I have even less respect for Snape now

[siriusly_severus_snape]

No: HPFGUIDX 172583

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "phoenixgod2000" <jmrazo at ...>
wrote:
>pheonixgod200:
> <snip>
> Snape strikes me as a petty, pathetic, short-sited man whose life
of
> misery and pain is completely deserved.   Snape's love isn't pure,
> isn't good, no matter how fuzzy his patronus is.  It is selfish and
> possessive.  If he really loved Lily, he would have done so much
more
> for Harry than what he did over the past seven years....   I would
have trained him, and cared for
> him and made him want to be around me because every second he
stared
> at me with those green eyes I would have been Happy.
<snip>
 If it was the James factor, well that still doesn't make a whole
lotta
> sense for a smart slytherin with a well developed sense of
revenge.
> what would be better than taking the son of a man you hated with
the
> woman you loved and becoming a father figure to that boy?  Harry
was
> so starved for a genuine father figure, Snape would have had the
boy under his wings.


   I for one respect Snape now more than ever before and must
completely differ on this one.  I admit I spent almost the entire
last half of DH absolutely bawling and even now, upon re-reading i
can hardly glance at Snape's name without sheading a tear. Beyond
obsession? Maybe..
   I have blindly trusted Snape simply because Dumbledore has trusted
him so impeccably and he has saved Harry's life (or at the very least
his butt) on too many occasions to ignore. From his actions against
Quirrell in SS, to secretly setting Harry and Hermione up with
Gryffindor's sword in DH - he is irrefutably trustworthy, we have all
established that at least upon  reading "a Prince's Tale". However,
as Dumbledore says, " We shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact
and journeying together through the  murky marshes of memory into
the thickets of wildest guesswork."(HBP, 197)
     Rowling has already established that Snape is, for want of a
better word, good.  He is on Dumbledore's side and wants Harry to
succeed, that much is obvious. So, we are left to wonder-why the
resentment towards Harry? snape is an incredibly complex character
that does everything for a reason and has not made a sizable mistake
since he turned over Lily and James to Voldemort.  Thus, he must
have a good reason for treating Harry "like crap".
   After Voldemort's return, it can be safely said that showing too
much affection towards Voldy's arch-enemy would put him in a very
awkward situation indeed. Ignoring Voldemort, I think Snape does
somewhat have a soft spot for Harry. The only logical reason Snape
had for showing Harry his memories that weren't related to Voldy's
undoing is that he truly cares about Harry and what he thinks of him
and wants Harry to know the sacrifices he has made for him. Moreover,
you saw how infuriated he was at Dumbledore when he told he that he
was "raising him [Harry] like a pig for slaughter." (DH, 687)
   If there's one thing we know about Snape, it's that he fancies
himself a stoic.  Frankly, what choice does he have as a double
agent? The wrong emotion at the wrong time and Voldemort's lost all
trust in him...or he's dead. It's when he's alone that we see "tears
dripping from his hooked nose as he read the old letter from Lily"
(DH, 689).  Thus, it is possible Snape has feelings that he is just
not letting on.
   It's much more complex than this though.  We know that he hated
Harry's father because he could be downright cruel but loved his
mother, with whom he was childhood friends.  Since Harry looked so
like James, merely with his mother's eyes, Snape could not help but
be reminded of the man he so disliked. Yet, could not help but be
reminded of the mother with whom he was so close. Quite an interal
conflict there for poor Sev. Needless to say, he and Harry got off on
th wrong foot.
  Now, about Snape's relationship with Lily: I disagree with
the "Snape is a creepy, selfish stalker" theories.  Snape was always
far too respectful of Lily to be stalker-like except for the one time
he called her a "mudblood", which he sooo obviously regreted and only
did so in the first place because he was angry and possibly because
his Death Eater, pure-blood lovin' friends were watching (if that
were the case, I wonder, why didn't they help him out?.  Besides, I
think that thier relationship was not at all physical;deep down I think he knew he didn't have much of a chance so, their relationship became more Harry/Hermione-like.
   And most importantly, the reason he was so obsessed was because he
felt incredibly guilty for her death.  Mind you, I think he always
had a little somethin for Lily, but he knew she was married with a
son. I'm sure he would have at least tried to move on but after
causing her death, he couldn't let it go.  He hoped that by having
Lily ever present in his thoughts, hopes and desires, he could
virtually bring her back or at least ease the pain of her absence.

siriurly_severus_snape
  who thinks the real reason Lily stopped talking with Snape is
because she was grossed-out by his very nasty underwear ;)