More Emotional Teaspoonry
“So… erm… Snape fancied your mum, did he?” Ron mumbled, avoiding Harry’s eyes and gazing intently at the carpet instead.
Hermione, eyes gleaming, almost bouncing in her seat, looked as though she had succeeded in doing a particularly complicated Transfiguration assignment.
“Oh, don’t you see, Ron, this explains everything!” She turned to Harry. “Doesn’t it, Harry? Now we know why Snape acted the way he did around you!”
Harry, deep in his own thoughts, nodded absentmindedly but didn’t say anything.
“Hang on a minute, no it doesn’t!” Ron blurted out. “If Snape fancied Harry’s mum, and swore to protect him for her, why was he always so nasty to Harry?”
“Oh, Ron, that’s just it! Don’t you see what he must have been feeling?” Hermione assumed her slightly condescending, teacherly air and launched into an explanation.
“Professor Snape fancied Harry’s mum, so obviously every time he looked into Harry’s eyes - you do have your mum’s eyes Harry, everyone says so - he felt sort of happy thinking about their friendship. But he also felt sad and angry about losing their friendship. Then he felt guilty because he gave information to Voldemort - Ron, don’t flinch like that, he’s dead - anyway, the information he passed on led to Harry’s mum being killed, and that tore him up, of course. So he wanted to protect Harry for Lily’s sake, to sort of make up for the betrayal. But he also saw James every time he looked at Harry - you do look quite like your father Harry, especially your hair - and that reminded him of everything bad Harry’s dad ever did to him. So he hated Harry for all the things James did, not to mention that Harry was a constant reminder of everything he lost. I mean, Harry could have been Professor Snape’s son, if things had gone differently…” Hermione trailed off. Ron gaped at her. Harry didn’t even seem to have noticed what she had said; he continued to stare absently into the distance. Hermione started talking again, just to fill the silence.
“Then, of course, he knew Harry - well, lots of us, really - suspected him of being a Death Eater when actually he was risking everything - think what Voldemort would have done if he’d found out! He knew Harry hated him - really, Harry, that was only natural, you couldn’t have known - and so he hated Harry for being ungrateful, but he had promised Dumbledore to protect him. Of course hating Harry was also a useful cover for him when he had to fool Voldemort…” Hermione trailed off again.
“Hermione, one person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode!” Ron finally spit out.
“Ronald, just because you’ve got…” Hermione started testily, but Ron cut her off.
“…the emotional range of a teaspoon, yeah, I remember. But really!”
“Well, he did sort of explode sometimes, didn’t he?” Harry interjected quietly.
Ron and Hermione were startled by Harry’s sudden entry into the conversation.
“Well, yes,” Hermione admitted reluctantly.
“Told you so!” Ron cried, triumphant.
So... there you have it.
Hermione, eyes gleaming, almost bouncing in her seat, looked as though she had succeeded in doing a particularly complicated Transfiguration assignment.
“Oh, don’t you see, Ron, this explains everything!” She turned to Harry. “Doesn’t it, Harry? Now we know why Snape acted the way he did around you!”
Harry, deep in his own thoughts, nodded absentmindedly but didn’t say anything.
“Hang on a minute, no it doesn’t!” Ron blurted out. “If Snape fancied Harry’s mum, and swore to protect him for her, why was he always so nasty to Harry?”
“Oh, Ron, that’s just it! Don’t you see what he must have been feeling?” Hermione assumed her slightly condescending, teacherly air and launched into an explanation.
“Professor Snape fancied Harry’s mum, so obviously every time he looked into Harry’s eyes - you do have your mum’s eyes Harry, everyone says so - he felt sort of happy thinking about their friendship. But he also felt sad and angry about losing their friendship. Then he felt guilty because he gave information to Voldemort - Ron, don’t flinch like that, he’s dead - anyway, the information he passed on led to Harry’s mum being killed, and that tore him up, of course. So he wanted to protect Harry for Lily’s sake, to sort of make up for the betrayal. But he also saw James every time he looked at Harry - you do look quite like your father Harry, especially your hair - and that reminded him of everything bad Harry’s dad ever did to him. So he hated Harry for all the things James did, not to mention that Harry was a constant reminder of everything he lost. I mean, Harry could have been Professor Snape’s son, if things had gone differently…” Hermione trailed off. Ron gaped at her. Harry didn’t even seem to have noticed what she had said; he continued to stare absently into the distance. Hermione started talking again, just to fill the silence.
“Then, of course, he knew Harry - well, lots of us, really - suspected him of being a Death Eater when actually he was risking everything - think what Voldemort would have done if he’d found out! He knew Harry hated him - really, Harry, that was only natural, you couldn’t have known - and so he hated Harry for being ungrateful, but he had promised Dumbledore to protect him. Of course hating Harry was also a useful cover for him when he had to fool Voldemort…” Hermione trailed off again.
“Hermione, one person can't feel all that at once, they'd explode!” Ron finally spit out.
“Ronald, just because you’ve got…” Hermione started testily, but Ron cut her off.
“…the emotional range of a teaspoon, yeah, I remember. But really!”
“Well, he did sort of explode sometimes, didn’t he?” Harry interjected quietly.
Ron and Hermione were startled by Harry’s sudden entry into the conversation.
“Well, yes,” Hermione admitted reluctantly.
“Told you so!” Ron cried, triumphant.
So... there you have it.