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Severus Snape in HP 1 - Full Commentary

Hello folks, here are most of what I commented about Snape. Sometimes it’s just a personal thought, a little anecdote, sometimes it deals about the problematics the character of Snape rises. Don’t worry though, key comments on his character will have their own separate post. I won’t quote everytime he gets mentioned, and sometimes I’ll quote passages where he’s not mentioned but he makes me think of him.

The model is like this: The points starts with a quote from the book - certain words will be put in bold - and the quote is followed with commentary. It follows chronological order. Every time a new commentary appears, the next quote will have its own bullet; and if there’s no commentary or if the transcript isn’t cut, the text will be warped. I tried to use bigger quotes in case we need to understand the context in which the quote is used, but because I don’t want my file to be too heavy, I won’t use introduction to the scene. Sorry, I’m not really here to explain what happened in HP1, though I will precise the chapters involved.

Comments are in parenthesis and I haven’t used the “” for the dialogue, but please don’t judge, it’s really tiring and I wanted to spend my energy on commenting rather than perfecting the transcripts.

As usual I don’t see much problems with what I’ve written now but when I’ll post I might modify things so... don’t judge too hard in the beginning. Maybe I’ll perfect the commentary? If I can, I’ll use a link for the PDF version of what I’ve written, I just need to know where I can publish the PDF...

Beware, it is very very long. I have completed 16 pages (12k words). So take a seat and... well, I hope you’ll enjoy.

Chp 1 - The Boy Who Lived

· Albus Dumbledore didn’t seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. (There are lots of passages like these that make me think of Snape and that can hint to what his life as a child could have been. For instance, his name is Severus and could have aroused mockery.)

Chp 2 – The Vanishing Glass

Chp 3 – The Letters from No One

· They stuff people’s heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall.

· Smetling boys […] also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren’t looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.

· Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the window-sill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...

They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.

‘‘Scuse me, but is one of you Mr H. Potter? Only I got about an ‘undred of these at the front desk.’

She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:

Mr H. Potter, Room 17, Railview Hotel, Cokeworth.

Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.

‘I’ll take them,’ said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her for the dining room. (See my post about the Durlseys: Snape and Lily lived in Cokeworth.)

Chp 4 – The Keeper of Keys

· This wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin’ fer followers. Got ‘em too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o’ his power, ‘cause he was gettin’ himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn’t know who ter trust, didn’t dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… Terrible things happened. He was takin’ over. (I guess that’s where the idea that Snape joined then defected the winning side come from.)

· Now, yer mum an’ dad were as good a witch an’ wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy an’ Girl at Hogwarts in their days! Suppose the myst’ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get them on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin’ to do with the Dark Side. Maybe he thought he could persuade ‘em… maybe he just wanted ‘em outta the way. (Several ideas here. First, as I take care to precise to people, James somehow became Head Boy despite his bullying attitude and past illegal activities, and this interest in him can be explained by how close his family was to Dumbledore. Second, Hagrid says that it was common for Voldemort to try and have people join him. Why is it a mystery though that he didn’t try that with a widely known anti-Voldemort/anti-Slytherin Potter and a Muggle-Born? Could Voldemort hire Muggle-Borns? Third, here Hagrid says that Voldemort came for the family, the parents, that Harry himself. Later it will be deduced that he came for Harry first… although the prospect of defeating those who defied him thrice would be tempting on its own. Does this mean though that if they hadn’t been close enough to Dumbledore, Voldemort would have asked them sooner if they wanted to join him, while Severus was there? What did Snape think about this, if he came to learn that?)

· Knew yer mum an’ dad, an’ nicer people you couldn’t find. (Hagrid idealizes Harry’s parents. After all, it’s hard to speak of the dead. It is sad that the books don’t end with the idea that parents, or the family, don’t need to be perfect. However, I’m still surprised Hagrid wouldn’t come to say “Nicer people you couldn’t find” when he’d been a gamekeeper during Snape’s scholarity.)

Chp 5 – Diagon Alley

· Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. (OOooooooo Snape)

Chp 6 – The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

Chp 7 – The Sorting Hat

· Professor Quirell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin. (First description. Snape is already coded Jewish/Semite. In fact I would argue that Snape incarnated the male version of the cliché ugly witches brewing potions, with their absurd big noses, wicked smiles, black hair, weird skin, crooked teeth and ugliness. Just look at images of wicked witches on Google. (I have images on my Word file but I can’t post them here, oopsie)

God this is cruel. To think that Snape did fly on a broom, and that Boggart Snape is forced into ridiculous women clothing… Meanwhile you have the cliché of the sexy witches, ie Lily and Ginny (just look on the Internet).

(There’s an image of a red-haired witch on a broom with a cat: The Potters had a cat, I think it came from Lily.)

I think that before they would demonize red-haired because of their association with witches in England. Even now we hear things like “red-haired have no soul”, “they smell”, etc. But am I the only one finding this weird? Hasn’t Rowling used and mixed clichés of wizards and witches?

· Harry watched Snape for a while but Snape didn’t look at him again. (There are lots of passages where Harry stare at him but Snape quits looking back, like at the end of GoF or the first Defence class of HBP.)

· Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirell’s turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn’t want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully – and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggles with it – then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking. (What does this dream even mean? Why is Harry having this dream though? Is it a way to make the reader suspect that Malfoy and Snape are bad people? To implent the idea that Snape will try to kill Harry?)

Chp 8 – The Potions Master

· The Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry’s name.

His eyes were black like Hagrid’s, but they had none of Hagrid’s warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels. (I love this metaphor. But the idea that his eyes were empty is… interesting. Often eyes are said to be empty when someone doesn’t feel anything anymore, often because of trauma; later we will learn that Snape can indeed use Occlumency to empty his mind. Empty eyes can also refer to how he is apathetic, which suits him well. All in all, eyes described as empty in a work make me think that the person has suffered a lot, or that they are born a little… uncommon. They are, also with bad-grooming, symbols of depression and suicide. Have an example of what I imagine:Please check Anime Empty/Blank Eyes on Google)

· Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. (A lot of comparisons with other teachers/adults… Maybe he learned from them? Anyway, if he does things like McGonagall and Flitwick, then it’s no wonder to think his teaching habits were in the norm.)

· A bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach. (Lorrie Kim says that it’s a way to draw attention and make the students want to prove they’re not a dunderhead, in other words, make them interested in Potions. And it works on Hermione)

· Potter! Said Snape suddenly. (It’s sudden and contrasts with his previous speech… no ‘Mr’ Potter.)

· Snape’s lips curled into a sneer. Tut, tut – fame clearly isn’t everything. (I think he clicks his tongue behind his teeth to make that sound. Why does he need to belittle Harry though? Because of his spying role? Because he thinks Harry thrives in popularity, as he’ll tell Dumbledore later: “delighted to find himself famous”, thus proving he’s delusional? Or just out of spite?)

· Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming, eh, Potter? (But he did, Snape. He did.)

· Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. (He does this several times in the series)

· He had looked through his books at the Dursleys’, but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi? (Why is Harry thinking about how he didn’t learn One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, instead of Magical Drafts and Potions? Isn’t that a tactic from the narrator to empathize on how impossible to learn “one thousand” things in one month and how what Snape is asking is impossible, thus unfair? Isn’t it a bit cheap? Is it allowed and required in Hogwarts that students read their books in preparation for the following year? I don’t think so, but I know it was done in ancient schools. Anyway… those questions are pretty obviously asked to call Harry stupid.)

· At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching towards the dungeon ceiling. (Hermione can’t control herself. Imagine standing up just to answer a question. The fuck?)

· I don’t know, said Harry quietly. I think Hermione does, though, why don’t you try her?

A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus’ eye and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased. (In HBP Seamus is also glad that Harry cheeks Snape. Snape’s plan to humiliate Harry backfired. But hey, you can only blame yourself.)

· And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter. (You provoked him, sweetie, and you had no right technically. Notice how it’s only one point. What hurts is not the amount of points retrieved but what it means: Snape has antagonized Harry from the first lesson, and he’s very capable of finding reasons to punish him if he wants. I wonder what would have happened if Harry hadn’t cheeked him back?)

· Things didn’t improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. (Harry isn’t the whole Gryff house, but since the punishments by points are meant to be collective, it affects the house… However I think it’s also a sign of how the narrator is quick to say Snape is unfair to Gryffindors in general, from Harry’s point of view, and not ‘just’ Harry.)

· Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. (Boils from touching a cauldron… boils from Furnunculus, or fires in the chimneys… Also Snape puts first years into pairs. In third year I think he starts to separate them. I’m not sure.)

· He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. (1) Snape’s first class uses dried nettles and Snape’s riddle involves nettle wine because he’s a character inspired from John Nettleship. Snape’s totem plant is a nettle – and alright, asphodel, wormwood and aconite. 2) I think there too, the narrator is quick on antagonizing Snape. The text implies that he does criticize his Slytherins as well – although it’s not explicitly said – and just not Malfoy. Does Draco already have a talent/knowledge in Potions that’d justify the lack of criticism other than being favouritism? Maybe that’s because he does succeed really well. Malfoy had broom lessons, surely he had Potions ones as well, from Snape or someone else. The difference here? The book won’t say that complimenting Hermione the most is bordering on favouritism, because you know, “she deserves it” – although she also was introduced as “a nightmare” – but will precise that when Snape compliments Draco, he seemed to like him and, in our minds, it draws the conclusion it’s for this reason alone that he’s congratulating him. In other words, the text wants us to believe that Draco doesn’t deserve compliments. What we know however is that the book tends to judge characters based on how they’re presented to Harry rather than from an objective point of view – for instance, Hagrid “punishes” Dudley and we are supposed to find it fair as he was a bully, when an objective point of view will show that since Hagrid couldn’t know Dudley was a bully but could just assume that a “fat Muggle” was to be insulted – Dudley didn’t try to eat the cake in the books – what he did in attacking Duldley and trying to turn him into a pig is actually a horrible scene (see critic about Hagrid); McGonagall only retrieves 5 points from Hermione, and we suppose it’s fair because she didn’t actually try to beat the troll, but when we consider that McGonagall punished her with 50 points for being out of curfew out-of-bounds later, we can conclude that McGonagall punishes near-suicide and disobedience 10 times less than a nighttime stroll – meaning she’s inconsistent/illogical in her punishments. Here, Draco is introduced as a bully and undeserving of love or compliments because of that… except that objectively, if he does his potion well, then he has the right to be complimented without it being implied to be favouritism. 3) The text also implies Snape criticized Hermione, but is it really unjustified? We don’t know. Hermione has been proven to have difficulties with a practical use of magic – riding a broomstick, repelling the Devil’s Snare, defeating her Boggart – maybe at first she had difficulties in brewing Potions. That’s not something she could have learned at home or in books. It’d be logical she learned how to brew better throughout the months. 4) Hermione is complimented by her teachers too – in HP1 alone we have McGonagall twice and Flitwick doing just that before Harry and Ron become friends with her – the difference is that Snape will compliment others than the best of the class. Though is that such a bad thing in itself? I remember that good teachers were those who didn’t focus on the gifted only. 5) And you know what it makes me think of? There’s an essay about John Nettleship that explains he could be mistakenly perceived as favouring the gifted because he was passionate in his job and had the tendency to show appreciation to those showing real involvement. Meanwhile, JK Rowling didn’t participate much – she hated Chemistry, she didn’t seem to succeed, thus why she chose a Potions Master to be the bad teacher. We have two elements. First Netlleship was said to try and make participate people with difficulties, like Rowling, but because she often “didn’t know” the answer, she might have felt pressured or ridiculed purposefully by her teacher – in the books, Harry is asked questions he can’t possibly answer, since he “can’t remember everything”, and Neville gets pressured. At the same time, Hermione, Rowling’s self-insert, is said to try and participate but getting ignored by Snape, who prefers to compliment other people. Maybe this is an aspect of how Rowling perceived favouritism in Nettleship? )

· He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs. (Jealous much, Harry? McGonagall had just done the same for Hermione’s needle! In third year she’ll compare Hermione to Seamus to prove he’d better take an example on her. I don’t remember the quote well, but I do know that comparing students like that is not that healthy…)

· When clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing gilled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus’ cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people’s shoes. Within seconds, the whole class were standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

Idiot boy! Snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire? (When Snape is stressed he gets angry.)

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

Take him up to the hospital wing, Snape spat at Seamus. (Contrary to Hooch, Snape takes care to ask for the other member of the pair, aka a student, to bring Neville to the hospital. Thus Snape won’t leave his class in a room full of potions that can explode and cauldrons that can burn. However… why didn’t you have a cure for boils to help Neville if you are specifically in a class where students can burn themselves because of the potions, the fire and the cauldrons? There are lots of problems in a school such as Hogwarts, especially concerning Potions courses from what I’ve seen in HP1, but even that should have been accessible to you.)

· I’ve heard Snape can turn very nasty. (A precision. Snape isn’t ‘always nasty’. He can turn nasty if we go too far.)

· Snape’s always taking points off Fred and George. (Not surprising though, they keep doing pranks and breaking rules.)

· Snape hasn’t taken any points from students other than the two from Harry. Is that what we call an unforgiving absolute bully? If he had been, he’d have retrieved more than 2 points and would have bullied other Gryffindors. He hasn’t.

· Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students. (We have two elements. 1) People reassure Harry in saying that what Snape does is not to worry about; they don’t see the problem right away. Hagrid, the adult Harry trusts the most for now, is the first to quite dismiss Harry’s concerns, and not do something about it; maybe it broke Harry’s belief that adults would speak with Snape so he wouldn’t do that. People close to Harry downplay this behavior… which is something that can be done casually in school, and if it can help some people, it can also send the message that the teacher will be defended/excused for their bullying. 2) They do compare Harry with other students, but Harry isn’t a student like any other. So there are two possibilities: either Snape doesn’t treat Harry differently than others, despite his genuine hate against him, and thus implies that what he does against Harry actually isn’t caused by hate, which would be a little surprising considering how the book present things, but which corresponds to how Snape will say to the Minister that he tries to treat all of his students fairly, including Harry – interestingly we can imagine that Fudge is right when he says that everybody has a soft spot for Harry, which is shown regularly in the books, meaning Harry can get used to special treatment, and by consequence, when Snape does something right but that doesn’t please Harry because he expected favouritism even unconsciously, Snape will be called unfair unfairly; or Snape does treat Harry differently and this implies that he treats other students in a kinder manner, despite “hardly liking” any of them, which would be logical and good but a little weird as Snape is described as generally being in a bad mood.)

· But he seemed to really hate me.

Rubbish! Said Hagrid. Why should he?

Yet Harry couldn’t help thinking that Hagrid didn’t quite meet his eyes when he said that.

Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. (Acceptation of Snape’s behaviour? Either way Hagrid is the one that quite says Harry is mistaken/lies about how wrong what Snape did was. And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn’t want to tell Harry? For instance, does he know that Snape was badly treated by the Marauders? Does he think that Snape kind of “deserves” to have his way, or that it’s understandable and he draws the conclusion that it’s excusable? It’s Hagrid, folks.)

· Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn’t want to tell Harry? (Suspicion about the Stone starts from there.)

Chp 9

· You’re a lot braver now you’re back on the ground and you’ve got your little friends with you, said Harry coolly. (And doesn’t that remind us of some particular gang? Harry has common points with Snape: “[Coward?] Your father would never attack me unless it was four-on-one, what would you call that, I wonder?”)

Chp 10 – The Midnight Duel

· Oh, well done! Cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it! (Same thing than McGonagall, but when Snape congratulates Malfoy it’s favouritism you know)

· Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realised that he’d already been at Hogwarts two months. (So that’s where I start to draw a theory: Harry has spent two months in Hogwarts and it seems quick. Usually it happens when you spend a really good time. But if Snape really was unbearable, why don’t we hear anything else than what happened in the first lesson? Why isn’t he said to have done something meanwhile, although he probably heard, like Flitwick, that Harry has been given special treatment with being allowed to play Quidditch as a first-year and being given the best broom of the time? My theory is that Snape… remained cool. For that, I have listed all the times Harry is punished by Snape or feels he gets bullied, along with the context. You’ll see something interesting in the end.)

· A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirell bringing up the rear. (BROTP)

· Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her looks so angry. Her lips were white.

“What on earth were you thinking of?” said Professor McGonagall, with a cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was stills tanding with his wand in the air. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed. Why aren’t you in your dormitory?” (McGonagall shares the same traits as Snape when she’s angry: lips become white, her fury is cold. They are that similar.)

· Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down. (Interesting. Snape doesn’t pay attention to Harry until he hears that he wasn’t in his dormitory, which prompt Snape to give Harry a piercing look, which can be seen as attempt in Legilimency, or a move of anger at knowing that Harry/James’ son already proves not to follow rules and to leave the dormitory when he feels like it. The difference in this scene… is that it’s McGonagall who makes the accusation. Harry does seem to feel guilty and ashamed. Later, when Snape accuses Harry of the same things, like going to Hogsmeade illegally in PoA, Harry won’t listen, won’t admit anything and will become angry against Snape. Let’s list what Harry has done wrong during all those years though, shall we? How he’s punished, by whom, what’s his reaction.)

· I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I’ve read all about them.

· It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets. (Funny image. However I suspect something else. Snape has seen Hermione outright standing up to answer to his question, and now he might believe that Hermione was so arrogant she felt like fighting the troll on her own. Will this explain their animosity, if there is a big one?)

Chp 11 – Hallowe’en

· They were standing with their backs to [the bluebell fire lamp], getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn’t be allowed. (Why? Also best way to attract attention.)

· Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape’s eye. He limped over. He hadn’t seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway. (The Trio looks guilty, so Snape comes to see what they surely did wrong. But just after the narrative says that Snape will be looking for “a” reason to tell them off “anyway” – in short, Snape is looking for an excuse to punish them. The switching between the Trio thinking they did wrong and Snape looking what they do, and Snape purposefully looking for a reason to punish them, is instantaneous and barely visible. What is the strongest idea you will retain however? “Looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.” You barely have Snape’s point of view, but mainly Harry’s opinion.)

· Library books are not to be taken outside the school, said Snape. Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor.

He’s just made that rule up, Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. Wonder what’s wrong with his leg? (1) Oh, are you really truthful Harry? Aren’t you the one inventing the fact Snape has invented a rule? After all, there ARE books in libraries that shouldn’t be taken outside on the grounds; there even are some which can’t be taken out of the library. Don’t you get a pass from the librarian when borrowing one? If you did, you should have shown it to Snape. 2) I think we touch something important. When I’ve been completing the excel sheet about Harry’s wrongdoings and the punishments he received, I have created a column named “Usual protocol”, which is based on either Hogwarts’ clearly stated rules or how professors would deal with such actions and punish similar offenses. I have found something obvious… but very important: we don’t know all of Hogwarts’ rules. Hogwarts is quite a unique school, we can’t always apply our own rules to it. Because Harry – and the reader – doesn’t know the rules, we cannot always know whether Harry has effectively broken a rule, how serious the wrongdoing was, what punishment should be associated with it. Meaning that we can only base our theories on the professors. And here comes the problem: the (un)fairness of a professor’s punishment cannot be appropriately judged based on their kindness or how much the narrator likes them. Which is precisely what the books seem to do. To know if what Snape has done is unfair, we constantly have to take distance from Harry’s many, many biased words and suggestions and lack of info and misdirection – like the “for no reason at all” concerning the penalty for the Puffs – to wonder if Snape’s punishment truly is wrong… and if Snape really just wanted to “find excuses”. The book is an example of how difficult and sometimes impossible it is: because sometimes we don’t know the rules of Hogwarts, and often we don’t know the punishments they deserve, we cannot truly know if, as Harry says, Snape just “made that rule up”, if he abuses the punishment… or if it is the complete opposite.)

· Dunno, but I hope it’s really hurting him, said Ron bitterly. (Harry seems to understand Snape badly; but it seems to apply the other way around as well: Snape might get a wrong idea of Harry and misunderstand/misinterpret him. Ron & Quirell relish in Snape’s pain of having his leg mangled.)

· He wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape? (Ah, indeed. Harry tries to get rational.)

· Rather you than me, they said together, but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn’t refuse if there were other teachers listening. (So either teachers are close to Snape, or it’s just Harry’s imagination & lack of trust in adults expressing themselves. It can also be explained in how the Durlseys were never fair to Harry and how Hagrid dismissed Harry’s concerns about Snape.)

