Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33: The Prince's Tale, Part 1
Or, Severus Snape and the Doomed Love
“I am a Serpent, I am Love;
I have been an Adder of the Mountain;
I have been a Serpent in the River.”
Taliesin
“I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, and to eat my own bitterness.”
Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
Author’s note: The sporkings for “The Prince’s Tale” are cross-posted on Snapedom for the benefit of Snape fans who don’t read DTCL.
The sporking of this chapter ran almost 30 pages, so I broke it up into three installments. Each part has its own subtitle and theme song that I think captures the spirit of Snape’s life and feelings for that installment. For this Lily-centric part, I chose “How Can I Be Sure?” by the Young Rascals, written by Eddie Brigati (who also sings) and Felix Cavaliere. The video I linked to is also eminently appropriate since it features beautiful footage of watery scenes.
How can I be sure
In a world that’s constantly changing?
How can I be sure
Where I stand with you?
Whenever I,
Whenever I am away from you,
I wanna die
‘Cause you know I wanna stay with you.
How do I know?
Maybe you’re trying to use me.
Flying too high can confuse me.
Touch me, but don’t take me down.
Whenever I,
Whenever I am away from you,
My alibi
Is telling people I don’t care for you.
Maybe I’m just hanging around
With my head up, upside down.
It’s a pity
I can’t seem to find someone who’s as
Pretty and lovely as you.
How can I be sure?
I really, really, really wanna know.
I really, really, really wanna know.
How’s the weather?
Whether or not we’re together,
Together we’ll see it much better.
I love you, I love you forever.
You know where I can be found.
How can I be sure
In a world that’s constantly changing?
How can I be sure?
I’ll be sure with you.
Because this song is so beautiful, in melody, lyrics, singing, and arrangement, it’s easy to overlook its ambivalence. On the surface, it’s a straightforward love song, but even a slightly closer look reveals the singer’s uncertainty: Does his lady love really love him, or is she just using him? He’s unhealthily dependent on her, and he knows it. That makes him anxious, but he can’t find anyone who measures up to her, so (by implication) he’s stuck. He ultimately decides to stay with her despite his uncertainty, but the perceptive listener knows he’s making a mistake by investing so much in an unstable and unnurturing relationship.
I chose this song as the theme for this chapter because that anxious ambivalence perfectly fits Severus’s feelings about Lily. He loves her, but he knows their relationship is unequal because she has other friends and family, while she is all he has. As she pulls away from him, he feels increasingly afraid and uncertain, which makes him cling to her even tighter. That makes her feel smothered, so she pulls away even more. Eventually their friendship turns into a vicious circle where they do nothing but argue with and criticize each other.
Returning to the story, it’s very weird that Harry feels no satisfaction, happiness, relief, or positive emotions of any kind as he kneels by the body of the person he hates the most. That’s just not normal.
Almost 20 years ago, I worked in a store where one of the customers stalked me. The male managers thought I was an uppity bitch who deserved what I got, so they did nothing to help. The only person who took my fears of this man seriously was another woman who was also stalked by him. He left her alone after her husband threatened to beat the man to a pulp if he didn’t back off. She subsequently got another job nearby.
After several months, the stalker was killed in a car accident. His other victim came into the store where I still worked and jubilantly declared, “HE’S DEAD! Isn’t it great? Did you see the article in the paper?”
I replied, “YEAH! HE’S DEAD! I saw it!” We then yelled, “YAY!” and discussed the article, which had whitewashed what a scumbag he was.
Here is another example that doesn’t involve me: During my second go round of posting this sporking, I read a column in my local newspaper on the importance of standing up to bullies. Part of it reads:
“A bully from my childhood died last month at 53. And the planet is a better place without him.
See, he not only pushed around children at a public playground 40 years ago, he and his brother were bullies as adults...
As adults 20 years later they terrorized a widowed co-worker of mine by siccing their Doberman on her, pulling it back at the last minute...
Now he’s gone. As my mother liked to say, “Good riddance to bad rubbish.” ...
(Tom Ninestine, “It’s best to stand up to bullies”)
The fact is, when somebody who’s treated you horribly kicks the bucket, the normal reaction is unbridled joy that this asshole who’s damaged your life can never hurt you again. Rowling may think she’s making Harry look good by his having no reaction to Snape’s death, that happiness on his part would imply he’s some kind of vindictive prick on, say, Snape’s own level (according to her). Some kind of reaction is called for on Harry’s part, at the very least relief that Snape can no longer torment him. To have no reaction at all in such a highly charged situation, not even horror at the manner of Snape’s death, makes Harry look what Petunia has always said he was: a freak.
