But I’ve heard people questioning if Snape was really traumatized by SWM. At first I had no idea what they were on about. How could Snape not be traumatized? Why are you even questioning this? But I figured what they meant was: why doesn’t Snape act the way I know traumatized characters to act? Why isn’t he having flashbacks or breaking down when being exposed to his triggers?
Snape’s trauma is the angry aggressive kind. Snape’s trauma can be mistaken for a “grudge”. Because it’s not what people understand trauma to be.
In HBP, Harry was trying to crucio Snape and do all this other stuff, and Snape was so unbothered by it. But the moment Snape noticed Harry was about to cast levicorpus on him, Snape completely lost his shit. Below was Snape’s response to Harry trying to cast levicorpus on him.
“No, Potter!” screamed Snape. There was a loud BANG and Harry was soaring backward, hitting the ground hard again, and this time his wand flew out of his hand.
This is Snape’s response to Harry trying to crucio him. Literally torture him.
But Snape parried the curse,
Like a casual “whatever”. Yeah Harry got knocked off his feet, but he didn’t go soaring backwards like he did when Snape responded to Harry’s levicorpus.
During occlumency lessons Snape manhandled Harry and threw him out of the room, after seeing Harry watching James Potter humiliate him.
I shouldn’t have to add disclaimers to my post, disclaimers should be givens. But unfortunately we haven’t reached that point yet.
Disclaimer: I don’t approve of Snape hurting Harry more than what he had to (Snape still had to defend himself in HBP) and I don’t approve of Snape physically hurting Harry in Snape’s Worst Memory chapter.
I’m not saying that Snape’s way of expressing his trauma is okay. He needed therapy to help him learn to deal with and express his trauma in a less problematic way. The point is that Snape’s trauma is overlooked and lessened. Snape’s PTSD is called a “grudge.”
Snape had a grudge against James Potter vs Snape was still traumatized by James Potter.
James’ change.
I will always maintain that James changed for the better. I won’t argue my point, because I’m not here to convince you that James changed.
There seems to be this “unspoken” “implied” message that because James changed, the damage he did to Snape doesn’t count anymore. Okay yeah James hurt Snape, but James changed, why can’t Snape just get over it?
I have zero problem with the idea of James changing. He grew as a character, happens to be morally grey, and actually has the capacity for good? Not a problem with me. He changed? Great.
If people spoke about James’ change like he fits in with one of the themes in HP, that people can change for the better.
But unfortunately James’ change isn’t spoken about like that. James’ change is treated like some sort of band aid to slap on Snape’s trauma.
I am okay with James changing if we’re speaking about James’ overall character, as well as his character development. But, if a post is specifically about Snape’s trauma, then I don’t care how much James changed, and I don’t think “but James changed” should be slapped on any original post talking about the very real post traumatic stress disorder that Snape has because of James and Sirius’ bullying him for years.
I was wondering for the longest time why some Snape fans were so salty over the idea of James changing. So the fuck what if he did change? Why is the very idea of James changing a bad thing? Why is it so hurtful? My response to James’ changing was “meh cool.” Like I’m not jumping up and down in joy over it, but I don’t find the idea of James changing personally offensive.
But now I get why even the POSSIBILITY of James having changed is personally offensive for people. When we hear the statement James changed, it’s hardly ever on an original post. It’s nearly always some Snape anti James stan coming onto a post (that is appropriately tagged) talking about Snape’s PTSD and they come onto that post and say “but James changed.” As in yeah but whatever about the emotional pain Snape had to suffer from years later, yeah but whatever about his triggers because James changed.
“James changed” has become a symbol for dismissing Snape’s PTSD.
I now understand why people take “James changed” so personally, as if someone went up to them and slapped them across the face.
James may have changed, but Snape still suffers everyday of what James did to him. James has no issues, while Snape probably has a form of PTSD. How is that fair? How is that fair that the bully got out of Hogwarts with no issues, but that the bullied got out with a lot? The fact that James changed doesn’t erase what he did, doesn’t erase the trauma Snape still has. Snape still lives with the consequences of James’ bullying, so the fact that he changed doesn’t matter to Snape. What is done is done. The fact that he changed only mean that people would love him now, that he became a “better” person. But believe me, what Snape remembers is not that James changed. I agree with you post, @pro-lily-pro-snape-anti-snily !
You summarized my entire novel into one paragraph. Amazing.
Snape deals with his trauma by attempting absolute control. During SWM he loses all control: of his body, of his wand, his clothes, his temper, his mouth. What happens at this moment? He loses the most important person in his life. This is the moment that truly sets him on his dark and terrible life path.