· He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes. (Horrible because of the mangled leg? Or horrible because of Snape and Filch? Why doesn’t Snape go to Pomfrey – does he have issues with her? How come the closest person the local Squib has is Snape?)

· Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages. (Oh Ron, yes, it did hurt him)

· Blasted thing, Snape was saying. How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once? (First time Snape curses.)

· POTTER!

Snape’s face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.

I just wondered if I could have my book back.

GET OUT! OUT! (Bad memories maybe? Notice how he’s very private. I don’t think what upset him was Harry seeing the wound, rather than his legs…)

· And I’d bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to create a diversion. (Well, as quick-witted you try to be Harry, you just lost that broomstick.)

· Hermione’s eyes were wide.

No – he wouldn’t, she said. I know he’s not very nice, but he wouldn’t try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe. (“I know he’s not very nice but he stays loyal to Dumbledore”. Also, what do you mean “not very nice”? Is it an euphemism, or is it true? Besides Harry’s first lesson, how is he “not very nice”?)

· Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something, said Ron. I’m with Harry. I wouldn’t put anything past Snape. But what’s he after? What’s that dog guarding? (Lol it reminds snaters when they scream murder “you try to paint Snape as a saint!” Anyway, trying to steal what’s down the trapdoor is a serious accusation because then Snape would be a Dark wizard working against Dumbledore. Ron who distrusts Snape, despising Hermione’s argument by saying “you think all teachers are saints” aka you’re too gullible. But it’s Ron who’s in the wrong. As for Hermione, it’s possible that after discovering the truth about Snape, she drew the conclusion that she was right, and that Snape being “not nice” has nothing to do with his true loyalties – maybe that’s too quick of a conclusion, because it makes her think he couldn’t be a Dark Wizard. She seems to stand by that idea though, because later, she insists that Snape killing Dumbledore doesn’t make him evil, somehow… but maybe I’m going too far. Why does Ron distrust Snape, him who was the first telling Harry not to care about Snape? Why does he start to hate Snape – because of the book? Or only because, as he says, he’s with Harry, and he came to believe what he says? Is it also because Ron, being bullied along with Harry by Draco, came to hate Slytherin even more, and thus hate their Head of House, who also happens to have once congratulated Draco? Ron puts Harry’s word over Hermione, which shows his loyalty but also how biased he is. What is that excuse Ron? Why wouldn’t you put anything past Snape now, when Snape hasn’t done anything except for the first class (which you dismissed) and the book? Their evidence is too little to make such accusations. He directly assumes Snape tries to steal the guarded thing, why? It’s here: Snape is not very nice, though we don’t get anything more than the first Potions lesson and the book incident, but Ron and Harry are quick to assume the worst of him. It’s blatantly unfair. And it turns out they were wrong all along.)

· He tried to empty his mind – he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours – but the expression on Snape’s face when Harry had seen his leg wasn’t easy to forget. (A furious expression? Why is it so unforgivable? Was it that distorted – and does it come from how Harry has seen Snape a little too much? Also, empty your mind… Occlumency.)

· I knew it, Hermione gasped. Snape – look. (Hermione changes her mind and tries to find a reason to call Snape the culprit.)

· He’s doing something – jinxing the broom, said Hermione. (Assuming. They’re quite implying Snape’s trying to kill a child. We went from doing something > jinxing pretty quick… Oh well. She didn’t know.)

· She didn’t even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirell headfirst into the row in front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well chosen words. (Why aren’t they warning a teacher??? Is Snape the only one protecting Harry?)

· It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realise that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what had happened. (You better pray he doesn’t Legilimize you.)

· It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to chamber back to his broom. (Why did Quirell stop though, why didn’t he try to mutter another curse? Second, did Harry’s broom stop jerking from the moment Quirell was knocked out, or 30 seconds after Snape was put on fire? From the moment Snape realized he was on fire? Did he stop staring at Harry from the moment he realized he was on fire, or before? Was Snape still muttering when Quirell was knocked out? My theory is that Dark Magic seems to linger even though Quirell hadn’t had the eye contact anymore. The narrative forces to cast Snape as a potential villain… But it leaves so many questions unresolved. And I just had the image of Snape staring at Harry and muttering non-stop so hard he set himself on fire. Did Snape think it was his magic leaking? It’s a Snape going Eminem on Harry… Last thing: Snape seems to cast spells that are not just selected words but some kind of prayer. I think he’s the only one who does that. Snape mutters non-stop when he saves Harry from a Dark jinx, sings Draco’s wounds shut from his Dark spell, mutters under his breath when he locks Dumbledore’s Dark/Horcrux curse in his hand.

· It was Snape, Ron was explaining. Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn’t take his eyes off you. (When Snape searches a reason for Harry’s guilty looks and wonders if he’s been breaking the rules, it’s shown as unfair. When the Trio makes quick assumptions about Snape and search the reasons to cast him out, it’s somehow okay. Snape muttering was as suspicious as Harry looking guilty twice… The story might give clues as to why, but the narrative is quite unfair.)

· Rubbish, said Hagrid, who hadn’t heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. Why would Snape do somethin’ like that? (A nice parallel to when he dismissed Harry’s concerns over why Snape seemed to hate him. By the time this happens, Harry doesn’t trust him enough anymore. If Hagrid was wrong in thinking Snape hating Harry was rubbish, then we can think that he’s wrong in thinking Snape innocent. The narrative outright gives a reason for Hagrid to be misled: he hasn’t heard a word of what happened next to him. But even if he had, would he think that Snape had cursed the broom? Is Hagrid calling rubbish what Hermione and Ron saw, or their interpretation of what they saw? Either way, Hagrid’s question doesn’t focus on that. It focuses on the reason Snape would curse the broom. But Harry already has one, one Hagrid dismissed earlier: Snape hates Harry. It is logical and fair to think that someone hating you wants you ill… But how the book persists and goes out of its way to cast Snape as the villain before leading us here is unnerving. They’re always expecting the worse out of Snape. Second, aren’t the kids more terrified than that to think Snape tried to kill Harry? Why isn’t any teacher leading an investigation? Even Hermione who loves teachers doesn’t think to ask help from Flitwick or Dumbledore or anything, when they speaking about their own teacher trying to kill their 11 yo friend.)

· I found out something about him, he told Hagrid. He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe’en. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it’s guarding. (Harry uses a conclusion as his first explanation. He could have said “I’ve found him limping and his leg was mangled, torn off, and he mentioned the Cerberus while talking to Filch.” Instead he says directly “he’s been trying to get past the dog”. Maybe I’m digging too deep but… well, it makes me feel uneasy.)

· Hagrid dropped to teapot. How do you know about Fluffy? He said.

Fluffy?

