Chapter 28: Snape’s Worst Memory

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Discussion Leaders,
HG Severusa.Snape & HB Siyuske_Tryeth

Umbridge summons Harry to her office and tries to drug him with a truth serum but Harry only pretends to drink. Harry continues to claim he doesn’t know where Dumbledore has gone until the conversation is interrupted by some explosions in the castle. Fred and George have set a crate of enchanted fireworks loose in the halls. As the teachers try to contain the fireworks, they run afoul of other enchantments that make the fireworks multiply whenever somebody tries to make the disappear. Even Hermione gets caught up in the spirit of rebellion.

Harry dreams again that night. This time he makes it into the circular room of identical doors and then opens one of them. He has a strong feeling that there is something in the room that he wants very much. However, he is woken by a firework before he finds out what it is.

Harry goes to Snape’s office for Occlumency lessons but Snape is called off to help Umbridge. Harry sees Snape’s thoughts swirling in the Pensieve and jumps into the thoughts. He sees Snape as a teenager among his classmates including James, Sirius, Lupin and Wormtail. Harry sees that his father James is actually very cruel to Snape – so much that Lily, Harry’s mother, who wasn’t yet dating James, tells James to leave Snape alone. She calls James a bully. As the scene progresses, Harry feels himself pulled from the Pensieve by the adult Snape, returned to his office. Harry realizes that his father was cruel and just as arrogant as Snape had always said.


Question:

In Snape's memories, Harry learns that his father was a bully, unfairly tormenting Snape in particular. Why does Harry react so strongly to what he sees in Snape's Pensieve?

I'd like very much to read everyone's take on this. Hope someone posts soon.

Harry knew very little about his parents; he only heard stories about them from people who thought that James and Lily Potter were brave and loving parents who died saving their son who turned out to be a symbol of hope in the fight against Lord Voldemort. It was natural for Harry to feel a surge of pride whenever he heard this, much more when he was told how much he was like his father. I think Harry treasured this fact as if it was the closest he could get to knowing his parents. In PoA, it was shown how Harry saw his father as his hero when he thought it was James who cast the stag-formed Patronus.

It must also be remembered that Harry grew up being bullied by Dudley and his gang. He also happened to suffer from similar treatment and taunts from the Slytherins and sometimes, even from the rest of the school. Having seen his father do the very thing that tormented Harry nearly all his life, Harry felt betrayed for the perfect image of his father was broken; the hero turned out to be a lie. Worse, Harry had to learn about this from the person whom he loathed and whom he always believed to be lying about James.

It was worse than learning that Santa Claus was not real. For Harry, it must have felt like losing one of the few things that made his soul and his very life feel complete.

I think Harry couldnt believe on what he learned about how his father treated Prof. Snape and maybe Harry's empathy for him (Snape) is like a 360 degree turn on what he thinks. (Just 4 laughs)and the fact that her mother married James even upon knowing that he is a bully.

venialarguz21 wrote:I think Harry couldnt believe on what he learned about how his father treated Prof. Snape and maybe Harry's empathy for him (Snape) is like a 360 degree turn on what he thinks. (Just 4 laughs)and the fact that her mother married James even upon knowing that he is a bully.

Just a quick reply. Perhaps not a 360 degree turn, because if it was, then he's back to where he started. 180 degree turn would be a more apt geometric metaphor

But yes, I agree that there was difficulty on Harry's part to reconcile what he's seen from the pensieve and his thoughts about his father as tempered by the memories of people like his godfather Sirius, his mentor Remus, Hagrid, etc. There was a disjunct so the shock was to be expected.

Why Harry reacted that way is obviously because the image of his father has just been "corrupted" by what he saw at the Pensieve. Come to think of it, you believed someone to be so good, so righteous but later on you find out that he was an arrogant prick and a bully on top of that, how would you react? Wouldn't you some sort of feel betrayed? or perhaps Lost? I think Harry felt both since he no longer knew what to believe during that moment.