Snape's Background

Was just thinking that since Harry's potions book in 6th year had belonged previously to Snape and then previously to Snape's mum, Eileen Prince and it was published 50 years before, is there more of a link between her and Voldemort than what meets the eye? I mean, we're told that the events concerning Moaning Myrtle in book 2 happened 50 years before hand, meaning that Eileen may have been at school with Myrtle and Tom. If we remember back to book four Sirius said that Snape knew lots of curses and dark magic stuff before he came to Hogwarts. Yet, his Dad was a muggle and his Mum doesn't really sound like the type - I mean she was in the Hogwarts Gobstone's club wasn't she? That doesn't sound like the sort of person who's going to teach her kid dark spells. So, where did he pick up those dark spells?

I never really thought much about the parallels.

You like what you're good at and you're good at what you like.
Like a self-taught musician or a geek, your passion for your
favorite subject can magically open doors, even for muggles...
I just figured Snape found some intrinsic motivation.

Now you've opened a whole new can of worms.

I wanted to believe that Eileen wasn't the type to mess with people like Riddle's gang.
She married a muggle and she wasn't treated well by him... Not as bad as Merope,
but a similarity. Whimpy, pathetic little creature...

Another assumption exposed -- Was that Snape's father in the little flashback Harry saw?
Or was it someone else? Some outside threat? Now I need to read it again.

Then again, wasn't Eileen in Slytherin? That says ambition. So why marry a muggle?

I was just sitting here, minding my own business, chowing on my cheese puffs,
and everything was fine, and then YOU came along and messed it all up again.
Fifth book? Must be... I'm going.

The little flashback as in when they were doing occlumency adn Harry saw a young boy cowering while a man shouted?

Snape didn't have a very happy childhood, did he. That's why he is what he is. Like Kreacher, he has been made what he is by wizards.

Snape has been loved, unlike Voldemort. I'm guessing that was by his mother.

Eileen Prince and Tobias Snape

HP-5, pg 529, In the first Occlumency lesson, three times, "Snape raised the wand to his temple and deposited the silvery substance into the stone basin..."

In HP-5, pg 592 (Seen and Unforseen), we see Snape's flash back:
"A hook-nosed man shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner... A greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies... A girl was laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick..." Just that stream of quick flashbacks, followed by Harry's thoughts:
"Harry... was sure... that he had just seen scenes from Snape's childhood, and it was unnerving to think that the crying little boy who had watched his parents shouting was actually standing in front of him with such loathing in his eyes..." Harry believed that the hook-nosed man was Snape's father. Is any assumption safe any more?

Then we see, in HP-5, pg 640, "Snape's worst memory," followed by the discussion (pg 670) with Sirius & Lupin. Sirius said that "...Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the dark arts..." And didn't someone say he knew more about the dark arts when he first arrived at Hogwarts than most 7th year students? I forget which book that was.

In the sixth book, Hermione finally found an old newspaper on pg 537 (The Seer Overheard): The picture showed a skinny girl of around fifteen. She was not pretty; she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face. Underneath the photograph was the caption: EILEEN PRINCE, CAPTAIN OF THE HOGWARTS GOBSTONES TEAM." So, that was her greatest achievement? What is Gobstones, anyway? Could a near-squib manage it?
Hermione intended to find out more about Eileen, but apparently found nothing except the one on page 637, about Eileen Prince... married Tobias Snape..., a muggle, and later a birth announcement. What kind of a name is "Severus?"

So, what does it mean? Another Merope-like story, weakened magic related to low self-esteem, refusal or inability to use magic to help herself?
Eileen was at least decent at potions if she was still taking the subject in her 6th year.

Time out for my own memories -- I'll get back to Snape in a minute.

Popular myths and childish games that involve monster killing run all through history. This is a classic, timeless theme, rooted in an unconscious desire to stand up to the biggest, most frightening monster in the child's life -- an abusive parent.

Various forms of child abuse were a lot more common when I was a kid. Sometimes, I wonder if most people of my generation would be considered abused by todays standards. I knew a number of people in real life who were abused as children and eventually stood up for themselves as teenagers. It's not the kind of thing one would discuss with a casual aquaintance. All I know is about very close friends who felt comfortable enough to tell me. I knew girls who threatened to call the cops, and some who actually did call the cops. I knew boys who threatened physical violence... standing in the way, even pushing. I can't think of anyone I personally knew who actually beat up his father to protect his mother, but I've heard of it.

It did work, by the way, probably more often than not. If the kid is not strong enough to make it stick, the failed attempt will make things much worse. If the kid is strong enough and can summon the courage to take over, the tide turns and a new family dynamic emerges.

One theme I've seen in real life -- again, I have no idea how common this is -- Abuse kills self-esteem and clouds the mind, so it is difficult for the victim to be sure whether he deserves the abuse or not. But having a third person -- a mother, a younger sibling, someone who clearly does not deserve it -- can help to clear the mind. The victim can't summon enough anger for his own sake, but can when he sees his mother or a little brother being abused. Watching someone else getting it can help to transform the grief into rage. Does that make any sense?


Back to Snape -- I still want to know what those other two memories were that Snape hid in the pensive.
And what was the deal with the bucking broomstick? Was that an attack, like the one on Harry? Who would have attacked Snape in that way?

Maybe his excessive interest in potions and the dark arts was somehow related to his disfunctional family. Maybe he did stand up to the old man at some point. His own version of Aunt Marge?

The whole point in the flashback is to show that Snape had an abusive father and was harrassed at school. The purpose is to give a little humanity to Snape.
I think you're reading to much into it. Was his broom jinxed? Maybe, but it doesn't relay matter. The point is, he was being laughed at.
Of course it's related. I doubt he ever stood up to his father though.

He was a muggle. It wouldn't take much.

What wouldn't take much?

Of course it's related. I doubt he ever stood up to his father though. [/b][/quote]
What wouldn't take much?[/b][/quote] Who's on first? I don't know! Third Base!
For someone of Snape's talent, standing up to a muggle father wouldn't have taken much.

What wouldn't take much?[/b][/quote] Who's on first? I don't know! Third Base!
For someone of Snape's talent, standing up to a muggle father wouldn't have taken much.
[/b][/quote]
I didn't say it would take much, I just don't see any reason to believe he ever did.

I don't think that Snape ever stood up to his father either. I think that if Snape did he might have had a little closure from his childhood, ya kno. Not much, but a little.