Why did Snape _really_ hate Harry?

[Frank D]

No: HPFGUIDX 186931

> Zara:
> I read this essay at some point between the publication of HBP and DH
(and found it very well-written and interesting). <SNIP> The conclusion that Snape was likely recruited by Albus before he
became a Death Eater (in the aftermath of the Prank, in fact), I found
an interesting and new idea at the time, but I consider it to have been
refuted by DH canon.

> From "The Prince's Tale" I gather than after being dropped by Lily as
a friend, Severus became a Death Eater for his own reasons, and
approached Albus for help once he learned that Voldemort planned to kill
Lily (the Potters). Their first meeting shown in that chapter, is
between just the two of them; there is no reason for them to put on
acts. Severus expresses the opinion that his life may be in danger from
Dumbledore, for example, which I find inconsistent with a supposition he
is already at that time Albus's mole in the Death Eater organization and
his most valued young protege.

Frank D:

Having just reread the Prince's Tale I now see that you are correct.
Here is the relevant passage:
Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew
through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and
Snape faced each other.

"What request could a Death Eater [i.e., Snape] make of me?"

"The--the prophecy ... the prediction ... Trelawney ..."

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore.

"How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?"

"Everything--everything I heard!" said Snape.
Obviously this passage of canon cancels any possibility Snape had been
following Dumbledore's orders that, after supposedly having heard the
entire Prophecy, he was to report only the first part. This puts to rest
the theory that Snape had been recruited by Dumbledore prior to the
occasion of the Prophecy.

>
> > J. Odell's essay:
> > And if this is so, we can now finally conclude that the biggest
> > reason that Snape so hated Harry—-and he did sincerely hate
> > Harry—-had
> > very little to do with James, much as Snape honestly loathed James.
> > Harry had taken his place.
>
> Zara:
> Right, only if we accept DH canon, Snape did not have this ongoing
relationship with Albus as his mentor from some point in his fifth year
at Hogwarts, so Harry was not taking his place.

Frank D:

Point taken.

>
> > J. Odell's essay:
> > Or at a last resort, that it was about Lily. But it
> > wasn't. It really was all about Harry, especially by the end.
>
> Zara:
> Except that it really was. Always. DH canon again! It seems to me that
what we have instead is that Snape's issues with Harry do stem from the
fact that he is the son of the woman Snape loved by a man he despised,
and to make matters worse, reminds him of that guy.
>
> Oh, in your intro you mentioned the word "supplant". A propos of
nothing, the meaning of the name "James" is "he who supplants".

Frank D:

Except that we were not hypothesizing that James was taking Snape's
place (only Harry).

So in sum my "epiphany" was not valid after all. Better corrected than
laboring under a misconception. Thanks for your review.





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