Snape's Friends (was Room for Debate (ws Re: J.K. Rowling Comments )

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 164741

Carol earlier:
<snip> Aside from a Severus/Regulus connection, which I do think is at
least possible (as you know, I think young Snape saw Regulus die and
that may have helped him turn to DD), I'd really like to know how
Severus could have been part of a "gang of Slytherins," most of whom
seem to be at least five years older than he was. (I think he was
their pet prodigy, hence "Lucius Malfoy's lap dog" in Sirius Black's
distorted perspective, but what do I know?)
> 
va32h thinks out loud:
> 
> Could Snape have been sort of the Wormtail of his gang? The one they
let pal around with him for amusement's sake?
> 
> Of course, Snape is a much better Wizard than Wormtail, and he
doesn't seem so needy now. But as *you* know, I think 11 year old
Snape was precocious and eager to show off his tricks and desperately
in need of friends. I can see 11 year old Snape being a willing puppy
dog. 

Carol responds:
Well, not exactly the Wormtail since he was so much younger than the
others whereas Wormtail was in the same year as the other Marauders.
But I think that Lucius, at least, had his eye on the little prodigy
(Severus), and not merely as a source of amusement (see below). Being
part of a gang of older kids would have provided eleven- and
twelve-year-old Severus with a false sense of security, but by about
his third year, he would have been pretty much alone, having no
equals, probably, in his own year. (Who do we know who might be closer
to his age than Lucius? Crabbe? Goyle? Macnair?) With his older
friends/protectors gone, Severus might have turned to the younger
Regulus as a friend then but relied on himself alone when confronted
by MWPP. It seems that he usually "gave as good as he got" and the
humiliating "worst memory" is the sole instance in which he was
publicly bested--and worse, nearly rescued by a Gryffindor girl!
Unless he's not exaggerating about being attacked four on one, which
would not be humiliating so much as a source of fierce and lasting
resentment. (Please, fellow posters, don't call me sexist for the
remark about Lily. I'm trying to think from the perspective of a
teenage boy who was, IIRC, upside down at the time.)

Anyway, Wormtail is the same age as the other Marauders and is part of
their group simply by virtue of sharing a dorm room with them.
(Picture Ron and Harry never having become friends with Hermione. They
might have been closer to their dorm mates Seamus and Dean, admitting
Neville into the group as a kind of tag-along simply because it would
be cruel to exclude him.) Once Peter learned to become an Animagus,
they needed him to open up the Whomping Willow for them on full-moon
nights, and he must have seemed more like one of them--not to mention
that he wasn't as talentless as everyone thought since he seems to
have contributed to the Marauder's Map. But I get the feeling that
James likes him or tolerates him because he enjoys having an adoring
fan oohing and ahing over his reflexes whereas Sirius tolerates
Wormtail's company only because James does. (And Remus just wants to
be liked, so he'll take friendship or companionship where he can find
it--the more, the better.) So you have a gang of four with a clear
heirarchy: the Quidditch champion/bully as the Alpha male, the equally
arrogant handsome pureblood who got sorted into Gryffindor for his
reckless courage despite his Dark wizard family history as his best
friend and fellow Slytherin hater, the werewolf Prefect who lacks the
courage to stand up to his friends (in marked contrast to Neville!),
and the supposedly talentless tagalong who cultivates the friendship
of those stronger than he is.

With Severus, it's not really the same type of relationship--more as
if HRH (or MPP minus Wormtail) suddenly discovered that an ickle
firstie in their House had enormous talents not only for hexing but
inventing spells and improving potions, and they invited the little
prodigy into their group, partly for amusement and partly to cultivate
his loyalty, to make sure that, when the time came, those talents
would be put to use for *their* side. (I think some such relationship
at Hogwarts accounts for Snape's continuing concern and affection for
the Malfoys despite his loyalty to Dumbledore.)

As I said, these are the kinds of things we can speculate or argue
about (in the sense of a civil discussion with canon support) now, but
it's possible that DH will answer these questions for us. For now, all
we have is the Pensieve memory and a few remarks by two less than
objective witnesses to the past, Sirius Black and Severus Snape
himself, along with whatever crumbs JKR throws to us (the
mathematically impossible Black family tree, with its
thirteen-year-old fathers, among them).

Carol, finding that the more canon we have, the more questions we
have, and hoping that DH will resolve the mysteries without imposing a
"correct" interpretation of the characters and their internal
conflicts on the reader