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

[Unspeakable]

No: HPFGUIDX 164570

Hi, Carol (continued!)

1. Cassy:
PS/SS:
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! 

Carol: 
The story is told from Harry's very limited point of view, and we have
no idea what went on
between Snape and Dumbledore. (DD's explanation of Snape's behavior
based on the life debt to Harry's father has always struck me as one
of DD's half-truth partial explanations--what Harry needs to know or
can safely be told. He's certainly not going to tell Harry that Snape
is his chief anti-Voldemort agent at Hogwarts.) We know that he
suspected Quirrell of trying to steal the stone and tried to thwart
him (failing because he didn't know how to get past Fluffy and because
the plot required him to be the red herring villain). He was not
trying to stop Harry in order to "steal his glory." Nor could he have
suspected that Harry was trying to stop *him* from going after the
stone. At this point, Snape doesn't seem to know about the
Invisibility Cloak, so I don't see how he could have stopped three
kids from unwisely entering the corridor. And if he couldn't get past
the three-headed dog, he wouldn't expect them to do so, either. I see
no glory-seeking here, only an attempt to stop Quirrell. (It would
have been better, BTW, if Harry hadn't tried to stop him.
Quirrell!mort would have been thwarted by the mirror. But then Harry
and his friends wouldn't have had their dangerous adventure and there
would be no story.) 

Cassy:
Granted we *don't* know how much collusion there was between
Dumbledore & Snape, though (as I said in another post) there is some
evidence that Snape was behaving in a slightly maverick fashion in
PS/SS (perhaps because 'the plot required him to be the red herring
villain') for which I tried to find a psychological explanation. (As
Quirrell says: "Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to
have him swooping around like an overgrown bat." PS/SS17) 'It would
have been better, BTW, if Harry hadn't tried to stop him.
Quirrell!mort would have been thwarted by the mirror.' Quite! And by
the same token Snape didn't *need* to get his leg bitten. (Though I
admit he saved Harry's life on the Quidditch pitch.) 

The point I was trying to make is that Snape's (somewhat clumsy)
attempts to get involved  (combined with his objectionable manner)
*inadvertently* caused Harry to put his life in danger (convinced that
Snape was about to steal the Stone), which is really the last thing
that Snape would have wanted!  Not only that, but Harry returned in
triumph, beating Slytherin in the House Championship & confirming his
position in Dumbledore's affections. Not a good day. 

NB: Snape didn't know that Harry suspected him of trying to steal the
Stone but he *did* do his best to keep Harry away from danger - "Be
warned, Potter - any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally
make sure you are expelled. Good day to you." (PS/SS16) - and must
have been somewhat mortified IMHO to learn that the effect of his
words was rather different to what he had intended (though doubtless
he managed to blame it all on Harry). 

2. Cassy:
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... 

Carol:
Why would DDM!Snape seek *revenge* on Harry by outing him as a
Parseltongue? If he does so deliberately (and it's one of those
ambiguous scenes in which we don't know his motive or even whether he
was telling Draco which spell to use), his reaction indicates that
he's shrewdly putting two and two together, not necessarily that he
plotted to reveal Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue. How could he
possibly have anticipated that unless he knew or suspected that
Harry's scar contained some of Voldemort's powers? 

Cassy:
Again, sorry, this wasn't meant all that literally – hence the remark
about defeating Lockhart! I do agree that Snape had sound political
reasons for testing Harry (hence my question: 'does Snape suspect that
Harry's scar is a Horcrux?') but he also seems to enjoy Harry's (very
public) discomfort and (in plot terms) it would have to be *Snape* who
sets him up with the whole school, even if this wasn't exactly
intended! 'Oh Potter, you rotter, oh what have you done? / You're
killing off students, you think it's good fun –' (COS11) As JKR says,
he's not a nice person. (And as a secondary motive, I still suspect
that Snape grudges Harry his developing relationship with Dumbledore.)
However, on a serious note, I wonder if Snape really believes Harry to
be *dangerous* to himself or others at this stage? (If Harry *does*
have a hidden connection to Voldemort one might expect a former DE to
be the person who works it out!) 

Carol:
Certainly, Snape isn't plotting to get Parseltongue Harry into the
Chamber of Secrets. ... Harry and Ron overhear Snape showing up
Lockhart's incompetence and telling him that this is his chance to
deal with the monster, and they get the idea to go to the DADA teacher
to help them enter the CoS. Granted, if it hadn't been for Snape, they
wouldn't have gone to Lockhart or tried to enter the chamber, but he
didn't know they were listening in, and he certainly wasn't enticing
them to try to save Ginny themselves. The life debt to James has
nothing to do with it. (And that's the one scene where we see concrete
evidence of Snape's concern for the students' safety: his hand
gripping a chair when he hears that a student has been taken into the
chamber.) 

