Werewolves and RL equivalents (was:Re: Snape - a werewolf bigot?...)

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 170412

> > Mike:
> > Yes, this is what I'm thinking. The Prank gave Snape an 
irrational fear of werewolves that has carried through to adulthood 
and morphed into a prejudice or bigotry against people who are 
afflicted with lycanthropy. It's not just Lupin the werewolf that 
Snape hates, it's the whole werewolf community that he despises. He 
has projected what happened to him as the benchmark for all werewolf 
behavior. And the sad part is that appears Lupin was not *in* on the 
Prank. We may find out different in DH.
> 

Dung:
Hmm... maybe I didn't express myself clearly, but that's not what I 
meant. I think the prank gave Snape a hatred of *Lupin* specifically, 
and a fear of what he turns into. He's afraid of the wolf, and he 
hates the man. I imagine he hated the boy long before he knew about 
the wolf, and if there were a one-shot-cures-all cure for 
Lycanthropy, I'm certain that Snape would go on hating Lupin just as 
much as he always has.

> Pippin:
> I agree Snape is an ESE!Lupiner, but is it paranoia? What if he
> has actual reasons to believe that Lupin has betrayed the Order?
> Snape is not the only one who suspected him of that.
> You would think if Snape backed Umbridge's anti-werewolf crusade,
> he'd show her more support. But he doesn't. 

Dungrollin:
I think that throughout PoA Snape's convinced that Lupin's helping 
Sirius in his attempt to kill Harry. Whether it's for the same 
reasons that Sirius and James thought Lupin was the spy way-back-
when, I don't know, but I think that's the main misdemeanour that 
Snape's trying to pin on him. So, (unless ESE!Lupin didn't know that 
Sirius was innocent and *had* been teaching Harry to conjure a 
patronus in the hopes that he'd get past the dementors and into 
Sirius's clutches) in that sense Snape *was* being paranoid. 

Pippin:
> I think Snape goes after Lupin-as-werewolf because it's the one
> charge he thinks he can prove: a bit like the US nailing Al Capone 
for
> tax evasion. 

Dung:
I think it's also for the benefit of the kids (if we're still talking 
about the Shrieking Shack in PoA). He has a very short space of time 
to convince them that Lupin was dangerous, and he can't go into all 
the suspicions he's had about Lupin throughout the school year, nor 
all the old history between them, but one thing that should be 
guaranteed to get their attention is the word *werewolf*. It won't 
work on DD, because he's already hired Lupin knowing what he is, and 
(sniff) he doesn't seem to be listening to Snape much these days 
anyway, but it should work on the kids, who, if they're normal 
wizarding kids, will be terrified and want to get out of there asap. 

But you know, there's also *canon* to suggest that he hates Lupin 
because of the prank rather than due to a general antipathy to 
werewolves:

PoA Ch 18 UK p 62:
"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because 
he thought you were in on the joke?"
"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.

Dungrollin