Friday, April 27, 2007

Does Snape Suspect That Harry Is a Parselmouth?

Reading The Great Snape Debate, the mention of Harry's fateful duel with Malfoy in CoS (193-195) got me wondering... Did Snape have suspicions about Harry's abilities? Of all the spells he could have whispered into Malfoy's ear, it's just interesting that he chose the one that led to Harry being ostracized by most of the student body for a good portion of the year, getting a taste of how Snape felt throughout his whole time at Hogwarts. It's not as though Harry has an especially strong revulsion to snakes, a la Ron's fear of spiders; I don't think Snape was really expecting Harry to jump out of his skin in fright at the sight of the creature. And once it shows up, he "lazily" offers to take care of it, acting slowly enough that Gilderoy has ample opportunity to blunder his way in and attempt some flashy, inevitably inept heroics, leading Harry to take matters into his own hands, or rather, tongue, after which Snape graces him with a "shrewd and calculating look".

Dumbledore tells Harry that he suspects some of Voldemort's powers rubbed off on him when he gave him his lightning-bolt scar (333); mightn't someone of Snape's intimate familiarity with the Dark Arts suspect such a thing could happen? Interestingly, if he did have an inkling beforehand, then exposing Harry could be both be evidence of "bad Snape" and "good Snape"; for the former, he's being vindictive, turning students against Harry and making him miserable, but for the latter, he's arming him with knowledge of which he was previously unaware, and which turns out to be a very important tool as the book progresses.

5 comments:

Beth said...

Hmm. It's an interesting question, and I don't know if we have enough evidence to support a yes or no completely, though Snape's choice of spells is certainly an interesting one! Remember in HBP, when he's "spinning" information for Narcissa and Bellatrix, and he says something along the lines of wanting to wait and see if Harry really might have dark powers (it's one of the reasons that he gives for not harming or killing Harry when he first comes to Hogwarts). Of course, he sneeringly dismisses the idea in front of the two women, saying something along the lines of "I soon realized he was just a stupid, skinny kid who had a bit of luck and was well-protected" but I'm not sure I buy that. I think it's likely that at the beginning of Harry's second year, Snape was STILL on the lookout for evidence of what made Harry tick and how we was able to best Voldemort (even if I don't totally buy his interest in Harry's dark powers as the only reason he protected Harry...after all, I believe Snape's been on the right side all along!)

Well...I've got lots of other thoughts on this, but in a tearing hurry right now and need to go, so I'll have to try to pop back in later today!

Beth said...

OK, I'm back. :-)

Just to finish up my earlier thoughts: I think Snape has always been more intrigued by Harry than he would ever, ever admit.

Why?

Let's see. Harry is the son of two former Hogwarts students that Snape knew well. James he couldn't stand; the jury is still out on his feelings for Lily, but one would have to think that at the very *least* he might have had a grudging admiration for this Muggle-raised girl who might have been one of the few people in their year who could keep up with him in Potions. (One wonders if Hermione might remind him of Lily...)

Then there's the fact that Snape feels some responsibility for Harry's parent's deaths.

And then there's the realization that something about infant Harry "finished off" Voldemort. If anyone had been in a position to understand Voldemort's powers at the height of those powers, it would be Snape. He knew how strong V. was -- and he also was in possession of half the prophecy about someone perhaps being able to destroy Voldemort. Wouldn't you be just a might bit curious about the boy with the potential to do that?

And then, to cap it all off, Harry bested Voldemort again at the end of the first year. Bizarre. Impossible! Whether you think Snape at that point is "all-good," "all-bad" or somewhere in between, I still think he must've been flabbergasted at Harry's ability to escape Voldemort's clutches again. He might sneer that the boy was just lucky, but Snape's no dummy. He knows something deep is at work here.

So...I think I've talked myself into the possibility that yes, Snape is partly testing Harry's abilities when he throws (or has Draco throw) that snake at him. Aside from the fact that it would make a scary and spectacular Slytherin show -- let's throw a big ol' snake at Harry Potter and see what he does with it in front of all his friends -- it also seems like a real possibility that Snape wanted to see if Harry had any of Voldemort's powers. I don't think Snape has any major knowledge of Voldemort's horcruxes (certainly Lucius Malfoy didn't) so it may not have gone as far as thinking Harry was a horcrux (and I'm still not sure about that one myself) but he must have realized something very odd went on that night at Godric's Hollow. And if he's been in Dumbledore's confidence at all, then he would know the headmaster's theory that V. somehow or other transferred some of his powers to Harry.

Beth said...

And one more thought... :-)

Could that spell Snape gives Draco in dueling club come in useful five years later? Perhaps when Harry is faced with...oh, I dunno...Nagini?

Or maybe our favorite boa constrictor from the zoo in Sorcerer's Stone has been raising a snake army down in Brazil...

Erin said...

Definitely makes sense to me that Snape would be intensely interested in every aspect of Harry. He certainly has kept a keen eye on him all this time. I hadn't really thought about Hermione reminding him of Lily, but that's pretty plausible, despite the fact that he's usually downright nasty to her. If his feelings for Lily run as deep as suspected, any reminder of them would probably leave a bitter taste in his mouth...

Erin said...

Oooh, wouldn't that be fun if the boa made a repeat appearance? :D