust me' (GOF25) – brave words: but
 did he really believe it? Evidently not. When Crouch cleverly alluded
 to the Dark Mark - 'spots that don't come off' etc. - Snape was
 crushed. After that, he didn't dare put Dumbledore's trust to the
 test, for fear of being more bitterly hurt, IMHO. Thus when Crouch was
 given the Veritaserum - & confessed that '[Snape] found me in his
 office, I said I was under orders to search it' - this was almost
 certainly the first that Dumbledore had heard of the matter! Poor
 Snape. Now he *knows* it's all his fault (Cedric's murder and
 Voldemort's return). 
 
 Oryomai: Do we know that Severus didn't tell DD? Maybe he did and DD brushed him off -- like DD brushes everyone else off (IMO because he's an evil puppetmaster). Maybe DD told him that Moody was just suspicious or he said that he told Moody he could go wherever he wanted in the castle. I think it's wrong to say that the rebirth of Voldemort is Severus' fault -- what about DD who didn't see that Moody had changed? What about Wormtail who brought him back? What about Harry whose blood was used? What about Real!Moody who got captured? What about anyone else? 
  
 
  Cassy V:
   OOtP:
 Now Snape's finally in a position to risk his neck spying for the
 Order... but his penchant for emotional mistakes continues (making him
 a steaming hypocrite, of course!). I'm not just referring to the
 Occlumency 'fiasco' – but to the stupid taunting of Sirius Black,
 (which probably *did* make some contribution to the tragedy – Harry
 knew his godfather pretty well, IMHO). This means that Snape's most
 significant role – as the one who tried to persuade Sirius *not* to go
 to the Ministry on the fatal day – is completely overlooked by Harry
 Potter. 
 
 Oryomai: I don't think Sirius put muck stock into what Severus says at all. He hates Severus. Sirius was cooped up. Isn't that more DD's fault for not giving him anything to do? Severus didn't cause the death of Sirius -- he tried to get him to not go. Maybe Harry should've not given in to his "saving people thing" and did something useful for a change. 
 I am not entirely sure what you are trying to do with this post. To me, it comes across as an attempt to blame Severus for things that he was not a part of. I am slightly aghast at your implication that Severus is responsible for the return of Voldemort and the death of Diggory. If there is something in your post that I am missing, I would be very happy if you could explain it to me. Severus is not the cause of everything bad that happens in Harry Potter. There are Bigger Bads out there than Severus Snape. 
  
  Oryomai, who is very excited about DH and actually got in a Snape-related HP fight in History of Theater the other day (we were talking about School for Scandal, and the idea of liking mean people came up. My professor decided Snape was a good example!)
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