While Harry is still kneeling by the body of his enemy, Voldemort again uses his magical PA system to address the combatants. First he tells them they’ve fought valiantly, and that he values bravery. This is no doubt a sop to the Gryffindors, a way of saying, “See? I’m not so bad after all. We really do have something in common.” It’s probably also Rowling obsessing over courage again, as the be-all and end-all of virtues. I can’t help wondering if she’s thinking of Winston Churchill’s quotation when she writes on that subject. Churchill said, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities...because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” While she was at it, she might have read this other quotation of his that perfectly describes Snape: “A man does what he must--in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures--and that is the basis of all human morality.”
Voldy also says if they continue to resist him, he will kill them all. He doesn’t want to do this because “Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.” Really? Even muddy blood? Or does it not count because they “stole” their magic, so their blood is not really magical?
Voldy cleverly baits Harry, telling him everybody is dying for him while he cowers behind the lines. Give the man credit; that’s just the taunt to get a rise out of a Gryffindor. He gives Harry an hour to meet him in the Forbidden Forest, or the battle resumes, and everybody on Harry’s side will be systematically punished.
The Trio heads through the tunnel and back into the castle. In the Great Hall, they see the wounded being tended on the raised platform where the teachers normally eat and the dead bodies laid out on the floor, with Tonks and Lupin next to Fred. This reminded me of the scene in the movie version of Gone with the Wind, when Scarlett is at the train station surrounded by the bodies of the wounded soldiers who are lying in the hot sun, screaming for water and medical attention.
It’s rather simplistic of both Harry and Voldy to act as if everyone who’s died did so because they were fighting for Harry. I thought they were fighting Voldy because he is an evil, dangerous tyrant who needs to be defeated. As I said before, that would be the case whether Harry had ever lived or not. Voldy’s modesty in downplaying his own importance is very becoming. He clearly never would have made a Gryffindor. (That’s sarcasm, I specify for the benefit of the JKR sycophants who like to spy on this forum so they can complain about it, and who, based on their history of asinine ravings, would not be able to figure that out for themselves.)
Harry charges up to the Headmaster’s office to use the Pensieve. The password is “Dumbledore.” I thought that was odd, figuring Snape would be more likely to use a potion ingredient, but another Snape fan (sorry, I don’t remember who) pointed out he probably made it simple because he knew Harry would have to figure it out. If true, that supports my contention Snape arranged his fake death in advance, since his words to Voldy indicate he was expecting to speak to Harry rather than give him memories to look at.
Harry dumps the memories in the Pensieve and dives right in. Typical Gryffindor. He finds himself on a playground, with a young Lily, Petunia, and Severus.
We were both young when I first saw you.
I close my eyes, and the flashback starts.
I’m standing there, on [the playground] in summer air.
Taylor Swift, “Love Story”
The SS/LE relationship has been written about a lot and deserves a whole separate essay for me to do it justice. In this sporking, I want to concentrate on the SS/AD relationship, so I won’t have as much to say about Lily as I otherwise would. However, I’ve thought about writing an SS/LE songfic cycle about their friendship using only Beatles songs, starting with “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” and ending with “For No One” or “Ticket to Ride.”
What struck me on rereading this first scene is how pathetic Severus is. He’s badly dressed and dirty, a victim of malignant neglect. He’s also clearly desperately lonely and socially awkward. Rowling wrote him that way, but it’s not degradation enough for her. She has to debase him even further, describing his “undisguised greed” as he looks at Lily. The dictionary defines greed as meaning, “intense and selfish desire for something, esp. wealth, power, or food.” What exactly is this poor, neglected, lonely child “greedy” for? A friend? Some positive attention? A kind word? If he is “greedy,” that’s the fault of his parents, who have clearly failed their son in every way except for ensuring his mere survival. Only a complete asshole could hate a child in such need.
Rowling also undermines her readers’ feelings of sympathy by never referring to this little boy as anything but “Snape.” This forcibly reminds us that, however pathetic this child seems to us, it doesn’t matter because he’s going to grow up to be the mean ol’ Greasy Bat of the Dungeons, so we shouldn’t waste our sympathy on him.
Severus reveals to Lily that she’s a witch, but things don’t go well. Lily is insulted, and Petunia ridicules him as white trash. She doesn’t use that phrase, but it’s clearly what she means. The two sisters stomp off, and Severus is left alone, feeling like a failure.
I have never known the like of this.
I’ve been alone,
And I have missed things and kept out of sight.
