understandable as his resentment of Sirius is, he is effectively trying to kill a surrendered prisoner who's offered to go quietly in Prisoner of Azkaban
I really need to dig up Amanda Lewanski's old (but excellent) HP4GU post about the Shrieking Shack. She makes the point that if you look at what point Snape actually came in, and what he would have heard Sirius and Lupin say from that point on, he had no reason to believe that Sirius was anything but an escaped and very dangerous criminal, or that the Trio had not been somehow Confunded by him. And Sirius was not exactly acting like a sober, rational, self-controlled individual at the time either. Though even at that, I admit that all the spitting and yelling on Snape's part was a bit much. :)
You're right about Hermione and Neville, though. I have not yet come up with a theory that adequately explains Snape's persecution of Neville, or that is sufficient to cover the cruelty in "I see no difference." I have a few conjectures on both points, but I think JKR will have to supply more data before I can feel confidence in any one of those theories.
And even if I should turn out to be right in thinking that Snape's remark to Hermione was made primarily for Lucius Malfoy's benefit (via Draco, who was of course a witness to the scene), it still doesn't excuse the cruelty of the remark -- IMO there should have been another way for Snape to strengthen his DE "cover". Nor does the possibility that Snape thinks he can terrify Neville into some kind of magical breakthrough justify the harshness of his technique.
In short, I would certainly agree that in terms of becoming a decent human being, Snape has a long way to go and a lot to learn. No, he is not a nice man. But I think he is, slowly, heading in the right direction, and the potential for him to prove himself, to be redeemed, interests me.
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Re:
Date: 2003-03-23 07:17 pm (UTC)I really need to dig up Amanda Lewanski's old (but excellent) HP4GU post about the Shrieking Shack. She makes the point that if you look at what point Snape actually came in, and what he would have heard Sirius and Lupin say from that point on, he had no reason to believe that Sirius was anything but an escaped and very dangerous criminal, or that the Trio had not been somehow Confunded by him. And Sirius was not exactly acting like a sober, rational, self-controlled individual at the time either. Though even at that, I admit that all the spitting and yelling on Snape's part was a bit much. :)
You're right about Hermione and Neville, though. I have not yet come up with a theory that adequately explains Snape's persecution of Neville, or that is sufficient to cover the cruelty in "I see no difference." I have a few conjectures on both points, but I think JKR will have to supply more data before I can feel confidence in any one of those theories.
And even if I should turn out to be right in thinking that Snape's remark to Hermione was made primarily for Lucius Malfoy's benefit (via Draco, who was of course a witness to the scene), it still doesn't excuse the cruelty of the remark -- IMO there should have been another way for Snape to strengthen his DE "cover". Nor does the possibility that Snape thinks he can terrify Neville into some kind of magical breakthrough justify the harshness of his technique.
In short, I would certainly agree that in terms of becoming a decent human being, Snape has a long way to go and a lot to learn. No, he is not a nice man. But I think he is, slowly, heading in the right direction, and the potential for him to prove himself, to be redeemed, interests me.