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. I myself was only about 11 or 12-years-old when I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and I recall being suspicious of Snape myself.
I was roughly the same age and I thought like you that Snape was worthy of suspicion. And I don’t fault Harry, Hermione and Ron for their suspicions; goodness knows Snape has been pretty conspicuous all along. My question, though, rests on this–in an AU version in which Snape is less disdainful, more neutral, toward Harry et all, would Harry and his friends still list Snape as their number one suspect in terms of Black Hat? You talked about authorial misdirection and I absolutely agree, but it also comes back to the internal confirmation bias we keep discussing. Once Harry and the gang have it in their heads that Snape is a bad guy, every piece of evidence–no matter how opaque, like not blinking or muttering or a half heard, disjointed conversation in the woods–is seen as confirmation of their theory. But had Snape presented himself differently would be so suspicious of him? In other words, is Snape really acting suspicious or do read his actions as suspicious because of his personality?
3. If you could drink the Elixir of Life and gain immortality, would you?
I’ll answer my own question, but like Slurpeez, the answer is a resounding no. I think staying alive while your friends and family pass on without you would be a miserable existence. I’m also not keen on seeing how much more humanity can screw up and having to witness the general madness of life on earth forever and ever.
[adrotate group="5"]"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"Once Harry and the gang have it in their heads that Snape is a bad guy, every piece of evidence–no matter how opaque, like not blinking or muttering or a half heard, disjointed conversation in the woods–is seen as confirmation of their theory. But had Snape presented himself differently would be so suspicious of him? In other words, is Snape really acting suspicious or do read his actions as suspicious because of his personality?
Probably not. There is such a thing called the Halo Effect. Had Snape been a charming, good-looking celebrity type like Professor Gilderoy Lockhart (the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts) then Hermione, and maybe even Harry and Ron, wouldn’t have suspected Snape right off the bat. As I recall, it takes sometime before Little-Miss-Know-It-All Hermione Granger even is willing to indict Professor Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Yet, Hermione was more than willing to jump to the conclusion that Snape was jinxing Harry’s broom when Snape was actually trying to save Harry’s life.
"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy
I agree. Everything about Snape just screams “I AM EVIL! I AM EVIL!!!” His personality and the way he treats Harry and the fact that he is/was a Slytherin just makes it more acceptable to believe he is one of the bad guys. Had Snape been dressed in all white, bubbly and giggly, sweet and kind, I don’t think we’d suspect him anymore than we’d suspect Dumbledore or Hagrid.
3. If you could drink the Elixir of Life and gain immortality, would you?
To prolong my life? Sure. To continuously make myself immortal? Nah. I can barely stand the world now, heaven forbid I’d have to stand it for eternity. And then that brings in the question does eternal life mean eternal youth? I’d rather not be 400 years old looking like a pile of bone dust and yet still alive, still sentient, trying to scream……but being unable to, trapped in perpetual pain and darkness….forever…. T_T
"I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGICProbably not. There is such a thing called the Halo Effect. Had Snape been a charming, good-looking celebrity type like Professor Gilderoy Lockhart (the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts) then Hermione, and maybe even Harry and Ron, wouldn’t have suspected Snape right off the bat.
Yes, this is essentially my point. So much of the conversation for book one thus far has been about prejudices not only from the Dursley and Malfoy type of characters but also from our Gryffindor cast and whether or not the latter has such prejudices. There is this idea that is pretty old (the Greeks had it) that outer beauty (or lack their of) is representative of inner beauty and goodness. It carries over in our society *a lot.* There have been social experiments (I’m sure you’ve seen them on social media or Buzzfeed or something) in which a girl is first dressed down in sweats, no makeup, hair mess, and asking for directions or something. She is never given any help and is basically shunned. But then they take the same woman and dress her up, doll up her face and hair, and suddenly everyone is willing to help her. It’s…alarming. Now Snape’s less than happy feelings toward Harry, which he never has trouble hiding, DO go a long way in making him look like a typical Black Hat but his outward appearance adds to everyone suspicions even if he’s not acting particularly suspicious.
We have these cliches so deeply ingrained in us that sometimes our characters can’t see that they are playing to these over wrought cliches. I’m going to quote Giles from Buffy the Vampire slayer when Buffy asks Giles to lie to her about the nature of the world:
Yes. It’s terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true. The bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies and… everybody lives happily ever after.
Giles’s answer is basically a neat and tidy run down of the cliche mentality.
Now the dismantling of those cliches is what makes literature and textual analysis so much fun, from Harry Potter to ASOIAF to, yes, even OUAT. But right now, at the age of 11, Harry Hermione and Ron and sort of living inside that cliche mentality in which Snape = mean, dressed in black, Slytherin = evil/after the Stone.
Harry, Ron and Hermione get a bit of a pass not only because they don’t know the whole history (and neither did readers until the very last book but the continual “Snape is evil” line of thought from a lot of the fandom existed) but also because they are 11 and understanding the complexities of human nature is something that we don’t understand fully, perhaps ever.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"1. Do you think Harry, Ron and Hermione are right to be so suspicious of Snape?
