...what a tale my thoughts could tell...

[rj_anderson]

dr_c has just reminded me, in a comment to the previous post, of another point I had noticed but forgotten -- and how could I forget this one, since it immediately generated a massive plot bunny in my brain, I cannot imagine --

Harry has a horrible feeling that Snape can read minds.

This may just be Harry's youthful paranoia, generated by his fear that Snape is evil and working on behalf of Voldemort, but it did strike me (and obviously dr_c as well) as an unusual thing for JKR to say.

Could there be some truth to it? Obviously it can't be as simple as Snape really being a mind-reader or Harry would never get away with anything; but could he have some limited kind of prescience or telepathic ability? If so, where did he get it from?

And if Snape has some idea -- even a general one -- of what people around him are thinking, might this be part of the reason he's so nasty and bitter all the time?