After publicly losing control, being humiliated, and made a laughing stock, Snape must have picked himself up off the ground, gathered his clothing about him, and returned to the relative safety of Slytherin house. Once there as many bullying victims do he took stock a post-mortem if you will to see what went wrong and what he could do about it to prevent such a thing from ever happening again in the future.
Control. This becomes his solution to prevent humiliation, and his overarching goal as far as his public Persona goes.
What kind of persona does he cultivate? dark, forbidding, intimidating, acid tongued, fierce with a curse and quick reflexes, total situational awareness, hyper-vigilance, poker faced, with a perfectly modulated voice, buttoned-down and protected by his layers of clothing which also help project a large and menacing presence.
It is all a dominance display. It’s constant psychological warfare against those who would attempt to harm him. His life experience has trained him to act as if there are mountain lions about to pounce on him at any time; most likely when he gets comfortable, lets down his guard, or gets distracted. All wilderness enthusiasts know that when faced with a large animal you try to make yourself look big by holding up your coat or your backpack. This is exactly what he is doing: look strong and scary and fierce and big so no one will even consider trying anything against him.
“The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities… It is best to win without fighting.”
I agree with all of this. Another good example of the lingering
effects of Snape’s trauma is his behaviour around Sirius in OoTP, ch24
Occlumency.
‘I’m his godfather,’ said Sirius, louder than ever.
‘I am here on Dumbledore’s orders,’ said Snape, whose voice, by contrast, was becoming more and more quietly waspish,
He’s uncomfortable; can’t resist the usual jibes but is decidedly not being the aggressive party.
‘I’ll get to the point, then,’ said Sirius, standing up. He was rather taller than Snape who, Harry noticed, balled his fist in the pocket of his cloak over what Harry was sure was the handle of his wand.
Sirius
hasn’t made any kind of threatening move. All he did was stand and
Snape instinctively leaps to a defensive posture, anticipating an
unprovoked attack. This breaks my heart, because he is afraid. And it’s crucial,
because Severus Snape walks willingly up to freaking Voldemort and lies
to his face repeatedly, despite knowing he’s in mortal danger. And he
apparently does it so well, and so without flinching, that the greatest
Legilimens of all time never senses his fear. But standing across from
SIRIUS BLACK throws him so much he’s clutching his wand.
Sirius pushed his chair roughly aside and strode around the table towards Snape, pulling out his wand as he went. Snape whipped out his own. They were squaring up to each other, Sirius looking livid, Snape calculating, his eyes darting from Sirius’ wand-tip to his face.
Despite
reaching for his wand preemptively, Snape STILL doesn’t draw first. He
only reacts defensively after Sirius pulls his own wand out.
Sirius
looks ‘livid,’ ie. angry and aggressive. Contrast this with Snape, who
is described as ‘calculating, his eyes darting from Sirius’ wand-tip to
his face.’ He’s not angry, he’s scared, triggered, and trying
desperately to figure out exactly how much danger he’s in. For the rest
of the conversation, he speaks ‘softly’ and ‘whisper(s)’… while
‘Sirius roared.’
This whole scene breaks my heart, because a man
who is able to remain almost inhumanly calm and unreadable under severe
stress and mortal danger, can’t control his fear as adequately around
the guy who bullied him over a decade ago. Sirius has been ‘stuck inside
his mother’s house for six months,’ powerless to do much of anything, a
mere shadow of the boy who must have seemed confident and intimidating
back at Hogwarts, but STILL Snape reaches for his wand.
Not because he’s a coward. Reminder: he doesn’t actually draw first.
It’s because, as @ch4n71c0
said, of his “total situational
awareness, hyper-vigilance.“ Because “His life experience has trained
him to act as if there are mountain lions about to pounce on him at any
time.“
He is still suffering the effects of unprocessed, untreated trauma and behaves accordingly.
