Snape and Lily, a reassessment

[pharnabazus]

Comments

[greenwoodside]

I'm not sure about this, but...in the OotP pensieve scene, didn't Harry describe the young Snape's writing as being small and cramped? Love the theory though.

[greenwoodside]

I reiterate: in the OotP pensieve sequence, Snape is described as writing on his exam paper in a "small and cramped" script. The writing in the Half-Blood Prince's book is also described as "small and cramped". Therefore, the writing in both belongs to the same person, and that person is Snape.

[quinconcinnity]

I don't think Snape did betray the Potters. I think that he, like the other DEs, thought it would be Neville.

[ex_ajhalluk585]

Actually, that explains a great deal - including the fact that the HBP's notes get nastier towards the end - presumably after the break-up/disappointment/rejection.

Also; "the Half Blood Prince" is a totally preposterous name for anyone with an ego rating at less than at least 9.5 on the Voldemort scale to give themselves, but as a flippant nickname for a quasi-boyfiriend one thinks takes his ancestral defects much too seriously ("Severus? Lighten up. Look what fate gave me for a sister") it's spot on.

[pharnabazus]

Yes - it "does" sound like Lily's half-ironical nickname for him.

You know, that never occurred to me.

[thespice]

Feels a bit like grasping at straws and hoping for a greater friendship than they possibly had, but still...velly, velly interesting. It *does* sound like a nickname. AND, to add, there was the moment in the bathroom where Harry tried to pass off Ron's misspelled name as Harry's nickname. Snape's reaction to that, plus this theory, works out kinda nicely. If not in canon, certainly for a nifty fanfiction story.

Re: You know, that never occurred to me.

[pandarus]

Grasping at straws? Snape told Voldemort about the prophecy, and this led to the murder of Lily and James. Dumbledore says - and I believe him - that this is "the greatest regret of [Snape's] life." This is the thing that makes him turn his back on Voldemort and join the Order. Harry quite rightly points out that Snape loathed James Potter, and sixteen years later Snape *still* loathes the man's memory. On this basis Harry dismisses Dumbledore's assertion, and Dumbledore seems on the brink of explaining his conviction, but then decides the better of it.

But Harry had two parents, not one. Snape hated James, fine. But what about Lily? We have no basis for thinking that Snape hated Lily. If it isn't his culpability for James's death which is the greatest regret of Snape's life - why, then it is Lily's. Clearly

[lizardlaugh]

YES!! YES!! YES

[lizardlaugh]

About Snape's unrequited love for Lily. Fifteen years ago - not a short time ago, fifteen years ago - I was in a professional environment where my future was being decided. I also met the love of my life, and, while she married the other guy, my feelings for her never changed. What happened was that a certain amount of people took to disliking me and did their best to ruin my career. And in the course of this, one particular person also struck at the woman I loved, purely because I loved her.

Fifteen years have passed. I don't much care any more about any of the people involved - I have forgotten their faces and names - except for one. If I ever meet the man who deliberately tried to wreck my love's career, I will kill him. Or at least beat him to a pulp. Do what you want with me, I don't mind, war is war; but touch the woman I love, and I will rip your throat out with my bare hands.

It happens, folks. It happens in real life.

[lizardlaugh]

Psycho

[lizardlaugh]

Funny you should say that given that an existing connection between Lily and Harry's eyes has been a frequently repeated topic throughout the HP series, and that the statement, "the eyes are the window to one's soul" is a well-known phrase that has been reverberated throughout history.

[cordeliadelayne]

Those are all really good points, yet more things to think about!