Snape's minor memories (Was: Snape and Dumbledore on the Tower)

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 165407


> Carol responds:
> This is just a small aside. I'm not sure that Teen!Snape is 
practicing
> killing flies in the sense of practicing killing people. There's no
> green flash, for one thing. He could simply be Stunning them. Or,
> since no light at all is mentioned (Stupefy give off a red light),
> maybe he's using a spell especially designed for flies. 

zgirnius:
Well, I think Snape's minor memories are a fun topic for speculation, 
so I'll toss in my two cents as well. Flies are small and fast moving 
targets - I always thought Snape might be working on his reflexes. 
(Sort of like in the movie 'Karate Kid', when the sensei is 
practicing trying to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks). And 
since there is no mention of light, yes, I agree he was not using the 
Killing Curse here, but some hex or jinx which might or might not 
kill a fly.

Carol:
> And BTW, I don't think, as some posters do, that the memory of the 
boy
> Severus on a bucking broom being watched by a laughing girl 
indicates
> that he's not good at flying. 

zgirnius:
Here I disagree. I think he was bad at flying when first introduced 
to it, and has never grown to like it (I don't think timidity is the 
only way one can fail to fly well immediately). I also believe, 
though, that he was grimly determined to achieve competence in this 
area, and did whatever it took to do so. I like the idea that there's 
some skill valued in the wizarding world that he was not a natural at.