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

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 164167

Alla wrote:
<snip>

> Okay, yes, I agree this is a strong argument against this being a 
> set up in a sense that why would Snape think that Harry would be 
> embarassed or something like that.
> 
> BUT if the set up was done with the main purpose to get rid of 
> Occlumency lessons, then it does not matter IMO. All that Snape 
> needed IMO would be for Harry to peek in the Pensieve and I think it 
> would be a pretty good guess to make, especially if DD clued Snape 
> in on Harry making that trip in his pensieve in GoF. <snip>

Carol responds:
I think that Magpie's argument more or less rules out the Pensieve's
being a set-up to end the Occlumency lessons. If snape simply wanted
Harry to enter the Pensieve and have an excuse to end the lessons, he
would surely have chosen memories that made James (and Sirius) look
bad without also placing Severus in a position of weakness. (I simply
can't see any circumstances under which Snape would want Harry to see
him humiliated. He hates weakness (or the appearance of it) in himself
and others.

Also, Snape takes the memories out of his head from the very beginning
of the lessons, which began after Christmas and lasted (IIRC) until
May or June. Surely, if Snape were simply trying to end the lessons by
enticing Harry to enter the Pensieve, he would have engineered a
reason to leave Harry alone with them long before. Instead, we have an
earlier interruption, unengineered by anybody, in which Snape hears
someone scream, says "What the--?", asks Harry if he saw anything
unusual on his way to the office, and sweeps out the door with his
wand in his hand to see what's happening. Since Harry doesn't take
advantage of his absence on that occasion and instead follows him,
there's no reason for Snape to suspect that he'd enter the Pensieve
when Draco comes to ask him to rescue Montague from the toilet. (Oh,
the duties of the Head of Slytherin House!)

I see no reason to suspect that his anger at Harry for violating his
trust and invading his privacy isn't genuine. (I'm the one who
suggested that the jar of cockroaches could have exploded above
Harry's head as a form of accidental magic like Harry's making the
brandy glass explode in Aunt Marge's hand--Harry assumes that he
throws it but doesn't see him do it.) I'd be angry, too, if someone
did that to me. And we don't know what the other memories are. If one
of them is the eavesdropping memory, Snape would be angry at what he
*might* have seen and would want to stop the lessons to stop a repeat
performance. (Also, it's near the end of the year and it's clear that
Harry isn't trying to learn Occlumency and that the lessons aren't
preventing his having those dreams. Dumbledore may have agreed with
Snape that the lessons were a waste of time and maybe even doing more
harm than good. It's clear that DD didn't order Snape to resume them
or he would have done so, however grudgingly and resentfully.)

Carol, glad that we got the excursion into Snape's memory showing that
Snape's resentment of James has a very real basis and that young
James, despite his popularity as a Quidditch star and his later
heroism, was an arrogant, bullying little berk