Snape killing flies WAS: Re: Lily WAS: First lesson

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 185738

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman"
<susiequsie23 at ...> wrote:
>
> Carol:
> > I don't know what to make of the broom memory, either, but I think 
> > it shows a young Severus eager to learn skills he's not quite ready 
> > for (in contrast to Lily, who's quite happy to watch him and laugh 
> > rather than take her turn--maybe the laughter indicates excitement 
> > and happiness rather than ridicule?) or the broom is hexed, which I 
> > think is likely from its behavior. One thing's for sure, it's not a 
> > fine racing broom like the not-yet invented Nimbus 2000 or Firebolt.
> > Severus's mother wouldn't be able to afford one. I suspect it's the
> > broom she uses to clean her house (and, occasionally, for
> > transportation), which she doesn't want her nine- or ten-year-old 
> > son to attempt to ride.
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
> The only thing I'd say as a counter to the possibility that the girl 
> (probably Lily) is laughing out of excitement or happiness is that I 
> tend to look at the memories the way Alla does.  That is, there's a 
> *reason* JKR chose these specific memories to include.  Since this is 
> in there with other bad/negative memories, I think that leads us to 
> more naturally conclude that it's representative of another negative 
> incident.  
> 
> Why would there be a memory of him trying to ride a bucking broom and 
> having a girl laughing along with him out of excitement, making it at 
> least a semi-positive memory?  No, I think the girl laughing *at* 
> Severus is what we're supposed to conclude; as in, yet another 
> instance where something is going wrong for poor Severus.
> 
> Siriusly Snapey Susan
>
Carol responds:
I've already indicated that I think that the memories were random
rather than necessarily bad, but suppose for the sake of argument that
you're right and the memory is "bad" because he's being laughed at.
Who could the girl be besides Lily and what does it say about dear
sweet Lily if she's laughing *at* her good friend Severus?

I do think that the girl is Lily (who else could it be?), but I don't
think it's a bad memory because she's laughing *at* him. I think it's
a painful memory because it involves Lily, the girl he loved and lost.
The adult Snape is angry because Harry has had a glimpse of his past,
including Lily, but he's much less angry than he is later when Harry
starts revealing memories that clearly belong to Voldemort, especially
the MoM corridor that the Order members are guarding. And he does
praise Harry for using that Protego, which I don't think he would do
if the memories were so bad that they upset him. After all, he's taken
precautions against this very possibility by putting more important
memories in the Pensieve. (If Snape were to remove all but his few
happy memories, his head would be empty.) We don't see a look of fear
or anger on Severus's face in this scene. What I see is determination
to either fly or subdue the broom or at least to stay on. It's like a
ten-year-old would-be bronc rider riding a wild colt. If the girl is
Lily and if she's really his friend and if she thought he were in any
real danger, she'd be screaming or yelling at him to come down (the
way the girls act in Harry's first flying lesson. Only the bad girls
laugh at Neville. Are we supposed to class Lily with Pansy Parkinson?
Surely not.)

BTW, there's a contrast between nervous, jumpy Neville who kicks off
too soon and quickly crashes, looking scared and white as he falls
twenty feet to the ground, and Severus, who's stubbornly trying to
mount a bucking broomstick. If it were their first class rather than
an incident at Severus's house before they start school, Lily would be
trying to mount her own broomstick, not laughing at her friend,
especially if she thought he was in any danger. (It's not a matter of
not being able to fly. It's a matter of the broom not letting him
mount it. Had Lily attempted to mount that particular broom, she would
have failed equally dismally given her lack of experience, but she
doesn't even try. Sometimes, girls have more sense than boys.)

Carol, who thinks that if Lily is laughing *at* her good friend, she
must be amused by his stubbornness and not consider him to be in any
real danger--either that, or she's no friend at all