Snape still gives off that stalker vibe to me

[leslie41]

No: HPFGUIDX 172452

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "bookworm857158367" 
<bookworm857158367 at ...> wrote:
>
> I'm glad Snape turns out to be (sort of) good, but he still comes 
> across as mighty creepy in the end. He was willing to sacrifice 
> Harry and James so Lily could live (and presumably come back to 
> him.) 

Leslie41:
Oh, I don't think he necessarily thought Lily would come back to 
him.  It's obvious they haven't spoken for years.  But his love for 
her isn't conditional on whether or not she comes back to him.  He 
wants her to live.  

Bookworm:
> He saved Harry for Lily's sake, but didn't love her enough to 
> actually be KIND to her son. 

Leslie41:
Yes, that's true, but remember that he saw Potter in Harry, not 
Lily.  He only sees Lily in Harry as he dies.  

Bookworm:
> And why, for heaven's sake, couldn't he take a bath and wash his 
> hair? 

Leslie41:
As a child, it's obvious that he was not taught proper hygiene.  As 
an adult, my guess is he was depressed, and didn't give a crap how he 
looked.  

Bookworm:
> He's not the bravest man Harry has ever known, not by a long shot.

Leslie41:
Harry thinks so.  

Bookworm:
> He's an obsessive stalker who never moved past his teenage crush 
> and has spent twenty years doing good behind the scenes while 
> torturing students and being incredibly unpleasant.

Leslie41:
It seems to me now that the route some Snape haters are taking is to 
turn him into Stalker!Snape, or underestimate his feelings for Lily 
as a "crush".  This, to me, undermines the whole series, not just 
Snape.

Snape's not a stalker.  When he meets Lily he's a child, a lonely, 
unhappy child, excited that he's noticed someone that seems to have 
something in common with him.  More excited, no doubt, that she's a 
pretty girl.  He's not some old man in a raincoat. He's effing *ten*, 
and so is she. 

And he and Lily develop a friendship.  They become best friends, in 
fact.  It's not a "crush".  No one carries a "crush" from 17 to 37.  
Snape loves her.  As a woman, yes, but first and foremost as a 
friend. 

His love for her, his anguish at losing her, and his redemption, are 
all dependent on the fact that his emotions are real and true, as 
true as James' for Lily, or Sirius' for James, or Hermione's for 
Harry.