Snape's the Rescuer - Really?/Justice to Snape

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 170762

<snip>
> > What is even more significant, IMO, is the way that he chooses to
> > transports everyone. Snape treats all his "patients" with 
dignity. 
> He
> > conjures stretchers to carry everyone in a comfortable way, and 
he
> > moves all the unconscious people w/equal care. This is a big 
> contrast
> > from the way Sirius & Remus treated Snape when he was 
unconscious.
> 
> 
> Lanval:
> Oh, where to start...
> 
> Of course Snape is calm, efficient, and responsible here. He 
usually 
> is, no? How placing people on stretchers makes anyone a healer, 
that 
> I don't understand. 
> 
> As I said before, to me it's about being practical. Do tell me 
what 
> other options Snape had that would *not* have made him look like a 
> complete ass when walking into the castle?
> 
> Drag them by their hair? Bring them in one by one? It seems to me 
> that floating someone requires some concentration, and that it 
would 
> be hard to keep the required spell active on more than one person. 
> The stretchers Snape conjures are IMO from the Hospital Wing, and 
> have been pre-treated with a floating charm, meaning all one has 
to 
> do is make them move along. But that's just my theory, so feel 
free 
> to ignore that. :)

Well, there's two levels here - the practical level & the symbolic 
level. This is a literary text, so the imagery & symbolism have 
meaning. And JKR clearly contrasts the images of how Sirius treated 
an unconcious Snape (as a grosteque puppet, head lolling) and the 
image of how Snape treated unconscious people (as patients & human 
beings,in stretchers, in comfort.) This is the ONLY glimpse we have 
of the real Snape, and it's quite telling. JKR didn't have to show 
us this - but she did. It doesn't really matter where the stretchers 
came from; what matters is how Snape treats vulnerable, injured 
people. And in this instance, the only time we see the unvarnished 
Snape, he treats the unconsious people with dignity & care. 


> Lanval:
> Funny that it was *Snape* who invented that particular humiliating 
> hex, eh?
> 
> As to this being reminiscent of the Imperius curse (an 
> Unforgivable!), how do you arrive at that? Imperio is about mind 
> control, Levicorpus is about physical control. Dangling someone 
> upside down has nothing whatsoever to do with controlling 
someone's 
> mind.

lizzyben:

They're both about control. Imperius takes away someone's mental 
control, to make them into a mental puppet of the wizard. 
Mobilcorpus takes away physical control, to make someone's body into 
a puppet. It's clear that JKR thinks that controlling people, 
depriving them of choices & free will, is a major evil. That evil is 
symbolized by the "unforgiveable" Imperius curse & in these other 
curses. It's not a coincidence that Sirius, Remus & James and the 
Death Eaters do the same exact thing to their enemies - they all 
levitate them, control them & humiliate them. There's a direct, 
intentional parallel between these various spells. 

And yes, Snape came up w/the Levicorpus spell, but then it was used 
against him - so Snape became the victim as he was controlled, 
exposed & humiliated. And I think he learned from that. We NEVER see 
adult Snape using those kinds of spells, against anyone. That's a 
significant detail, IMO. Even at his most enraged, Snape didn't use 
magic during his emotional meltdowns in POA or OOTP. And he hardly 
ever uses magical spells during his classes. He seems to excercise a 
lot of restraint in his use of magic. 

> lizzyben04:
> > But Snape, when confronted w/unconscious enemies, does not. He 
> doesn't
> > use Imperius or Levicorpus against Sirius & the kids.He doesn't 
> treat
> > them like puppets or deprive them of their dignity. He treats 
them
> > like human beings, not puppets. And he saves both enemy and 
friend,
> > without distinction. 
> 
> Lanval:
> Ok, I'll bite. What does he save Sirius from?
> 
> Mmm. Binding and gagging. Always a sign of treating someone with 
> dignity. 
> 
> He doesn't use Imperius against the kids and Sirius? Are we 
supposed 
> to admire him for refraining from using an Unforgivable??

lizzyben:
Does he bind & gag Sirius? Personally, I don't think he did. Sure, 
he tells Fudge he did, because he knows that he should have. But 
when Harry & Hermione observe him, all they see is Snape lifting 
their bodies onto stretchers, and taking them to the castle. There's 
no mention at all of Snape binding Sirius. And who is the first 
person he moves into a stretcher? Not Sirius, but Ron, the boy with 
a broken leg. I think, in that moment, Snape went into paramedic 
mode. He evaluated the situation & took care of the most injured 
person first, then worked to save the others. He didn't see Sirius, 
a man he loathes, but an unconscious, injured person who needed 
help. In situations like this, it seems like Snape's healing 
instinct/training snaps into place. The pettiness & hostility take 
over later. :) 

Basically, Snape has a "saving people thing". There's other examples 
of this throughout the novel. In GOF, when Snape hears someone 
scream, he leaps out of bed in only his nightshirt to see what 
happened. In OOTP, Snape & Harry are having a petty fight when they 
hear a woman scream. Snape stops, drops everything & instantly 
rushes out to help. So does Harry. It seems like they both do 
have this need to rush in & try to save people in danger.