Yeah – he’s mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las’ year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the – (Did Quirell say he was Greek, or does he have a Greek accent/does he speak Greek? Hagrid doesn’t ever mention that Snape’s role is to protect whatever’s down there. It could have divided the readers with more interpretations if he had done: some would think that explains Snape’s presence near the dog and maybe they’re exaggerating, some would think that’s really dangerous to have a reason to approach Fluffy. Instead the book AGAIN tries to cast Snape as the villain. Hagrid would rather talk about Fluffy that explaining Snape’s role. Well, he’s right to be concerned… but he could have said the info later. Oh, and Hagrid, more than drinking “amber liquid” in front of Harry and the Dursleys, more than being called/suspected a drunkard by Draco, talks about he plays in pubs. Is this the fate that awaits those who are expelled from Hogwarts, along with Squibs?)

· Rubbish, said Hagrid again. Snape’s a Hogwarts teacher, he’d do nothin’ of the sort. (Weak excuse Hagrid… Quirell was a teacher as well. 3rd time you said Rubbish, and 3rd time’s the charm I guess.)

· So why did he just try and kill Harry? Cried Hermione. (Assumptions…)

· The afternoon’s events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape. (But she does say “I knew it” as though she was already suspecting him during Quidditch?)

· I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I’ve read all about them! You’ve got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn’t blinking at all, I saw him! (Hermione… you’re wrong. Reading in books doesn’t make your assumptions right, it’s not enough. It’s so… arrogant on your part. You’re only a first year dammit. Haven’t you read about jinx counters???)

· I’m tellin’ yeh, yer wrong! Said Hagrid hotly. I don’t know why Harry’s broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn’t try an’ kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh – yer meddlin’ in things that don’t concern yeh. It’s dangerous. (Or yes it concerns them, at least the attempted murder. Why is Hagrid convinced Snape wouldn’t try to kill a student? Why does he seem upset when the Trio accuses Snape? Does it have to do with how he seems to know what happened to Snape, or is it because Dumbledore trusts Snape, or is Hagrid done with them? Also, Hagrid is the first Snover that defends Snape against Snaters. Isn’t that ironic.)

Chp 12 - Quidditch

· Worst of all were Professor Snape’s classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons. (1) cauldrons are dangerous for children, Potions shouldn’t be taught at all to them, damn Wizarding world, 2) it’s not logical. The dungeons are underground and thus isolated from the wind and the cold weather outside. They’ve got a lake near them to regulate the temperature through the stones, better than winds in the badly isolated towers. The dungeons, being isolated, should be cool and even a little warm. After hours of heating cauldrons with fire, the classroom should become hot enough for the day. But alright: Harry has Potions in the morning, as it takes place after breakfast for one or two hours before they can go see Hagrid on Fridays, and thus the classroom hasn’t been heated yet. But isn’t it such a good coincidence Snape’s class has another reason to be called the worst? Though why don’t wizards leave magical fires to warm up? Don’t they have a time-system that’d create a fire around 30 minutes before the first students come into the classrooms? Don’t they have instant warming charms? Why don’t they teach/spell them on students? Leaving a fire all night unsupervised in a Potions classroom seems dangerous enough, but they’ve got magic and spell! Why are the wizards so dumb and unpractical?!)

· Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

WEALSEY!

Ron let go the front of Malfoy’s robes.

He was provoked, Professor Snape, said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. Malfoy was insultin’ his family.

Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid, said Snape silkily. Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn’t more. Move along, all of you. (EXACTLY. Also he calls him Hagrid J)

· I hate them both, said Harry. Malfoy and Snape. (BUT SNAPE WAS RIGHT THOUGH. The problem is that Snape hasn’t punished Malfoy. We all know though that’s not something he can do, strategically speaking (Draco being Lucius’ son).

· Because how else were they going to find out what Snape was going to steal? (They aren’t alerting the other teachers, oh my God… What do they think that can do against a gown-up Wizard who knows Dark Magic? Ron and Hermione shouldn’t have issues about trusting adults, but they still don’t ask the help of a Professor. I can’t believe it could just be because of Hagrid. They could know Hagrid was a bit gullible, but other teachers like McGonagall or Flitwick? If they don’t ask the other teachers – although previously Harry thought that Snape would be milder near other teachers and so those teachers could defend him – is it because they know they’re too close to Snape, meaning Snape has made friends with the other professors in the end? Also, Hermione, when you’re searching for a book, don’t you know Accio, don’t you have any reference to it? Can’t you use Accio Books of Nicholas Flamel, or ask Mrs Pince? Or are we admitting you don’t know things and thus can’t recognize Dark Magic from afar?

· [Harry and Ron] were plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn’t work. (Imagine if they want Malfoy expelled after his pathetic belittling, then there’s every right for Snape to want to expel the Marauders; except it wasn’t “fun”. Plus Malfoy too had tried to expel Harry with the fake duel, maybe with the bought broom, and maybe with the Remembrall taunt.)

· You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody’s been in the library – Restricted Section.

To his horror, it was Snape who replied.

The Restricted section? Well, they can’t be that far, we’ll catch them. (Hm… Interesting. Why is Filch precising this – is it because it’s a new precaution taken for Harry?

Chp 13 – The Mirror of Erised

· Snape’s refereeing this time, and he’ll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!

We’ve just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn’t got an excuse to pick on us. (Snape is described as unpleasant because he applies the rules strictly and punishes easily if they’re not respected; but here, it’s not a question of Snape punishing them without a valid reason – contrary to what’s going to be said later. It’s really “looking for excuses” to give penalties… but are they being fair though? They’ve got nothing to fear if they respect the rules.)

· Which was very well, thought Harry, but he had another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he was playing Quidditch.

· Harry told the other two about Snape’s sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee. (This is funny)

· The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for nearly seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee? (Hypocrite. You dare say that after you got your broom, your bent rules, a biased commentator and a referee that was staring at Flint?)

· Harry didn’t know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed to keep running into Snape wherever he went. At times, he even wondered whether Snape was following him, trying to catch him on his own. (Ironic because it seems Snape’s following Harry to protect him in case Quirell tries to find Harry on his own.)

· Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry. (How? And why only now?)

· Could Snape possibly know they’d found out about the Philosopher’s Stone? Harry didn’t see how he could – yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds. (Harry will have the same feeling at the beginning of CoS. Is Snape reading Harry’s mind? Is he becoming horrible because of stress, because of spy duty, because he sees that Harry starts to loathe him and judges him unfairly? Snape is horrible to Harry, but how? Is it Harry’s perception – standing in a room near the one you think tried to kill you, despising Slytherin, looking carefully for signs Snape is biased? There’s no example of what “horrible things” Snape is doing to Harry, how are we supposed to believe it hasn’t anything to do with Harry’s own, exaggerated and unfair bias? Those words, “turning into a sort of weekly torture”, are sandwiched between Harry unable to understand Snape’s actions, getting paranoiac and misinterpreting them, and a feeling that Snape can read minds – which is true, but remains a feeling mingled with paranoia and guilt. How to trust Harry’s point of view, especially when you read “Snape was so horrible to Harry”, which seems too weak to believe? There are constant attempts in the book to demonize Snape, from Harry or from the story aka bad luck, these words are strong, but too tricky/unable to be used because they’re plunged in a context of complete anti-Snape bias.)

· Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much. (Ah? So now it’s not just favouring Slytherin, it’s trying to favour Hufflepuff? As if making Gryffindor lose was more important than making Slytherin win – or is it because if Gryffindor loses against Hufflepuff and Slytherin wins against Puff then it’ll make up for losing against Gryff? Plus saying that when Snape doesn’t ever give any points to anybody? And can’t really punish children of DE without putting himself in risk? If you fear so much about referee bias, why don’t you hire a second referee?)

· Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched on to the pitch, something that Ron noticed, too. (Ah, Dumbledore in the stands – though why wasn’t he there last time when surely he suspected Quirell – you think Snape was angry about THAT)

· I’ve never seen Snape look so mean, he told Hermione. (It’s to ward off the Death Eaters)

· Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Wealsey had hit a Bludger at him. (Okay, so in real life, it’s red card and instant ejection from the game. Also I’ve read that if you were in a real competition, you’d get fined and suspended. If your move was intentional, you’d go to anger management training. Considering Snape’s also a teacher, if it was intentional, then you’d get counselling/a report. He only awarded a penalty. They’re lucky they don’t have any rules to eject a player for Quidditch. Though it means that players could threaten/beat the referee without much consequences than a penalty.)

· Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. (I doubt that, after what just happened.)

· Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd.

Come on, Harry! Hermione screamed, leaping on to her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches. (I remind you that Snape was an ass at Quidditch before.)

· As Gryffindors came spilling on to the pitch, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped. (Got a good scary moment I get it. Plus Gryff losing, and you being almost hit twice, while probably receiving boo’s… Yeah.)

· Snape spat bitterly on the ground. (Salty)

· He’d done it, he’d shown Snape…

· He recognized the figure’s prowling walk.

· Oh, I thought we’d keep this private, said Snape, his voice icy. Students aren’t supposed to know about the Philosopher’s stone after all. (WAIT – does Snape think Harry knew about the Stone because of Quirell, that Quirell intended to have Harry search it??? It’s linked to the passage where Harry wonders if Snape could read minds and know that Harry knew about the Stone.)

· We’ll have another little chat soon, when you’ve had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie. (Theme of loyalty, ironic coming from a defected DE.)

· Quirell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell which Snape needs to break through – (so ironic)

· So you mean the Stone’s only safe as long as Quirell stands up to Snape? Said Hermione in alarm.

Chp 14 – Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

· Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirell’s stutter. (I wish they’d done that for Snape. I need Snape-appreciating fic)

· You don’t understand, Professor, Harry Potter’s coming – he’s got a dragon!

What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy! (McGonagall trust Snape THAT much. Moody will also drag Draco to see Snape in GoF… after McGonagall’s told him about this.)

Chp 15 – The Forbidden Forest

· I think I’ve got a good idea of what’s been going on, said Professor McGonagall. It doesn’t take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I’ve already caught him. I suppose you think it’s funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too? (Werewolf prank… Maybe McGonagall heard the full story from Snape… In any case, she herself says that feeding such story to make a student break curfew is a disgusting act that merits punishment. Though sending them into the Forest…)

· [McGonagall:] Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Potter. (Ahh… here we have evidence that students complaining about a teacher’s choice is forbidden.)

· Fifty? Harry gasped – they would lose the lead, the lead he’d won in the last Quidditch match. (So… Houses can win the House Cup… by winning points in Quidditch? Where a Seeker can win 150 points for catching a little ball? This points system is bullshit. It takes forever for students to win them by studying. Also, retrieving 50 points from 3 students equals to 150, which is a lot… but which is only what a Seeker wins. Oh, and apparently putting yourself in mortal danger from a troll is only 5 points worth, but being out at night is 50? I think it’s because the book assumes the reader makes the link that Hermione didn’t truly deserve punishment as she hadn’t done anything wrong… But not in McGonagall’s eyes, who believes her lie. It makes McGonagall incoherent and extremely unfair. The book’s story is very badly made. Ah but – no – not even that. McGonagall only retrieved 20 points from Malfoy + detention, so she’s taking 30 points more away from Harry and Hermione for feeding false info – from what she thinks, at least. But Neville? She thinks that Neville is quite innocent in this affair – but then she retrieves 50 points from HIM? McGonagall retrieves insane amounts of points.)

· Now get back to bed, all of you. I’ve never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students. (1) guilt-trip, 2) are you sure?)

· A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they’d ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. (Why do 150 points suffice to ruin all chances to win, when they’ve still got a match against Ravenclaw, and months before the end of term? Is Slytherin THAT MUCH in the lead? Or is it a plothole – a failure in Rowling’s attempt to make the punishment tragic, to dramatize it?)

· Harry didn’t sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours. (OMG McGonagall made Neville cry, retrieved 50 points from him when he was partially innocent, but of course Snape is the worst, and Neville should only fear Bellatrix, and he made Hermione tear up… Just look at what happened when McGonagall intervened.)

· He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they’d done? (Points system is intrinsically based on common punishment. It uses pressure from the House itself to force the members to respect the rules – pressure that can result in ostracization, isolation, shaming, that puts students at risk of being bullied. In one book, Hermione started to quite harass Harry and Ron about that, and now it’s the whole House – worse, the whole school. The House which also consists in students the age of attending high school. Wonderful. Hogwarts is a shitty school.)

· And then the story spread (from Draco?): Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first-years.

Even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. (1) anti-Slytherin by 3 Houses, 2) even other Houses can blame/hate Harry. Hasn’t McGonagall figured what would happen if she punished them this hard?)

· Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn’t trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. (Consequences of points system.)

· Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they’ve been here, and people still like them.

They’ve never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they? Said Harry miserably.

Well – no, Ron admitted. (So either the twins were never caught, either their punishments were less severe. But then we remember that the person said to punish them the most for their shenanigans is Snape. Snape punished them, but they’re still liked by the school – maybe it’s another instance of “I hate Snape and he’s punished you so it must be unfair, I like you even if you break rules”. Snape punished them, but he never went to retrieve 150 points, or at least enough points to turn the Gryffindors against them. McGonagall’s punishment had far worse consequences.)

· He’d had it with sneaking around and spying.

· But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn’t speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him “the Seeker”.

· Hermione and Neville were suffering too. They didn’t have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren’t as well known, but nobody would speak to them either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence. (Hermione and Neville in one go! Also peculiar formulation. Hermione likes to “draw attention to herself”, or is it what people think she’s doing? Related to the know-it-all scene.)

· All the same, he’d have gambled twelve Philosopher’s Stones that Snape had just left the room, and from what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step – Quirell seemed to have given in at last. (Well, Harry, you lost your bet.)

