There was something that has always been bugging me. It’s actually several things I don’t understand.
When Snape says “You almost died today, Potter”, what does he mean? Maybe it’s because I’m not a native speaker, but I can’t understand that part. My best guess is that Snape got so upset with what Harry said that he almost killed him in his rage. But that seems very counterintuitive to me.
Second, Snape had possibly changed after his conversation with Harry? Does this mean that Snape took Harry’s words and thought that Lily is actually not worth his love, after all these years? That’s my best hypothesis, but I find it very weird.
Third, did I actually properly understood that he still loves her, after more than 11 years have passed? This is very unrealistic, people get over things, and I suspect that either EY is being unrealistic here, or Snape is simply lying.
Edit: I retract the last part. Still, this does not mean that now I believe this to be realistic, but rather that it might possibly be realistic. Also that EY could indeed have decided to just go with the canon, and I see good reasons for that.
Yes, but sometimes very slowly. I can tell you from first-hand experience that fixations on people with whom the fixator has zero contact for eight years do exist, and from second-hand knowledge that upwards of 13-year-long ones almost certainly exist as well. It’s quite unhealthy and quite irrational, but it happens.
When Snape says “You almost died today, Potter”, what does he mean? Maybe it’s because I’m not a native speaker, but I can’t understand that part. My best guess is that Snape got so upset with what Harry said that he almost killed him in his rage. But that seems very counterintuitive to me.
That was always my interpretation, unless I’m thinking of some other chapter. What’s counterintuitive about it?
It doesn’t fit my model of human behavior. But that’s possibly just me.
I’d imagine that if Snape got really angry, but it’s only because Harry offended him without knowing, well, he wouldn’t be close to harming him. I guess it would be appropriate to say “you almost died” if it’s not true, but then Harry acted as if Snape might reconsider his decision to not kill him, rather than being just apologetic, or something like that. Or maybe he was indeed, and I am likely to be underestimating the strength of the impact that Harry’s words had on Snape.
But if others interpreted it like me, then I got it right. Hmm.
Cannon!Snape has loved Lily since the two of them were children—considerably longer than 11 years. I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all. While I wouldn’t call such a love typical human behavior, it’s also not particularly rare. There are thousands of people who still profess love for Princess Di for example.
I doubt that it was telling Snape what an idiot he is that angered him, but rather saying Lily was shallow and unworthy.
I agree that it’s weird that someone who could carry a torch for that long would stop just because an 11 year old boy gave them random advice. I think it’s likely that when Snape kills Dumbledore, it’s going to be because of his love for Lily and Dumbledore’s interference in that. His love hasn’t diminished at all.
Cannon!Snape has loved Lily since the two of them were children—considerably longer than 11 years. I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all.
I don’t think it’s particularly unrealistic coming from some unspecified hypothetical character who’s just heard the love they’ve been harboring for more than half their life insulted, but I would find it pretty weird if Snape said that to Harry in that situation, and he wasn’t exaggerating. Anyone who’d commit murder in that situation would either have to be profoundly lacking in restraint, or possessed by a really maniacal level of infatuation.
I suspect Snape was engaging in hyperbole, because if he wasn’t my judgment of his character is completely out of whack.
Third, did I actually properly understood that he still loves her, after more than 11 years have passed? This is very unrealistic, people get over things, and I suspect that either EY is being unrealistic here, or Snape is simply lying.
Second thing is possible, but if it’s not a lie, it’s not Eliezer’s absurdity but J.K. Rowling’s.
Point one: Snape originally stayed in love with Lily because of the lost chance. He actually did think he had a shot with her till he called her a mudblood, but Harry pointed out that in fact he never did. I mean some people fall in love and if their loved one dies, never date again, so I was assuming Snape’s feelings were of that variety. He knew they weren’t actually “dating” but he thought he’d had a chance before That Day. Now, Harry tells him “Sounds like this Guy never had a chance with that Girl ever, because she’s shallow.” So, yeah, hearing that he’s held on to these feelings for no reason instead of “if only I’d not called her a mudblood we’d have married”—I can see how hearing that you’ve really wasted your past 11 years of life can piss you off. His rage was due to changing his mind, but clearly Snape finds it hard to Not Shoot The Messenger.
Point two: It’s more that Dumbles probably had been insisting for years (in a more subtle way than I’m about to do) that Loving Lily made him a better person so he should continue to do so. But the axiom for Loving Lily—that he could possibly have been with her if he’d been a better person in the first place—has indeed shattered. I don’t think he’s mad b/c Lily was shallow specifically, but just that she never, ever, ever, would have been with him. So yeah, he’s trying to update on that new axiom.
Point three: as others have said, Snape Loves Lily is canon, but if you take that axiom above, it’s not quite that unrealistic. I knew a girl in college who didn’t date for 4 years after her boyfriend was killed in a car accident. And remember Snape thinks it’s his fault she died, too.