> lizzyben04:
> This is a small moment, but I do think it
> > reflects a positive aspect of Snape's character. Snape sees all 
of
> > them as "real people," Slytherin & Gryfindor, Malfoys & Weasleys.
> > He saves both Harry & Draco, 
> 
> Lanval:
> Harry? When? At the end, from the DE? According to Snape, that was 
> on the Dark Lord's orders, no? *eg* We'll find out soon enough, I 
> guess, but for now I'll agree that that he saved Harry from being 
> tortured a while longer.
> 
> Draco? Indeed. He saved Draco from the effects of a Dark Curse 
that 
> SNAPE HIMSELF invented. I will never understand how peforming the 
> proper countercurse to a nasty, potentially fatal Dark Curse Snape 
> himself invented somehow elevates him to Healer-hood.

lizzyben:

But you're not really addressing my larger point, which is that 
Snape does not seem to distinguish in who he saves/heals. He saves 
Harry in the first novel during the Quidditch match. And yes, he did 
save Harry from the Crucio curse. He also saves Draco from a curse. 
He helps protect a child he seems to like (Draco), and a student he 
can't stand (Harry). 

And I do think that Snape's countercurse shows a knack for healing. 
In that chapter, he not only issued the countercurse, but also 
thinks of a remedy for the scars, wipes Draco's forehead, and 
reassures Draco that he won't have permenant injuries. He seems to 
have a good "bedside manner" as a healer (as opposed to his manners 
in general). Snape has that duality - healer/curser, light/dark, and 
it's his experience on the "dark side" that gives him the knowledge 
necessary for the light. His knowledge of the dark arts allows him 
to excel in DADA, his knowledge of poisons allows him to create 
antidotes, etc. I don't see any contradiction there. Snape's 
knowledge of curses helps him to be an effective healer.
 
> Lanval:
> May I just point out that at this point, while it seems pretty 
clear 
> that he does hate Lupin, we have nothing in canon to prove that 
> Snape *loves* DD. 

lizzyben:

Oh, I think he does. That's what makes the ending of POA so pathetic 
& hurtful for Snape. He desperately wants DD's approval & respect, 
and he resents that Harry, Sirius & co. seem to have DD's love w/o 
having earned it. At the end, Snape begs, pleads, DD to finally 
choose him over the golden Gryffindors. Of course, DD does not. He 
again chooses to protect Sirius over Snape. This, IMO, is what 
finally drives Snape over the edge into a total tantrum. If he 
didn't care what DD thought of him, it wouldn't have hurt him so 
much. It's a dysfunctional kind of relationship, but I do think 
Snape cares about DD, and wants his approval. 

> lizzyben04:
> In this,
> > Snape is almost unique in the Potterverse.
> That's my view of him -
> > Humanist!Snape. LOL. He doesn't save people because he likes 
them, 
> but
> > because they are human beings in need of care. 
> 
> 
> Lanval:
> "Almost unique", yes. The Healers (real Healers, not DADA 
> specialists), at St Mungo's. Madam Pomfrey. Surely they don't 
apply 
> their skills according to how much they may love or hate a patient?

lizzyben:
No, they don't, and that's my point. Healers try to save people, not 
because they love or hate them, but because they value human life. 
In Snape's treatment of his various "patients", we can see that same 
attitude. It would not surprise me at all to learn that Snape 
actually trained at some point to become a Healer. And Snape's 
stance stands in stark contrast to most of the other main 
characters. People have talked about the fact that the Trio seem to 
think that it's OK to hurt people, hex people, or even torture 
people that they do not like. How they seem to think outsiders or 
enemies aren't "real people" at all. Snape, in contrast, treats 
everyone like "real people," real human beings. He'll taunt & insult 
people he dislikes, but he will not abandon them, hurt them, or use 
them. He doesn't treat people like puppets.

> lizzyben04:
> We don't see this side
> > of Snape often in the books, but IMO it is there in the 
> background. In
> > HBP, Harry finally got a chance to see this side of Snape.
> >
> Lanval:
> You mean when he killed DD?

lizzyben:

 No, I mean when he saved Dumbledore from dying of his Horcrux 
injury, healed Katie Bell from the locket curse, healed Ron after 
the mead poisoning, healed Draco from Harry's curse, etc. The whole 
book, Snape is running around healing people. At the end of the 
novel, Harry actually *misses* Snape for a moment, when Madame 
Pomfrey says that she doesn't know how to heal Bill's injury. Harry 
remembers how well Snape cured Draco's injuries, and IMO finally 
realizes Snape's skills as a healer. All through the books, the kids 
are healed from the worst injuries & curses w/o ill effect. 
Suddenly, when Snape is gone, nothing can be done to heal Bill 
Weasely. IMO, this is a sign that Snape often has worked behind the 
scenes to heal the students in the past. In OOTP, Hermione was 
gravely injured by an unknown dark curse, and almost dies. To 
recover, she needs to take ten. potions. A DAY. Who brewed all those 
potions? Who diagnosed the unknown curse, and the appropriate 
remedy? Snape. When Hermione & other students are petrified, they 
are cured by Snape's Mandrake potion. And etc. Snape has always been 
healing people behind the scenes; in HBP we finally actually 
observed him doing that.

Yes, Snape is a snarky sarcastic bastard, but he also seems devoted 
to protecting & healing people in need. In this, Snape reminds me a 
bit of "House, MD," or Dr. Cox from Scrubs. Dr. Cox can unleash a 
stream of insults that would make Snape proud, but he also genuinely 
cares about the welfare of his interns & patients. Snape seems to me 
to have a similar personality. Not a nice person, but a good person. 
Throughout the novels, Snape acts like a jerk, but he also acts to 
save & heal people. I feel like I finally "got" Snape once 
I saw the healer aspect to his character. It's sort of been hiding 
in plain sight, all along. 


lizzyben04