Out of all the professors, you would think Snape would be the most suspicious. He just has a bad reputation among the students, so I think just about any other student would quickly point their finger at Snape if they heard a teacher was up to something.
2. What actions could Harry, Ron and Hermione take to prove that Snape is really the bad guy?
This is hard. The only real idea I have is if they could somehow catch Snape in the act.
3. If you could drink the Elixir of Life and gain immortality, would you?
I would be tempted to drink it to extend my life, but I think I would eventually stop drinking it and allow myself to pass away.
so I think just about any other student would quickly point their finger at Snape if they heard a teacher was up to something.
Yes, I’m sure even the Slytherins would say Snape was up to something if they knew what was going on–they’d just encourage it, instead of try to stop him.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"1. Do you think Harry, Ron and Hermione are right to be so suspicious of Snape?
Harry, Ron and Hermione are 11-12 year olds. So in their mind they can’t see anything else but that Snape is someone of which to be suspicious. Heck, any adult would probably be the same. Children come home from Hogwarts and tell their family about Professor Snape, or some of the adults had him for a professor, too, so they would probably be suspicious, also. Snape is an unfair teacher and dislikes most of the students. His past actions color his reputation. So if it acts like a duck and sounds like a duck…
2. What actions could Harry, Ron and Hermione take to prove that Snape is really the bad guy?
I really have no idea. It’s not like those three in Year One can set up a sting operation to catch Snape in the act. By Year Five or Six, definitely, they could‘ve pulled something off 😛 And they truly believe, however unfounded, his guilt so they wouldn’t feel like they had to test his loyalty. They think he’s the bad guy so he’s the bad guy.
3. If you could drink the Elixir of Life and gain immortality, would you?
No. I don’t know anyone who actually would. I think it would be sad to outlive everyone in your immortality. My grandmother lived until she was 95 and worked into her 90s, too. She was a remarkable woman who outlived a lot of her friends. We joke about the story she told of going to her college reunion when she was around age 90. She complained there were only a few there. She didn’t want to admit that everyone else had passed on. And while it’s commendable to live a long productive live, if you were immortal and outlive everyone it would be a curse instead of a blessing. Now if there was a potion that would make me live long and be healthy, yes, I would take that in an instant.
As I post this, I can hear a few Great Horned Owls calling in the background. They’ve been really vocal lately in the evenings. Not really on topic but makes me feel Harry Potterish. 😉
Keeper of Rumplestiltskin's and Neal's spears and war paint and crystal ball.
Snape is an unfair teacher and dislikes most of the students.
Does he though? We know Snape dislikes Harry because Harry looks so much like his father and is a constant reminder for Snape that Lily chose James over him and he told Hermione to put her hand down. We also know he tends to be more favourable towards the Slytherin students since he is head of their house.
However, we are seeing the story told from Harry’s point of view so there is an unfavourable bias towards Snape. We don’t see how Snape acts towards Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff students. Also there seems to be a rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor.
The thing is, if Snape was really as bad as Harry, Ron and Hermione made him out to be, why would Dumbledore have let him stay at the school so long? It could just be that whilst the other teachers praise students for trying and our friendly, Snape praises results.
I had a chemistry teacher 10 years ago who seemed a bit similar to Snape. He was very strict and no one dared to mess around in his class and you were always worried about getting something wrong but he was actually a damn good teacher that had control over the whole class even the annoying people that you wanted to punch in the face.
Just because Snape isn’t as friendly as Flitwick for example, doesn’t mean he isn’t a good teacher.
All magic comes with a price!
Keeper of FelixJust because Snape isn’t as friendly as Flitwick for example, doesn’t mean he isn’t a good teacher.
That’s true. However, look at the manner of his teaching. He doesn’t really instruct. He tells the kids to open their books and simply follow the recipe. Neville does so poorly that he actually get injured and Snape acts as though it’s Neville’s fault. He takes a sort of perverse joy in Gryyfindor messing up. He makes up rules to deduct points. Now while he may take special enjoyment in targeting Harry and his friends, his methods aren’t just “hard,” they are actually lazy and unsupportive.
"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"I never saw Snaps as a bad teacher, just that the subject itself was difficult. it’s not just science. Its MAGIC science. Potion, like chemistry, sounds fun on paper but is probably really difficult. Does anyone else recall that high school disappointment in getting chemistry and being excited….. only to find out its mostly math and not mixing chemicals like you thought it would be xD
I also wonder if Snape’s treatment of the Gryffindors is really that different from the other teachers treatment of other houses. He is a slytherin himself, I can imagine he hops at the chance to award his house points and to deduct it from the others, especially the Gryffindor.
Sure, Snape is an old mean pudding pop, but I think the other teachers are doing that too, just not being as mean and overt about it."I could have the giant duck as my steed!" --Daniel Radcliffe
Keeper Of Tamara's Taser , Jafar's Staff, Kitsis’s Glasses , Ariel’s Tail, Dopey's Hat , Peter Pan’s Shadow, Outfit, & Pied Cloak,Red Queen's Castle, White Rabbit's Power To World Hop, Zelena's BroomStick, & ALL MAGIC
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