Wow what an amazing meta! Thank you.
as i have said before: severus is a terribly tragic example of what so many of us know personally. the effects of horrific trauma unprocessed and unhelped. this is the result of professional negligence, professional ignorance, not ignorance in an unknowing manner but ignorance in willful blindness.
the human brain is generally said to be fully formed at twenty-five. after having fully formed brains, those in traumatic situations are still awfully hurt and broken.
now take this trauma and place it in a previously stunted, young mind. give a neglected, poor, abused child social and arguably sexual trauma. make that trauma a direct result of lack of power. add in that this happens because of the adults who neglect to do anything about his situation. what does is the precipitate of this reaction?
snape. you get a man who fears showing weakness, fears having weaknesses, always needs to be in control.
his behavior is inappropriate, but unlike the marauders, unlike other cruel teachers in other works, he does not know what to do. he has nobody who helped him fight this disgusting memory. he is stuck struggling with this fear and this need to be in control at all times, and i would bet my left arm he doesn’t even fully understand why.
i, personally, experienced bullying and betrayal at a young age. i know what i’m dealing with as a result and have people to help me with it. i know to fight against trust issues, cynicism, and a cold attitude.
snape does not have this. he has a man who let his tormentors go on. he has a dead love that he lost long before riddle’s curse struck her heart.
and that’s why he’s so absolutely awful to people, to students especially. because it’s what he learned, it’s what he was taught, it’s what he knows.
listen idk why people always bring up neville’s parents being tortured when they’re talking about the boggart scene (e.g. “neville is more terrified of SNAPE even though his PARENTS were TORTURED” you know). like…. y’all. let’s list out why that’s Not Relevent to the Discussion, shall we?
a) we don’t know how much thirteen-year-old neville knows about his parents or their torture. nobody ever brings up how often they visit, when augusta told neville about it, how much detail she went into, and so on. i can assume that he probably does know, but we don’t know how much detail.
b) this is like saying “harry is scared of DEMENTORS even though his PARENTS were BRUTALLY MURDERED” shockingly enough even though something bad happens to you or a person you love, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be the thing you fear most. some of those kids have probably lost family members to the war. hell, remus lupin’s entire friend group either died or went to azkaban and he’s still more scared of his lycanthropy.
c) even if neville knows the details, that doesn’t mean he’s FRIGHTENED per se. nothing about him suggests that he sees (or has ever seen) bellatrix lestrange as a boogeyman. (possibly similar to the way harry isn’t ever really frightened of voldemort….?) esp at thirteen, he’s probably pretty removed from the actual thing that happened – he lives with the aftereffects, but the actual torture isn’t something that’s necessarily going to be clear or real to him.
d) snape is literally right there. right there! he’s in the room TWO SECONDS before remus asks neville what he’s frightened of. of course he’s the first thing that pops into neville’s head! (followed closely by his grandma who treats him pretty terribly too lmao)
d.5) what’s neville going to say instead? “well actually professor, i’m terrified of the woman who tortured my parents into insanity?”
e) i’ve said this before, but neville dispels the boggart in two tries. boggarts! do not show! your ultimate greatest fear! they show A fear. and the deeper the fear, the harder it is to banish. which is why harry can’t banish his boggart with anything less than the actual spell to get rid of dementors and molly weasley can’t banish her boggart on her own either. those are deep fears. neville’s (and all the other children in here) is a childish fear – that doesn’t make it less real, but it also doesn’t make it traumatic and soul-scarring.
i just… feel like this is another “gotcha!” argument that people try, but it doesn’t make sense to me. fears aren’t cut and dry and logical? just bc the boggart is snape doesn’t mean that snape is more deeply traumatizing than neville’s parents’ torture? the entire thing is meant to be read as a joke so when will the antis let me live and stop using this scene to “prove” that snape abuses children….?
F) neville: pls don’t turn into my nan either she’s scary af
G) Neville was a sensitive child and it totally makes sense to be afraid of someone like Snape when you are insecure.
H) Why is that we never talk about the fact that Neville doesnt want it to turn into his Grandmother? Cause I feel like that is a lot more telling than him being afraid of a scary teacher. Like there is a high chance had Snape not had just been there the Boggart could have also taken McGonagalls shape as well since she is equally as intimidating & scary to Neville as well.
I) You know that super widely accepted theory that Hermione’s boggart isn’t really her failing her third year exams, but a deeper fear of failure and/or a fear of not fitting into the wizarding world?
It’s 100% fanon, but it makes a lot of sense a) because that’s human psychology for you, and b) because the boggart has to represent the fear somehow, it has to “embody” it.
So now, let’s take a look at Neville. His family treated him pretty terribly to try to squeeze magic out of him when they thought he was a squib, right? I mean, they put him in danger of death to get his magic to manifest itself. So, in Neville’s experience, being useless at magic is about the worst you can be. Your own family would rather see you dead than see you turn out a squib. Being useless at magic means your uncle Algie dangles you upside down from a window (and drops you accidentally, but never mind that).
And then Neville goes to Hogwarts
and meets the harsh, abrasive teacher that is Professor Snape.