But other girls were never quite like this.
Falling,
Yes, I am falling,
And she keeps calling
Me back again.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon,
“I’ve Just Seen a Face”
Harry is the one who interprets Snape’s feelings for us. Interestingly enough, Harry exhibits more empathy in looking at his enemy’s memories than he does at any other time in the entire book. Is this because they have a special bond, whether either one wants to admit it or not, or is it just JKR again rewriting one of her characters to fit the current narrative’s demands?
In the next scene, Severus and Lily are on a riverbank discussing Hogwarts and the magical world. For once, Severus is described in positive terms: “...even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.” Reading that, I imagined what Severus could have been like if anyone had ever given a damn about him. He clearly still had some self-confidence and hope for his future at this time. If someone had paid attention to him, encouraging his inquisitive nature, they could have helped him to channel his interests in Potions and Dark Magic into a successful career, such as a Healer or researcher. How long was it before the incessant bullying and criminal neglect of Hogwarts burned away his confidence and hope like acid? How long was it before he realized he might as well become a DE because no other path to “success” lay open to him?
There is no other pill to take
So swallow the one that made you ill.
Rage Against the Machine,
“Sleep Now in the Fire”
This interpretation is confirmed by Severus’s telling Lily later in the same conversation that being “muggle-born” doesn’t make a difference. It obviously didn’t make a difference, at least to him at that time. It was only after he’d been at Hogwarts for several years, with Lily pulling away and nobody but the Future Death Eaters of Britain showing him any friendship, that he started to care about blood purity, or at least to pretend he did to fit in with his peers.
Lily asks how things are going in the Snape household. Severus reluctantly reveals his parents fight all the time, and his father is just as unhappy as Severus is himself. But none of that matters because he’ll be going to Hogwarts soon, and then everything will be different!
Yeah, “different” as in “much worse.”
In the next scene, Petunia returns the favor of Severus’s spying by sneaking around behind him and Lily. He accidentally breaks off a tree branch and hits Petunia with it. Lily is horrified and runs away after her sister.
[Lily], take me somewhere we can be alone.
I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.
[I'll] be the prince, and [you'll] be the princess.
It's a love story, baby, just say, “Yes.”
Taylor Swift, “Love Story”
The next scene is of Severus and Lily at the train station leaving for Hogwarts. Petunia insists she’s not jealous of Lily and starts calling her sister a freak. She says it several times, fairly loudly, which is a really dumb thing to do when in a public place surrounded by other “freaks.” Lily retorts Petunia didn’t think Hogwarts was so “freaky” when she wrote to Dumbledore begging to be admitted. Lily accidentally reveals it was Severus who saw the letter, although there’s no indication he was the one who read it. On the contrary, it’s clear Lily read it, even if Severus didn’t, since she refers to its contents.
On the train, Lily cries because Petunia “hates her,” and she blames Severus. He dismisses her concerns because Sis is “just a muggle.” I know many Snape fans have castigated Lily for her behavior here, but I don’t blame her. She’s a child whose big sister is angry at her, so of course she wants to blame somebody else for that anger. Naturally she chooses her sibling over her friend when the two are in conflict. Severus is also being a clueless, insensitive jerk here by blowing off Lily’s hurt. As an only child, he doesn’t “get” the sibling bond; he doesn’t realize that, even if the Evans sisters fight, they still love each other and want a close relationship.
It’s also highly probable that Severus is jealous of that relationship and possessive of Lily. He wants her all to himself. That doesn’t make him evil, or even warped. He’s just a boy who is so desperately lonely and insecure that he clings like one of Harry Harlow’s monkeys to the one relationship in his life that he sees as unambiguously positive and nurturing. His excessive attachment to his friend is a confirmation of his parents’ inadequacies, not his own. Decent parents don’t raise kids that needy.
I’m now wondering what kind of person Lily would have become if she had never gone to Hogwarts. She seems to be a pretty normal, decent kid in these scenes. She’s a little vain, a little bit of a showoff, but those aren’t major failings. She loves Petunia and wants to be close to her, and she cares about Severus’s unhappy home life. It wasn’t until Hogwarts poisoned her mind that she thought it was funny to torment the sister who couldn’t fight back, or started judging and rejecting her bullied, impoverished friend.
Oh, that magic feeling
Nowhere to go
One sweet dream
Pick up the bags,
Get in the limousine.
Soon we’ll be away from here.
Step on the gas and wipe that tear away.
One sweet dream came true today.
Came true today
Came true today
I said it, didn’t I?