Cassy:
Absolutely! I didn't mean to imply that this was deliberate on Snape's
part – just that one consequence of Harry learning he can speak
Parseltongue is that it enables him to get into the Chamber. I was
merely trying to point out the irony that once again Snape
(indirectly) contributes to Harry risking his life... which isn't
something that Snape wants to do at all, IMHO. That's where the
life-debt to James comes into it! Snape *deplores* Harry's
recklessness.  (His concern about Harry's physical  welfare may be one
reason why he appears to favour expulsion at times, though I hear what
you're saying about it not being a very convincing threat.) Like you,
I was really touched by that line in COS16 - Hooch is about to faint,
Flitwick bursts into tears: 'Snape gripped the back of a chair very
hard and said, "How can you be sure?"' Speaks volumes, IMHO.

3. Cassy:
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!

Carol:
The result of Snape's entering the Shrieking Shack is that he hears
only part of the story (the illegal Animagi) but causes HRH to listen
to the rest. (They knock him out because they're not sure who's right
and he's preventing them from hearing the rest of Lupin's and Black's
story.) If he hadn't entered, suspecting the werewolf of aiding the
convicted murderer (and realizing that Harry was also there when he
found the Invisibility Cloak), Harry would not have insisted on
hearing what Lupin had to say and ended up believing in Black's
innocence instead of wanting to kill him. (Harry still has his doubts,
and Ron is still defending Scabbers against the seemingly ridiculous
charge of being a murdering traitor. Snape, unfortunately, doesn't
hear the rest of the story because he's knocked out, and continues to
distrust Black even after he finds out that Pettigrew really is alive
and the Animagus story is true.)

It's *Harry* who saves Wormtail's life (Snape doesn't even know he's
there in rat form) and it's Lupin's transformation into a werewolf
because he didn't drink the potion that Snape brought him, minutes too
late, that enabled Wormtail to escape. Snape later conjures stretchers
to rescue HRH and even the supposed murderer Black from the werewolf
and any Dementors that decide to return. It *is* good that Snape is on
our side or HRH would be dead or worse. As for Lupin being exposed as
a werewolf, he did that himself by failing to take his potion and
rushing out onto the grounds on a full moon night when he knew three
students were out there. What was Snape supposed to tell Fudge? That
he'd conjured stretchers to save the murderer from the Dementors? He
had to mention the murderer's werewolf accomplice, and the potion he
failed to take, for the story to make any sense. Since Snape isn't
reprimanded for his words and actions, I'm guessing that he did so
with Dumbledore's stated or tacit approval. And, of course, Lupin
resigned on his own, having endangered the students all year by
concealing information about Black that could have prevented him from
entering the school and eliminated the necessity for Dementors
guarding the school, not to mention exposed three students to the
danger of werewolf bites.

True, Snape was not averse to receiving an award for heroism, much
less to seeing Sirius Black have his soul sucked (a fate that Harry
also thinks Black deserves, as he tells Lupin earlier in the book, PoA
Am. ed. 247), but as he twice tells Harry, he's saving Harry's
life--or, at least, he thinks he's doing so by tying up a werewolf
who's about to transform and holding a convicted murderer at
wandpoint. And he does conjure the stretchers later and take four
unconscious people to the hospital despite the danger still posed by
the werewolf.

At any rate, to say that Snape caused Wormtail to escape is to ignore
the evidence completely, and it's also unrealistic to think that
Lupin's own actions would not have caused both the loss of his job and
his exposure as a werewolf (Fudge was at Hogwarts, after all, and saw
Snape bringing in the injured Black, whose wounds would need to be
explained) with or without Snape's later revelation to his students.
If Lupin had not resigned, he would surely have been fired for
carelessly placing students in danger (and concealing important
information from the headmaster throughout the book).

Cassy:
Good points – as you rightly point out, I was too hasty here (without
the book to hand) & exaggerated Snape's role in Wormtail's escape. (In
any case, the intent was not to *blame* Snape for something which
involved a lot of others; as much as to try to understand what his
regrets might be at the end of the book.)

 I *don't* believe that Snape helps matters much in the Shack... HRH
respected Lupin (in spite of everything) & were beginning to listen
before Snape appeared. You could argue (admittedly in a rather
perverse sense) that Snape actually slowed things down (and time was
of the essence that night!). I suppose I was left with an overriding
sense that the whole encounter was a farce and that Snape, in *trying*
to do the right thing, came to all the wrong conclusions – however,
unfortunately or understandably – which contributed to the tragedy.
(After all, TT!Harry is sorely tempted to grab the cloak and prevent
Snape from entering the Shack.)