Professor Snape, who points out all his faults and shortcomings. Mind you, so does McGonagall, but while she can be strict, Snape is the one who’s nasty about it.
I think it’s more than plausible that, same as McGonagall telling her she failed represents Hermione’s fear of failing as a witch, Snape’s blunt criticisms represent for Neville a real threat of being rejected by his family and/or being put in threat of death. Again.
And so, the boggart takes on Snape’s form to represent Neville’s deeper fears, and not because Snape is actually so dreadful that he is the main fear-trigger to a boy whose parents were tortured into insanity
and who was threatened and outright abused by his own family for not being to produce magic early enough.
You have to admit – that’s a more plaubisble fear for Neville, especially since Snape has never actually done anything to him (I can’t say this loud enough) in the two years and a bit he’s been his teacher, whereas failing at magic has already had unpleasant consequences.
J) Ok, I know this is already long, but I think we also have to look at this scene from outside canon. We can ignore all this psycho-babble about fears and whatnot, and take a look at what JKR wanted to show her readers.
I think the main point of the boggart scene, apart from giving an early clue regarding Lupin’s lycanthropy, is to show how Harry is not like other kids.
Other kids have fears typical of kids. Sticking to canon, without interpreting anything, we’re shown a mummy, a banshee, a rat, a snake, a bloodshot eye (wtf), an amputated hand (again, wtf), a spider, a nasty teacher (Snape), and failing every subject. Honestly, these sound either like specific phobias that could happen to anyone given certain circumstances, or terrors from stories or films (actually, Hermione’s fear is the one that shows the most maturity).
But not Harry. Harry’s worst fears are the dementors. Fear itself, as Lupin says. And all this goes to show is that Harry isn’t like others. He has a tragic past. He has a shabby childhood. He has already had two near-death experiences while at school. Harry’s boggart shows that he’s been forced into a maturity that doesn’t correspond to his age, and that he’s been able to step up to the situation.He can no longer afford childish fears like teachers or grades, because there are very real threats both in his past and in his future.
This is a point that can’t be made if instead of Snape you show Neville’s uncle threatening to drop him from a window, or his parents dribbling down their chins in St. Mungo’s, or if instead of McGonagall you show Hermione’s friends and teachers spitting at her as she leaves Hogwarts in shame, with her wand snapped, or if instead of spiders you show Ginny’s lifeless body lying in the Chamber, or even if instead of the bloodshot eye you show say, Lavender’s uncle with bloodshot eyes, a bottle of vodka, and an erection.
[reverting back to in-canon analysis, what the fuck was Lupin thinking? He shields Harry from the boggart, but what about all the other kids? What if the boggart had really become Lavender’s uncle with an erection in front of the whole class?]
So I think there’s definitely an element of downplaying other kids’ fears to show just how horrible Harry’s situation really is. Neville’s boggart, from a story telling point of view, is part of that, and not so much a point about Snape.
And honestly, all of Harry’s character growth in the first two books is basically lost if all you get from this scene is “asdflglkw the greasy git omg he tortured neville in class, RIP in Pieces greaseball”.
i love you so much honestly this is the greatest addition i’ve ever gotten on a neville’s boggart post
because!!! i’ve never actually considered that the boggart might show fear representations. which is sad, because the text literally tells us that it does (harry’s fear is “fear itself” not just dementors… lupin’s fear is not the moon but his lycanthropy which it represents). so it’s such an excellent point that neville’s fear isn’t snape himself, but what snape represents to him – failure and lack of magical talent, which snape is always mean to neville about. but! neville didn’t get that fear of failure and lack of magical talent from snape – he got it from his family (his uncle! throws him from a window! his grandma says over and over that he’s not as talented as his parents). which so easily explains! why snape and neville’s grandma are so linked together for him that his mind immediately jumps to augusta when talking about being afraid of snape. they both represent failure/lack of talent to him…. and the difference between them is that while snape may reinforce those fears, augusta (and the rest of neville’s family) is the one who gave him those fears.