· But we’ve got not proof! Said Harry. (Exactly)

· Who do you think they’ll believe, him or us? (The staff believes Snape, trusts him. He’s not out of bounds)

· It’s not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore’ll think we made it up to get him sacked. (Damn that tea’s hot)

· Filch wouldn’t help us if his life depended on it, he’s too friendly with Snape. (The ancient DE is the closest to Filch. We assume it’s because they’re both filthy greasy adults who love to punish students. We could also consider Filch is a bad example of a Squib to set in school as it trains students to hate and despise Squibs – we’ll see that in CoS from Ron and HBP from Harry – which increases discrimination, even in the Light Side. Snape befriending him is interesting…)

Chp 16 – Through the Trapdoor

· Snape made them all nervous, breathing own their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion. (I sense some pretty wicked sense of humour. Snape breathes on their necks – probably to check their dangerous cauldrons/potions – which is the same thing we’re told about Madam Pince making Harry nervous near the Restricted Section. For all those who think Madam Pince is actually Madam Prince.)

· Anyway, we’ve never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he’s not going to try it again in a hurry. (Ah)

· It’s sort of secret, he said, but he wished at once he hadn’t because Professor McGonagall’s nostrils flared. (I see Snape’s not the only one. He does the same thing in GoF, although it’s noted he seemed to try and sniff Harry out.)

· ‘It’s tonight,’ said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. ‘Snape’s going through the trapdoor tonight. He’s found out everything he needs and now he’s got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up.’

‘But what can we –’ (Snape hears this, he might conclude Harry’s trying to break curfew again to go through the trapdoor. Yet in this case, Why didn’t Snape wait on the Third Floor corridor for Harry & Co?)

[…] Good afternoon, he said smoothly.

They stared at him.

· Hanging around like this, people will think you’re up to something. (People like you, Snape? Just like you did with the Quidditch book?)

· Be warned Potter – any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you. (Greeted him twice? Is it sarcasm/passive-aggressive? Is it just a threat as Snape should know from Dumbledore that Harry is better safe at Hogwarts? But indeed, Snape is not pleasant. Taunting on the Gryffindors’ points, threat of expulsion (although McGonagall threatened her students in her first class) – I think most of these are technically allowed but they put pressure on the student and justifies the need to consult the parents. Although, now that I think of it, if parents were complaining to Snape about what he just said, Snape could very well say “Your son has broken Hogwarts’ rules by wandering around at night and it does deserve expulsion from Hogwarts; I’m giving him a warning because he talked about going through a trapdoor at nighttime and he won’t just lose points for this next time”. He’s justified and in his right. BUT… he only addresses this to Harry, which is biased.)

· Snape came out and asked what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went out to get him, and I’ve only just got away. I don’t know where Snape went. (Good teacher behavior?)

· He pocketed it to use it on Fluffy – he didn’t feel much like singing. (Oh, give me some more singing Snape)

· Looks like a harp, said Ron. Snape must have left it there. (Snape the harp musician – his long fingers of a Potions Master playing on the strings…)

· It wasn’t ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. (Beautiful. Associating purple and black with Snape by the way. I want fanart of Snape with purple or black fire. But I have a question. Why didn’t Quirell take the potion to go forward with him? He wouldn’t be able to go back through the black flames otherwise. Or did he just go through the flames unharmed? How did Dumbledore go through the black flames to save Harry – does this mean there are spells powerful enough to go past the potion riddle?)

· This isn’t magic – it’s logic – a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven’t got an ounce of logic, they’d be stuck in here for ever. (Snape is the one who made a test that everyone from wizards to Muggles can solve. Snape is the one associated with Hermione. Did you know we can reverse-solve the riddle to find the 2-3 combinations which allow us to solve them with the riddle and Hermione’s clue?)

Chp 17 – The Man with Two Faces

· Severus? Quirell laughed and it wasn’t his usual quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn’t he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirell? (Open evidence that you shouldn’t trust appearances… and to think Harry and Ron were showing support for Quirell, not an ounce for Snape later…)

· Another few seconds and I’d have got you off that broom. I’d have managed it before then if Snape hadn’t been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you. (If Snape hadn’t acted, Harry would have died at 11.)

· All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he did make himself unpopular… (Willing to make himself unpopular… Did they know what had truly happened later? Grosse ambiance Snape)

· Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off. (Did he suspect Quirell before or after Dumbledore told him to be wary of him?)

· And not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn’t even manage to bite Snape’s lef off properly. (1) I want leg-missing veteran Snape. 2) Um, but there’s something weird. Did Quirell let the troll lose so the professors would try to find the troll and he’d be able to see what protected the Stone? But he didn’t need to, he could have spied the door while everyone was sleeping, or eating, or something. Did he let the troll loose as to beat Harry to death? But that assumes Harry would search for the troll, which he wouldn’t have done if Hermione hadn’t needed help. In this case, either Quirell/Voldy is an idiot, or they predicted Harrywould try to fight the troll, on the sole assumption Harry would emulate his father. OR they knew about Hermione crying in the bathroom, suspected Harry and Ron would try to save her, and made their move from then on. But there are more effective ways to kill Harry. You only need Harry being sent somewhere where he’d be alone with Quirell/Voldemort and be offered to be either part of the Dark Side or killed. 3) Did the dog mangle Snape’s leg during the troll event? But his limping gets mentioned only later, when Harry and Ron hang out with Hermione. Only in the films do we see Snape’s leg bitten near the troll. Plus if Snape had interrupted Quirell near the dog and he had been bitten, why wouldn’t Quirell use the opportunity to attack him, kill him or help the Cerberus kill Snape? Quirell would have had the perfect crime. The Cerberus could even have eaten Snape, and you’d have no way to tell Snape had been stunned or something, AND Fluffy would have to be executed, leaving the Stone defenseless for a time. Voldemort IS said to be merciless even to his followers. Maybe Quirell saw what happened to Snape’s leg after the troll incident? That seems the most plausible… Also a real school would have closed if a troll had been threatening students like that, if Harry’s broom was attacked with Dark Magic, nearly killing him, and if there was a dog able to bit off a teacher’s leg accessible through the use of Alohomora.)

· He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me… decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me… (What to think, then, when in HBP Snape, after Lucius’ punishment in having his son put in almost-certain death’s way, says that Voldemort “wasn’t pleased”…)

· What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, he thought, is to find the Stone before Quirell does. (And here we have a MOST interesting passage. The object supposed to show you the deepest, most desperate desire in the world can show a desire that appears AT THE MOMENT. In a world that allows that for the deepest desire, then it should allow that for the deepest fear… particularly Neville’s Boggart after having poor interactions with Snape twice just before. I think it reinforced the theory.)

· But your mother needn’t have died… she was trying to protect you… (Lily tried to protect Harry. Snape tried to save him. And in the end, they both did. Do we have to wonder why Snape has the Patronus of Harry’s mother?)

· Professor Snape, Harry.

Yes, him – Quirell said he hates me because he hated by father. Is that true?

Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive.

What?

He saved his life. (………)

What?

Yes… said Dumbledore dreamily. Funny, the way people’s minds work, isn’t it? Professor Snape couldn’t bear being in your father’s debt… I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating your father’s memory in peace…

….

