Why did Snape call Lily a 'Mudblood'?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 177643


> Julie:
> When I reread that scene, a couple more things stood out to me.
> One is that Lily asks James "What's he done to you?" and James
> replies "It's more the fact that he *exists*, if you know what
> I mean." (The word "exists" is in italics by the way, indicating
> James is emphasizing it, BTW.) 

Pippin:
She knows that James rescued Snape from the willow, so she's
not asking about their history, she's asking what Snape's done
to provoke James into attacking him (this time.) She's not entirely 
sure that Snape didn't start something, IMO.

Snape lets fly with his filthy mudblood remark and she retaliates
with Snivellus wash your pants which is exactly tit for tat -- she
calls him a name and impugns his cleanliness just as he did. 
Childish, but she is no more grown up than they are.

There never was a time when it would have made sense for
Sirius or Lupin to explain that Lily and Snape used to be on
good terms. Slughorn seems to have known about it, if his
mention of obsessive love is a clue, but he wouldn't have
said anything if either Snape or Dumbledore had asked him
not to mention it. I think Hagrid might have known something
as well, but the same applies to him. 

I think it's significant that Hagrid and Slughorn are the two
characters who find it hard to believe that Snape could have
gone back to Voldemort's side. 

Pippin
not feeling cheated