(you could carry on to discuss how neville fears lack of talent potentially bc of his parents even – if they’re so proficient, as augusta always says, and they still end up tortured and mad…. or connect it to neville being afraid that his family won’t love him or care about him if he’s not proficient in magic e.g. “like his parents”…. which connects really nicely thematically back to how harry is always tied to the memory of his parents, but for harry it’s in a really positive way.)
anyway the point, as all of this extremely lovely analysis is saying, is that when you leave the reading solely at “snape is neville’s greatest fear, snape traumatized neville so much” you’re a) ignoring and/or passing over a lot of neville’s kind of shitty backstory which explains why he’s so nervous and timid to begin with and b) failing to understand the entire point of the scene itself, which is really more about harry’s connection to fear and maturity than about neville. neville is another kid in this scene, with another kid fear. his fear of snape is not unusual or dramatic even in the context of the scene itself (everyone laughs about it, even neville. lupin doesn’t seem concerned at all about it – wouldn’t he, if neville is deeply traumatized?). harry’s fear is meant to be the unusual/dramatic one in this scene…. because harry has been through more shit than all of these kids and thus has more mature fears.
anyway. i bolded the parts i especially loved but really i loved all of it bc what a great thoughtful careful reading of this scene!!!!! that’s what critical analysis looks like people.
I love you so much too tbh, because someone has to make these posts and you do. I usually go with the “enjoy what I enjoy, ship my ships, write my fic, ignore the hate” mindset, but sometimes I get pissed off. Because man, this is basic reading. Basic reading from books originally meant for kids. Idk fam, I’m no English major, but still, it’s obvious this is about Harry first, then about Lupin and Neville, and only last about Snape.
Idk boggarts are weird. I always thought they just representations of fear, but I guess sometimes they don’t (for Molly Weasley it seems to be especific fears). But yeah, in any case, I really think Neville:s boggart is a representation of deeper issues.
Bravo everyone! This is so worth the time to read!
Personally, I figure if Perfect-Teacher-Lupin isn’t the least bit concerned that Neville’s boggart is Snape, why should I be?
The definitive answer to “But he was Neville’s boggart”
When you find this on your dash and now have an in depth response to idiots
I’m reblogging this again because there’s something I want to add;
When something terrible happens you stop fearing it.
For years my greatest fear was my mum dying, she was sick- badly- for most of my life and the idea of losing her gave me nightmares well into my teens.
She died when I was 20.
There’s little to nothing left that frightens me now.
Even the thought of getting as sick as she did doesn’t scare me because I’d just top myself and know I was better off.
The only thing I’m anywhere near anxious about is being admitted to the hospital that she died in (I don’t trust the staff but I never did so it’s not her dying that caused that one, just solidified it a bit).
Once it’s done that’s it, you learn that you can get through it and that you’re stronger than whatever you were scared of. That’s how boggarts work, they don’t make your worst fear funny they show you that you CAN face them and survive.
Neville knows that the worst thing that could happen to his parents has happened. It doesn’t scare him anymore.
What scares him is not being worthy of it so when Professor Snape criticised him that’s what the boggart was embodying.
He’s no more afraid of Snape than he was the Carrows or Bellatrix, and he didn’t hesitate to fight them.
Arguably he wouldn’t have had the mental strength to fight back against them if he hadn’t faced Professor Snape down in a classroom for five years.
He learned the hard way that he could face his fear, and any manifestation of it, and survived it. He survived Potions with Professor Snape, he survived facing the fact that he might not be ‘wizard’ enough to do his parents and their sacrifice proud for five years and he came through; and in doing so he made them proud and proved he was good enough.
Facing Professor Snape made him strong enough to fight a war, not because he was afraid of Snape but because he was no longer afraid of not being enough.
If James Potter at 15 was half the bullying, cruel and selfish person an emotionally-trapped-at-21-year-old-Sirius-Black could call an idiot then he deserved a lot worse than than a killing curse and any girl who looked at him twice should count herself lucky that she was only called a slur once in her life.
People seem confused by this so I’m going to reblog it and ask them; did I fucking stutter?
It’s not difficult to grasp;
Lily deserved a lot worse than being called one nasty name once even if it was a slur.
James deserved a lot worse than a quick painless death.
Anyone else still not getting it?
Further clarification; by “anyone” I mean
A) anyone who has actually been called a slur and knows that it’s not the worst thing in the world when it’s a one off instead of just some jumped up thirteen year old SJW who thinks being “woke” is a thing
B) anyone who has been bullied and sexually assaulted at school as opposed to someone who thinks those things can or should be forgiven because the perpetrator was a teenager.
What was Snape supposed to do, other than walk around James’ dead body? Simple question really, since you all make that your main argument to hating him … What should he have done?
Given James’ corpse a good kick and spat at the fucker whilst declaring “good riddance”… ? No?
Taken a quick piss on the corpse? Not that either?