However, I'm not interested in being perverse, still less in ignoring
the evidence, so I retract that Snape  *caused* Wormtail's escape in
any way. More importantly, though, I still believe that Snape could
have *prevented* it, if only he been prepared to listen to Lupin &
Black. Yes, it's 'Lupin's transformation into a werewolf ... that
enabled Wormtail to escape', but *crucially* with Sirius preoccupied
in defending the trio (the role that is given to Movie-Snape)! If
Snape had been on his feet then *he'd* have been able to prevent
Wormtail's escape while Sirius dealt with Lupin. As it was the trio
really had no option but to attack irrational!Snape in the Shack, who
was consequently hanging in the air unconscious while Voldemort's
servant escaped to rejoin his master.

Your account is a little harsh on Lupin, IMHO. Yes, he should have
taken his Potion but his contribution to the tragedy was ultimately no
worse than Snape's. Severus (with the very best of intentions) a)
refused to listen to Lupin's explanation despite HRH pleading with him
to do so, b) as a result had to be immobilized by the trio so wasn't
able to help in the crisis of Lupin's transformation & Wormtail's
escape, c) did his level best to see Sirius reduced to a fate worse
than death, d) caused a scene in the hospital wing which could have
exposed Dumbledore's involvement in illegal Time-turning and e) outed
ex-Order Member, Remus Lupin, as a werewolf. 

(Did Snape mention Lupin to Fudge? I don't remember. But I doubt that
DD approved of him telling the Slytherins that Lupin was a werewolf,
much less of his behaviour in the hospital wing, which alarmed the
Minister and might have done worse had not DD managed to shut him up!)

 I'd like to have been there when DD debriefed his double agent
afterwards – there'd have been groans all round, I reckon. 

I'm not really saying this in *blame* of Snape who acted bravely &
sincerely according to his view of circumstances, even if he did
become insane with anger in the Shack ... (I still think we need to
know why & I agree with you that it's interesting how Snape's initial
reaction to Black parallels Harry's – more evidence for Snape/Lily
IMHO!) But I doubt DDM!Snape would have been left feeling very good
about it afterwards; especially now he's stuck with Wormtail at
Spinner's End...

4. 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). 

Carol:
It's no more Snape's fault that Wormtail killed Cedric and resurrected
Voldemort than it is Harry's or Dumbledore's. None of them knew that
Fake!Moody was an impostor, much less that he was a supposedly dead
Death Eater. And Cedric wasn't even supposed to be in the graveyard.
Should we blame Harry for telling him to grab the cup together? That
makes more sense than blaming Snape. Not even Harry, who blames Snape
for everything he can think of, has blamed him for Cedric's death or
the restoration of Voldemort, all of which are quite properly
attributed to the people responsible primarily Voldemort. 

Cassy:
But my point here is that Fake!Moody could have been unmasked much
earlier IMHO had not Snape's own insecurity prevented him from
revealing to Dumbledore that Moody had searched his Office (apparently
on Dumbledore's orders!) Of course I could be wrong, but I refuse to
believe that the real Moody would have lied about this, as I think
Dumbledore would have known. (Barty Crouch boasts of this lie under
Veritaserum, implying that it successfully dealt with Snape.) It's a
subtle point, but the first time I ever read GOF I felt for Snape at
this moment, believing that he would blame himself. (Of course,
*moral* responsibility belongs with Voldemort – I'm talking about
cause & effect!)

BTW, I agree with you that there probably isn't any mystery to Snape's
absence from Harry's POV of the crowd. I asked the question because
I've heard it raised again & again – mostly from people who think that
Snape was in the maze as a spider Animagus! 

5. Cassy:
OOtP:
Now Snape's finally in a position to risk his neck spying for the
Order... but his penchant for emotional mistakes continues. 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.

