Half-Blood Prince

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 183798

> Pippin:
> Snape's association with Sectum Sempra was generally known. Lupin
> declares that it's a specialty of his in DH. I have a feeling
> Dumbledore knew all about the potions book, and probably
> arranged for Harry to have it, still hoping for some degree of
> understanding between Harry and Snape. Dumbledore after all knew 
> that Harry was and would be subject to far greater temptations than
> teen!Snape's dabblings in Dark Magic. 

Jen: *Slaps forehead* You're right, Dumbledore must have known.  I 
was thinking since the potions book doesn't appear in Prince's Tale 
that the story was over in HBP.  In my mind that made Hermione's 
statement the final word; however, as Carol noted:

Carol: 
> I doubt that DD would be unduly harsh over so minor a matter, and 
> Snape has endured many a rebuke from Dumbledore for more serious 
> matters. Again, who is Dumbledore to judge the young Severus
> considering his own plans for world domination with a budding Dark 
> wizard?

Jen: I'm convinced now the second part of Hermione's statement was 
misdirection about Dumbledore.  It was her conclusion based on her 
impression of DD without knowing everything about him.  I'm not 
completely convinced the first part of her comment is wrong 
though, "I don't think [Snape] wanted to associate himself with that 
book."  Regardless, Snape wanted Harry to know he was the Half-Blood 
Prince, which is what mattered to the story.

Coming back full circle to my original question, why Snape called 
himself the 'Half-Blood Prince,' the replies below had so much in 
common and fit so well with Snape's character imo, that I'm going to 
borrow some combination of these explanations <g>:

Debbie:
> In any event, I read the "half-blood Prince" moniker to be a taunt
> against the pureblood Princes; he's a half-blood and a Prince, 
> whether they like it or not, and a damn good wizard to boot.

Zara:
> To me, this suggests a conviction/desire to prove, that he is *as
> good as* a pureblood. Good enough to get into Slytherin, even with 
> a Muggle father. Good enough to be a Death Eater, again despote his
> birth. That however a certain segment of wizard society (his 
> family? his housemates?) might regard him owing to his parentage,
> he was still as good as any of them. In spite of his father.

Leah:
> Of course, like Severus, it's nicely double-edged and 
> ambiguous.<snip> I think also there's an element of pride in it,
> certainly in its use in 'Advanced Potions'. It's saying "I,Severus,
> part Muggle, part Prince, invented these spells. What I can do is
> more important than what I am".

Carol:
> He's *the* Half-Blood, as in "the one and only *Half-Blood* Prince, 
> the others being, presumably, pureblood. In essence, as Leah
> suggested, he's saying that he's just as good (clever and magically
> powerful, not "good" in a moral sense), and just as much 
> a "prince," as the other members of his family. 

Jen again:  I was expecting one primary explanation when asking the 
question, one 'aha' moment.  The idea that Snape's chosen nickname 
encompasses the various contradictions in Snape's background & 
experience at Hogwarts makes the HBP story more cohesive though.  
Snape's an unusual mix in the WW, first for growing up like a Muggle 
even though he has a pureblood parent (as I understand his story), 
second for becoming a half-blood Slytherin and DE who also happens to 
love a Muggleborn.  And finally, for working all those years for
Dumbledore and the Order with only one person truly knowing his 
loyalty.  I suppose all his previous life experience made the last 
role possible.  He wasn't kidding when he said, "where do you think I 
would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act?"  He 
had to start young figuring out how to negotiate so many 
contradictions.