Why did Snape remove *that* memory? Was:Taking memories out of your head?

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 164149

Anne Squires here:
The fact of the matter is, Harry learned about this particular memory
from Snape's pensieve.  I am not a very creative person, but there are
numerous ways which come to my poor mind that would have accomplished
the same thing for Harry and the reader. She could have had DD kindly
explain (and with a lot of twinkling and peering over moon shaped
glasses)to Harry that when James was a student he could sometimes be a
rather nasty bully.  She could have had Harry overhear a conversation
a la Three Broomsticks scene from PoA or with the twins' extendable
ears.  She could have had an Order member mention that James and
Sirius had reputations for bullying Snape in their younger days.  I
can imagine Moody, who seems way too blunt and insensitive at times,
doing this.  I can also imagine Lupin deciding to have a talk with
Harry about not being too hard on Snape.  I can actually imagine
Sirius bragging to Harry about how things used to be with Snivellous.
The point is, Harry could have learned about his father, Sirius,
Lily, et al in numerous ways.  But, he learned about them from the
pensieve.  I think Snape wanted Harry to see that memory.  Not just
JKR.  Snape.  The question is why did Snape do what he did? Why did he
insure that Harry see that memory?  Did he insure that Harry see it? 
I'm saying he most definitely did.  I'm sure others will say it was an
accident and Snape never intended for Harry to see the memory.  The
argument is about Snape's motivations and intentions in this scene. 
Snape's internal motivations.  Snape's.  Not JKR's.
 
va32h here:

Hearing about something secondhand is never as powerful as seeing it. 
Anyone who told Harry a story about his parents would naturally lend 
their personal bias to it, none of them could tell a story 
obectively, and without the benefit of age and hindsight. 

The only way for Harry to objectively see how his parents behaved at 
that age is to see it in the pensieve. 

I don't agree that Snape intended Harry to see the memory, so I don't 
have anything to say about Snape's motivations other than I don't 
think he wanted Harry to see it. 

Anne S.  
If your argument is, many things  happened because JKR wrote it that
way then there really wouldn't be much need for this forum, imho.  I
can't speak for everyone who is here; but one of the reasons I am here
is to discuss the motivations of the various characters.  Just exactly
why did so & so do y instead of z?  There's no fun in saying, "Well,
so & so did that because JKR wanted them to."
 
va32h:

I seem to have offended you in some way? 

Of course a skilled writer can accomplish the goal of moving the plot 
along while making everyone behave in character and with plausible 
motivation. When discussion turns to the popular standby "Why did we 
have to go through the whole TriWizard Tournament when Moody could  
have made a book into a portkey, etc. etc." I am right in there 
arguing that there are a dozen plausible reasons why the tournament 
had to go on and why the cup had to be the portkey. 

In terms of this particular scene, not only do I not think that Snape 
deliberately set Harry up, I don't see why there is any reason, 
within or without the context of the books, for him to do so. 

We already know that Snape hates James. Harry knows that Snape hates 
James. Snape has already spoken negatively about James 

If I believe that Snape set Harry up, it tells me nothing new about 
Snape. Snape is a mean spirited person who hates James with good 
reason and would like to disabuse Harry of the notion that his father 
was good. This isn't news. 

If I believe Snape deliberately tried to hide those memories from 
Harry, it *does* tell me something new about Snape. 

I don't want to get into an argument with you over the purpose of 
this list, or what is worthy of discussion or not. 

va32h/Barbara