This is the most disgusting thing I have read lately.

You said you didn’t want to lie, Dumbledore?

You just did. Horribly. And you know it. Just as you know the truth.

You know, before, Harry could have sought Snape to talk with him and maybe, maybe, asked for forgiveness to have wrongfully accused him.

It is Dumbledore who sets Harry and Snape definitely apart.

He could have told him that Harry’s father had tormented Snape so horribly he couldn’t ever forgive him.

Snape’s hatred, Hagrid’s hesitancy, Quirell’s admission that Snape and James hated each other – all of these are buckled up with the message that he was unfairly ungrateful to James, and a mean pathetic villain in the end.

The book ends with the idea that Snape saved Harry not because he cared about his life, but because he had a debt against a man that’s been presented as good until now. Meaning Snape could still turn against Harry later.

The problem is that Snape isn’t saving Harry to pay a debt to James. He’s saving him as he wishes to extend Lily’s will and make her death not in vain. We could go further and say that he wanted to truly change and repent.

Dumbledore makes Harry think that Snape was kind of “forced” to pay back his debt for James’ supposedly honourable action, and that he hated Harry because he hated his father, as well as because he was unwilling to save Harry.

In DH, we see clearly that Snape is horrified with the idea of sending Harry to his death “like a pig to slaughter”; in fact in CoS, Snape gets worried when he hears that a student has been captured by the monster.

However, these things are never openly acknowledged. Dumbledore is willing to present James as a hero, while you have to dig through a lot to realize Snape became one as well.

He never said that he might not only hate James for being the one who saved him, but also because, as Snape was forced to keep the truth of what happened to himself, James was presented as a pure hero at heart and this info was used against Snape by Lily who obviously started to defend the Marauders and mistrust their victim. The only time the situation is explained is only in a book where Harry fully antagonizes Snape: that James had no choice but to save Snape if he wanted to save his friends and himself, and that it hadn’t been a selfless act (at least not entirely). But since Snape is meant to be hated, it’s easy to cast him in the wrong. Never is it said that if James hadn’t saved Snape, Sirius would have turned a murderer, Remus a victim of his own best friend’s plans, and James an accomplice of the murder, at least at fault for failure in duty to rescue.

Do you have a debt for someone whose friend put you in the very mortal situation forcing them save you?

Dumbledore compared the Marauders’ bullying against Snape to Harry and Malfoy when Malfoy hasn’t done a quarter of what James did to Snape, and when that’s something that borders between rivalry and unsuccessful harassment rather than heavy abuse.

And we have to keep in mind that the one who was the reason the info about why James had to save Snape spread, the one who silenced Snape and forced the misunderstood event, the one who participated in hurting him and having him bullied relentlessly, the one who canonically gaslighted Snape, was Dumbledore himself.

Before, it was a combination of mistrust, lack of information and misinterpretation, as well as anti-Slytherin bias and fear for his life, that had kept Harry away from Snape. Now, Dumbledore, by his lie of omission and obviously distorted interpretation of Snape’s motives, has effectively cut Harry’s trust for the professor who just spent the last year saving and protecting him. Snape’s credit of his salvaging actions is robbed from him.

I don’t even understand Dumbledore’s logic behind, other than trying to glorify James and flatter Harry. The only thing he promised not to say was about Snape’s allegiance to Lily. In its stead, Dumbledore spoke about a sort of allegiance to James. Worse, instead of trying to mitigate Harry and Snape’s connections, he impends it.

On one hand, as we know from the Prince’s Tale, he tells Snape that he’s mistaken about James’ son, that he only sees what he wants to see. Obviously he doesn’t want him to hate Harry or to mistake him so much. On the other hand he tells that same boy something that’s so… I’m sure there’s a proper name to it – so biased and so open to wrong interpretations, so stamped with the purpose of glorifying Harry’s father on the expanse of Harry’s personal protector, that he won’t see any reason to make an effort to be less mutinous against his teacher.

And yet, after this entire book, the only confirmed thing that Snape has objectively done wrong, was nagging and ridiculing Harry in his first class. To put some context, McGonagall’s punishment had 2 times worse consequences against Harry than what Snape ever did, and she put him in danger with someone she had acknowledged irresponsible, unable to protect someone well – but she doesn’t get any more hate from Harry because he feels like he deserved the punishment and is genuinely hurt. Other than that, Snape’s actions were mostly justified or in the norms – but instead of having Harry wonder how far he went to antagonize Snape this last year and how wrong he was in doing so, he’s given another reason not to do that: Snape hates him unfairly so there’s no need to think things through, no need to make peace.

Dumbledore is a catalyst, an actor, maybe THE reason, that Harry and Snape will keep hating each other along the next books.

And you know what? This plan backfires gruesomely when Albus has no choice but to make him teach Harry Occlumency.

Dumbledore broke Harry’s trust with his professor when it had a chance to spring, and then, after Sirius’ death, he’ll again somehow make it Snape’s fault talking about “some wounds run too deep”.

I get that it is meant to make the author doubt about Snape’s true allegiances for the future… But I think that even if Dumbledore had told Harry the true reason Snape hated James and couldn’t seem to let go of the past, it would still have allowed Snape to make Voldemort believe Dumbledore fell for his “lying”, and accentuated hate against Snape when he’d kill Dumbledore, as it would have given further clues to the reader to think that maybe James’ treatment of Snape, being unforgivable, is a solid reason to think Snape doesn’t ever want to work for the Light. It would have acted like a Snape’s Worst Memory, except sooner.

Instead he said “Snape couldn’t ever forgive James for having saved his life, he couldn’t bear knowing that he had a debt to him”… and only that.

This is Dumbledore in one of his cruelest, most manipulative and repulsive choices. I

I think I’ll hate this passage from now on.

· Harry tried to understand this but it made his head pound, so he stopped. (See what I mean? Harry won’t try to think things through. Well, after what Dumbledore said, you don’t even have to bother really.)

· Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall’s hand, with a horrible forced smile. (Yeah… yeah, I would have used something akin to Occlumency if I were at your place, to hold up the humiliating “downfall” of my own House glorified by the rest of the school. Also notice how Harry reserved the “Professor” title for McGonagall only. All ties are cut.)

· He caught Harry’s eye and Harry knew at once that Snape’s feelings towards him hadn’t changed one jot. This didn’t worry Harry. (Why should he, huh? In the midst of this horrible anti-Slytherin/pro-Gryffindor show no less?)

· (They all got good marks.) Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. (We didn’t have a single instance where Snape bullies Neville here. Only Harry… in the beginning of the year. Not any other instance after. Weak bully in HP1. Let’s see if it changes in HP2, in HP4, or if one of the worst instances start in HP3, and we know why he would. Let’s confirm a hypothesis. The hypothesis that Snape became really bullying mostly because of the circumstances, such as his bullies returning at Hogwarts, or Voldemort coming back.)

Conclusion

I don’t have any. I’m tired. I’ll make the posts with themes based on this alright? I hoped this proved insightful.