Paul McCartney and John Lennon,
“You Never Give Me Your Money”
Severus is exultant about going to Hogwarts at last! and soon chivvies Lily out of her sadness. He’s talking to her about Slytherin when James rudely interrupts and sneers at that house, showing he was a jerk even at the age of 11. He had “...that indefinable air of having been well-cared for, even adored, that Snape so conspicuously lacked.” This is Rowling being honest enough to admit that Severus was severely neglected, and James was a spoiled brat. Good for her.
Sirius starts kissing James’s ass even at this early date, deciding to ditch his family’s traditional Slytherin affiliation to follow this boy he’s just met into Gryffindor, and laughing at James’s dumb jokes. Why am I supposed to find Sirius the Suck Up admirable again?
For that matter, why does everybody suck up to James at all? Yeah, he’s a rich pureblood, but there are plenty of those; Sirius is one himself. James doesn’t come across as particularly charismatic, so I’m not buying that as the explanation. He’s too self-centered to be charming. Unless we want to put it down to authorial fiat again, the only explanation can be that he possesses the malignant fascination of the psychopath.
When they get to the Sorting, Lily is immediately put into Gryffindor, which seals the fate of her and Severus’s relationship. Many people have criticized Severus for not following her into that house, but given the predatory behavior MWPP exhibited towards him, that’s a criticism at least as idiotic as saying Lily should have been in Slytherin. She could have chosen Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff; either of those houses would have allowed her to continue her friendship with Severus unmolested. Severus was determined to be in Slytherin, presumably for the potions training, and possibly the networking, but Lily clearly didn’t care which house she was in. It was therefore up to her to change houses if she wanted to preserve their friendship.
The best thing about this scene is Lucius patting Severus on the back as he sits down at the Slytherin table. I’m glad somebody, at some time, showed Severus some kindness and welcoming.
[Lily] save me.
They’re trying to tell me how to feel.
This love is difficult, but it’s real.
Don’t be afraid.
We’ll make it out of this mess.
It’s a love story.
Baby, just say, “Yes.”
Taylor Swift, “Love Story”
The next time we see Severus and Lily together, it’s a few years later, and their friendship is already deteriorating. He tries to cover his mounting anxiety about losing her to James by being hostile and defensive and trying to force her to listen to his attacks on the James gang. Lily has become cold, critical, and dismissive of her “friend’s” point of view. She is now treating Severus very much as Petunia did in the scene at the playground. It’s clear the Gryffindor brainwashing has taken hold, and she is now assuming anything a Slytherin says is a lie.
SWM is rerun, but Harry stays far away this time. Obviously, he’s still uncomfortable about his father’s behavior, which speaks well of him.
You were everything to me.
I was begging you, “Please don’t go.”
Taylor Swift, “Love Story”
In the next scene, Severus is acting out the Temptations song, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” by debasing himself to Lily, groveling outside Gryffindor Tower, and begging her forgiveness. She is as cold and hateful as Petunia or James could have wished. Rereading this scene, I felt sorry for both of them: Severus because he is so desperately needy he’s willing to do literally anything to get Lily back, and Lily because the decent, somewhat brash girl who cared about her friend’s miserable home life has now become so heartless and judgmental she won’t even allow that friend to speak, let alone cut him any slack. The last line is worth quoting because it is paralleled in the next scene with Dumbledore. “He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed back through the portrait hole....”
You want her, you need her
And yet you don't believe her when she says
Her love is dead
You think she needs you...
You stay home, she goes out
She says that long ago she knew someone,
But now he's gone
She doesn't need him.
Your day breaks, your mind aches
There will be times when all the things she said
Will fill your head
You won't forget her
And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind her tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years
Paul McCartney and John Lennon
“For No One,”
In Arthur Machen’s story, “The Novel of the White Powder,” a man takes something he thinks is quinine, but it turns out to be a substance that turns him into “a dark and putrid mass, seething with corruption and hideous rottenness, neither liquid nor solid, but melting and changing before our eyes, and bubbling with unctuous oily bubbles like boiling pitch.” This vile corruption is what the friendship of Severus Snape and Lily Evans was turned into, thanks to the poison of Albus (whose name means “white”) Dumbledore’s influence.
Albus Dumbledore is a human toxic waste dump whose evil pollutes everything it touches, seeping into the air, water, and earth of the school he runs for his own selfish benefit. Severus and Lily would probably never have been successful as a married couple, but in a normal school situation, they could have remained friends. Dumbledore destroyed the possibility even of that. I wonder how many other relationships were casualties of his evil through the years?