(Untitled)

[cs_luis]

So. Here it is, my Massively Geeky Thesis for Maggie. You can blame her, for her incessant hating on my love. Being that I have loads of time on my hands, and loads of extraneous mental energy, I decided to write out something of an analysis of Snape. It was intended to just be an explanation of why I think he's so great, but it turned into a full-

Comments

[playscape]

OH MY GOD IT LOOKS SO MUCH LONGER WHEN YOU POST IT IN LJ!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA! Yesss.

[cs_luis]

I know. *cringes*

[hybridutensil]

Loved it! Loved. It! Word! Wordy McWordword!
Might I ask you nicely to post this in hp_essays? This is, imho, a work the quality & caliber seen there. It's well thought-out, it's logical, and it's fascinating to read! :) <3!

Two things:
1) Snape's treatment of Neville.
This comes not from me, but from Red Hen, just so you know, but I'll try to paraphrase. A theory offered here is about Neville's attitude towards the Wizarding World, etc. It talks about how he's constantly reminded about what good wizards his parents were. When he was a child, he probably unconsciously repressed his magical talents 'cause they were scary and perhaps he didn't want to be a wizard anyway. He repressed his talents so well, he was feared to be a Squib... What if Neville is, at Hogwarts, still unconsciously repressing, in the hopes that, "If I suck at this wizarding thing, will they let me leave?". Snape sees right through his act for the crap it is, and gets really, really tired at his whole, "I suck, I'm so miserable at this, don't make me do it" thing

[cs_luis]

Thanks! :-) It's always nice to be encouraged in my geekiness. I will consider posting to hp_essays; it's just that it's so damn long.

Interesting point about Neville - I am interested to see how he does now that he needs to get a new wand. Remember how Mr. Ollivander said that another person's wand will never work as well? And poor Ron was hopeless during his second year with his busted wand (that was actually Charlie's). I wonder how much of Neville's blundering is because of a lack of effort. We're not told how hard he works. Maybe he's one of those kids who doesn't try, and then bemoans the fact that he gets poor grades.

And as for the DE thing - I read in Harry Potter for Grown-Ups that JKR confirmed in some Q&A session that Snape is, indeed, the one who left forever. She said that we don't need to worry about him, though, because he's tough. (Squeeeeeeeeeee) - Though that does make the spying a tad more difficult, if spying is what he is doing now.

Again, thanks for the accolades. :-) Makes me feel good.

[hybridutensil]

JKR confirmed in some Q&A session that Snape is, indeed, the one who left forever

Really?! (a small voice pops up -- "No, reilly! I'm Irish! ;)) I'd not heard that! Do you have a link to that, by any chance? That makes me *very* curious!!

[cs_luis]

Try here. I think you need to join the group first, but once you're there they send you the FAQ, and from there you can go to what seems to be an immense resource library of their backlogs, entitled Fantastic Posts and Where to Find Them. They have volumes of theories on everything, including what seem to be hundreds on Snape. A lot of it is somewhat far-out, and some of it is outdated, but somewhere on the Snape page is the link to that information. I don't know if it's true, but goodness, I do hope it is.

Be forewarned, though - HP4GU is really hard to navigate. I hate yahoo groups.

[wwcutie]

Oh darling, you win the Geek Award for the month of September. No doubt.

Sadly, I was only able to scan it tonight, seeing as how I'm insanely busy until around 8 pm tomorrow, at which time I will come home and eat bon bons and read your thesis on love and all things Snape. *Eager anticipation.*

[cs_luis]

You're so brave. ;-)

[tata_the_troll]

Brilliant

[cs_luis]

Well, his logic puzzle has to be easy enough for an 11-year-old girl to figure out, you know. I should draw out the bottles myself and see if I can do it, too. I scored really high on that section of my GRE.

You know, as strange as it is, I haven't given too much thought as to what it might have been like for Snape when James was killed and Sirius went to prison. It must have been really strange, because while he intellectually must have known what a terrible thing this was, a mean little part of him must have been giddy to know that while he started out Bad Guy and defected to Good Guy, Sirius Black (the Sirius Black) started out Good Guy and defected to Bad Guy. Finally! he thinks. I have the upper hand! I win! I win! I win! I am, objectively, a better person! For the next twelve years, this is the truth: The Marauders are destroyed. He was right. Sirius Black was a terrible person. We knew it all along. He's a Black, after all

[tata_the_troll]

Oh! You thought you were right? You're not right. You're never right. They are.

*squee!* Your description of Snape's mental state in PoA is just bloody perfect!
Yet... trying to get a Dementor's Kiss on a person who just maybe - might be innocent... Be it your mortal enemy... Blood-chilling.
It wouldn't have done you any good if you succeded, dear Severus. Just more bitter brooding, dissatisfaction, and emptiness inside.

More than anyone else [besides Harry] I do hope he has a happy ending
Oh, impossible I am afraid. He is marked for death, I bet. Maybe some peace at the end, at best, and one can only hope.

[cs_luis]

Poor Snape is just beyond reason at the end of Book 3. To him, there is no possibility of Sirius being innocent. It JUST CAN'T BE TRUE. I feel so bad for him. The one way in which he had one up on the Marauders is taken away. And Sirius comes back, and (to Dumbledore, and Harry) is a hero. Snape is trying, again, to save the kids' lives at the end of Book 3 - they are alone in a room with a crazy murderer and his werewolf accomplice - and his thanks is to be yelled at, insulted, and knocked out by said kids, and then get his head bumped on the ceiling of the tunnel. By Sirius Black. (And then that summer? The Dark Mark.)

I don't think he's going to die. I think he is going to live on, and on, and on, unhappily ever after with his misery. (Go ahead. Try and imagine a world without Snape. Isn't it... empty?) I do hope, for his sake, that he is allowed to live out the rest of his life with a tiny bit more peace about the world he lives in. (It's as though God has placed him on the Earth, told him, "No, you're actually going to have a

I read It.

[wwcutie]

Sixteen printed pages, Lu? I never thought I'd get to the end of it, but I did. I've heard most of those arguments from you before, but the new ones have forced me to have some form of respect for Severus. Will you be pleased with respect?

Re: I read It.

[cs_luis]

Yes. Sixteen pages. I JUST COULDN'T STOP.

Respect will do. ;-) I love how you humor me.

Re: I read It.

[wwcutie]

Sadly, after that post, I went up and read the other comments, and have spent the last half hour or so reading about Snape. I really like the theory that he's still playing Death Eater and totally tricking Voldemort...or Dumbledore. If that were true, my respect for him would skyrocket. I mean, woah, playing both sides is tough, and if he can do it, he might be the most important character in the book. And also, I like the idea that Fudge was a DE -- it sits well with my conscience.

Oh drat. I'm going to have to read book 5 again. That means I'll stop eating a sleeping for a few days, and will only get incredibly emotional about fictional life events. I hate being so obsessed with these stories!

Re: I read It.

[cs_luis]

I've never thought about Fudge being a Death Eater! That would rock my world.

We don't know if Snape is playing both sides now, but we definitely know he did it the first time around. When, I might add, he was like 20 and the rest of us 20-year-olds were waxing melodramatic about our love lives and worrying about midterms.

See? I knew he would grow on you. *beams with pride*