Yes, but in canon, Snape doesn’t get over Lily. Everything heroic Snape does in canon, up to and including becoming a double agent and dying for the cause, is because of Lily. He dies more than twenty years after he and Lily were friends at Hogwarts.
There was something that has always been bugging me. It’s actually several things I don’t understand.
When Snape says “You almost died today, Potter”, what does he mean? Maybe it’s because I’m not a native speaker, but I can’t understand that part. My best guess is that Snape got so upset with what Harry said that he almost killed him in his rage. But that seems very counterintuitive to me.
Second, Snape had possibly changed after his conversation with Harry? Does this mean that Snape took Harry’s words and thought that Lily is actually not worth his love, after all these years? That’s my best hypothesis, but I find it very weird.
Third, did I actually properly understood that he still loves her, after more than 11 years have passed? This is very unrealistic, people get over things, and I suspect that either EY is being unrealistic here, or Snape is simply lying.
Edit: I retract the last part. Still, this does not mean that now I believe this to be realistic, but rather that it might possibly be realistic. Also that EY could indeed have decided to just go with the canon, and I see good reasons for that.
Yes, but sometimes very slowly. I can tell you from first-hand experience that fixations on people with whom the fixator has zero contact for eight years do exist, and from second-hand knowledge that upwards of 13-year-long ones almost certainly exist as well. It’s quite unhealthy and quite irrational, but it happens.
That was always my interpretation, unless I’m thinking of some other chapter. What’s counterintuitive about it?
It doesn’t fit my model of human behavior. But that’s possibly just me.
I’d imagine that if Snape got really angry, but it’s only because Harry offended him without knowing, well, he wouldn’t be close to harming him. I guess it would be appropriate to say “you almost died” if it’s not true, but then Harry acted as if Snape might reconsider his decision to not kill him, rather than being just apologetic, or something like that. Or maybe he was indeed, and I am likely to be underestimating the strength of the impact that Harry’s words had on Snape.
But if others interpreted it like me, then I got it right. Hmm.
Cannon!Snape has loved Lily since the two of them were children—considerably longer than 11 years. I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all. While I wouldn’t call such a love typical human behavior, it’s also not particularly rare. There are thousands of people who still profess love for Princess Di for example.
I doubt that it was telling Snape what an idiot he is that angered him, but rather saying Lily was shallow and unworthy.
I agree that it’s weird that someone who could carry a torch for that long would stop just because an 11 year old boy gave them random advice. I think it’s likely that when Snape kills Dumbledore, it’s going to be because of his love for Lily and Dumbledore’s interference in that. His love hasn’t diminished at all.
I don’t think it’s particularly unrealistic coming from some unspecified hypothetical character who’s just heard the love they’ve been harboring for more than half their life insulted, but I would find it pretty weird if Snape said that to Harry in that situation, and he wasn’t exaggerating. Anyone who’d commit murder in that situation would either have to be profoundly lacking in restraint, or possessed by a really maniacal level of infatuation.
I suspect Snape was engaging in hyperbole, because if he wasn’t my judgment of his character is completely out of whack.
Second thing is possible, but if it’s not a lie, it’s not Eliezer’s absurdity but J.K. Rowling’s.
Point one: Snape originally stayed in love with Lily because of the lost chance. He actually did think he had a shot with her till he called her a mudblood, but Harry pointed out that in fact he never did. I mean some people fall in love and if their loved one dies, never date again, so I was assuming Snape’s feelings were of that variety. He knew they weren’t actually “dating” but he thought he’d had a chance before That Day. Now, Harry tells him “Sounds like this Guy never had a chance with that Girl ever, because she’s shallow.” So, yeah, hearing that he’s held on to these feelings for no reason instead of “if only I’d not called her a mudblood we’d have married”—I can see how hearing that you’ve really wasted your past 11 years of life can piss you off. His rage was due to changing his mind, but clearly Snape finds it hard to Not Shoot The Messenger.
Point two: It’s more that Dumbles probably had been insisting for years (in a more subtle way than I’m about to do) that Loving Lily made him a better person so he should continue to do so. But the axiom for Loving Lily—that he could possibly have been with her if he’d been a better person in the first place—has indeed shattered. I don’t think he’s mad b/c Lily was shallow specifically, but just that she never, ever, ever, would have been with him. So yeah, he’s trying to update on that new axiom.
Point three: as others have said, Snape Loves Lily is canon, but if you take that axiom above, it’s not quite that unrealistic. I knew a girl in college who didn’t date for 4 years after her boyfriend was killed in a car accident. And remember Snape thinks it’s his fault she died, too.
Yes, but in canon, Snape doesn’t get over Lily. Everything heroic Snape does in canon, up to and including becoming a double agent and dying for the cause, is because of Lily. He dies more than twenty years after he and Lily were friends at Hogwarts.