Carol:
Harry is primarily responsible for the Occlumency fiasco, having
refused to practice because he wants to have the dream, not to mention
that *he* entered the Pensieve, a point that Dumbledore tactfully
neglects to mention when he blames *himself* for the fiasco. As for
taunting Sirius Black, both men were behaving immaturely, pushing each
other's buttons, with Black calling Snape "Snivellus" and "Malfoy's
lap dog" and Snape pointing out that Black was seen by Lucius Malfoy
on Platform 9 3/4 (useful information that Black needs to know,
however sarcastically delivered) and implying that Black is a coward.
As Dumbledore tells Harry later, Black is a grown man and is not going
to be prompted into rash action simply because Snape provoked him. His
motivation, aside from wanting to escape from the stifling and
depressing atmosphere of 12 GP and *do* something, was to help rescue
Harry. Black was enjoying himself in his fight with Cousin Bellatrix,
to the point of not paying attention to where he was standing. Harry
at first blames Bellatrix and tries to get revenge on her, but later
he shifts the blame to Snape despite Dumbledore's pointing out that
Snape told Black to stay behind and wait for DD. Dumbledore also
points out that Snape is responsible for sending the Order to save
Harry and company, but Harry doesn't want to hear it. Nor can
Dumbledore safely mention what's really on Harry's mind--Black went to
the MoM to save him because he, Harry, had believed the vision that
Voldemort implanted in his mind. Snape provides a convenient scapegoat
but he's less responsible than Black himself, and much less so than
the real killer, Bellatrix, and the Dark wizard who sent her to the
MoM, Voldemort. (Kreacher, who tricked his master into being away from
the fireplace when Harry showed up to check on him, is also partly to
blame.) 

Cassy: 
Again, my intention here was to try to explore DDM!Snape's possible
reaction to the events of OotP (& his share in them) rather than to
blame him for everything. I agree that the Occlumency fiasco was
mostly Harry's fault – still he *was* only fifteen at the time –
whereas Snape's supposed to be a responsible adult! IMHO he should not
have canceled the lessons however sorely provoked. Even Lupin (not
easily moved) was justly angry about Snape's failure to abide by DD's
instructions here: "If anyone's going to tell Snape it will be me!' he
said firmly. "But Harry, first of all, you're to go back to Snape and
tell him that on no account is he to stop giving you lessons - when
Dumbledore hears -" (OOtP29)

As for the situation with Sirius, I mostly just feel sad that Snape's
true role went unacknowledged. Harry needed to see that Snape didn't
want Sirius dead – however much he hated him. And what  must Snape
feel now? Aggrieved that Sirius didn't listen to him (though given
their past relations that was hardly unsurprising); still more
aggrieved that Harry blames him unfairly for Sirius's actions;
indifferent about the actual death; but ultimately sick that five
students & six Order members ran into danger because of a vision that
Harry shouldn't have had ... which is (at least partly) Snape's fault.
Even before HBP, that's a heavy load to carry...

Beneath a veneer of indifference, I suspect that Snape's regrets have
been accumulating steadily since Harry Potter started at Hogwarts ...
& all ultimately stemming from his failure to make peace witrh the
past. I just hope that Harry is able to understand & forgive Snape in
DH ... even offering him absolution at the end. 

Phew, there's a lot to think about...!

Cassy, who hopes this has clarified her position(s) a little. :-) 

P.S. Cassy:
So all this together might help to explain why Snape isn't very good
at the Patronus Charm... or at least disagreed with Harry 'on the best
way to tackle dementors' 

Carol:
Snape can certainly cast a perfectly good Patronus or he wouldn't be
able to communicate with other members of the Order, notably
Dumbledore before the battle of the MoM. Snape may well know a more
effective method of fighting Dementors that's suitable to a class full
of sixth years, most of whom have only cast a Patronus in the RoR
without even a Dementor!Boggart to practice against (or not at all if
they weren't in the DA). We aren't told what the alternate method is,
only that Harry, who knows that casting a Patronus works for *him*,
disagrees with Snape. But Snape is both a DADA and a Dark Arts expert,
and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he knew an alternate method
that's easier to use than an advanced spell that many adult wizards
can't master and that requires a wizard to concentrate on a happy
memory in the face of a monstrous being that's trying to suck out all
the wizard's happiness. I'll wager that Hermione remembers Snape's
alternate method and uses it in DH when she finds herself unable to
cast a Patronus. 

Cassy:
(I like your idea re. Hermione!) Yes, Snape must be able to produce a
corporeal Patronus. However, could it still be argued that it is
easier to do this when there are no Dementors about, as Harry
discovers when his Patronus charges Malfoy down at that Quidditch
match in POA? As I recall, Harry is still having trouble repelling the
Boggart-Dementors at this point ... only managing to shoot silvery
stuff out of his wand. I am just interested as to why JKR let slip
that Snape disagrees with Harry and Lupin's method of tackling
Dementors (though your explanation makes sense). Might this be a
character clue as well as a plot point? Maybe Snape feels that in such
circumstances he wouldn't be able to summon the required force
necessary to drive them away ... Snape's stock of *really* happy
memories must be even smaller than Harry's. (Harry, after all, found
good friends at Hogwarts, where Snape seems to have been quite
miserable.)