Oh wait, or was he expected to kneel down, cry softly and close his rapists eyes tenderly whilst murmuring forgiving platitudes and last rites for someone who bullied him for nearly a decade? You must be joking!
James is damn lucky all Snape did was walk past him. I don’t think I could be that good a person if presented with the fresh corpse of someone who tormented me for years.
Friendly reminder that Snape probably got tortured while being interrogated at the end of GoF, in order to re-establish his position as a spy. In the graveyard, Voldemort says “One, too cowardly to return … he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever … he will be killed, of course … and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and one who has already re-entered my service.”. The first is Karkakoff, the last is Barty Crouch Jr, and the one who would be killed is…Snape.
Voldy knew that Snape had thwarted him on the Stone. He Crucio-d Avery simply for failing to search for him after his disappearance. In HBP Snape mentions Voldemort’s “Initial displeasure” (bit of an understatement). In GoF, Dumbledore says “Severus, you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready … if you are prepared …” while looking worried, and Snape himself looked “paler than usual”. Do the math, do you think Voldy discussed his concerns over a cup of tea?
So Snape arrived to Voldemort two hours late, same Voldemort who tortures his followers for minor transgressions. Voldemort thought that Snape had betrayed him and was intending to kill him. Snape had years of bullshitting to answer to. He was also around 13 years out of practice doing hardcore Occlumency (he was a spy in the first war for months as well), so think about how fucked he thought he was. And prior to this, he had revealed his Dark Mark to a room full of people, in hopes of getting the MoM to quickly mobilize their forces against the DEs and warning the rest of the WW, even though Voldy wanted to keep low for as long as possible (don’t know if Voldy ever found out about this, but even if he didn’t, it was still a stunning move on Snape’s part considering how fucked he already was).
And despite all of this he willingly returned to spy against Voldemort, even though Lily was already dead, and despite it having no personal benefit and a shit ton of danger for him. Dumbledore gave him a choice in GoF timeline, asking him if he intended to flee if Voldemort returned (since Karkaroff would) and Snape replied “I am not such a coward”. If all of the above isn’t a testament to his bravery and his skills as an Occlumens, then I don’t know what is (aside from spying against a mind-reading psychopath in general, saving people while spying, agreeing to kill DD and making himself a pariah, protecting the school while still being a spy, and passing on the keys to killing Voldy to Harry as he died, ya those were also very brave).
Another stunning deconstruction for why I can never hate this character.
listen idk why people always bring up neville’s parents being tortured when they’re talking about the boggart scene (e.g. “neville is more terrified of SNAPE even though his PARENTS were TORTURED” you know). like…. y’all. let’s list out why that’s Not Relevent to the Discussion, shall we?
a) we don’t know how much thirteen-year-old neville knows about his parents or their torture. nobody ever brings up how often they visit, when augusta told neville about it, how much detail she went into, and so on. i can assume that he probably does know, but we don’t know how much detail.
b) this is like saying “harry is scared of DEMENTORS even though his PARENTS were BRUTALLY MURDERED” shockingly enough even though something bad happens to you or a person you love, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s going to be the thing you fear most. some of those kids have probably lost family members to the war. hell, remus lupin’s entire friend group either died or went to azkaban and he’s still more scared of his lycanthropy.
c) even if neville knows the details, that doesn’t mean he’s FRIGHTENED per se. nothing about him suggests that he sees (or has ever seen) bellatrix lestrange as a boogeyman. (possibly similar to the way harry isn’t ever really frightened of voldemort….?) esp at thirteen, he’s probably pretty removed from the actual thing that happened – he lives with the aftereffects, but the actual torture isn’t something that’s necessarily going to be clear or real to him.
d) snape is literally right there. right there! he’s in the room TWO SECONDS before remus asks neville what he’s frightened of. of course he’s the first thing that pops into neville’s head! (followed closely by his grandma who treats him pretty terribly too lmao)
d.5) what’s neville going to say instead? “well actually professor, i’m terrified of the woman who tortured my parents into insanity?”
e) i’ve said this before, but neville dispels the boggart in two tries. boggarts! do not show! your ultimate greatest fear! they show A fear. and the deeper the fear, the harder it is to banish. which is why harry can’t banish his boggart with anything less than the actual spell to get rid of dementors and molly weasley can’t banish her boggart on her own either. those are deep fears. neville’s (and all the other children in here) is a childish fear – that doesn’t make it less real, but it also doesn’t make it traumatic and soul-scarring.
i just… feel like this is another “gotcha!” argument that people try, but it doesn’t make sense to me. fears aren’t cut and dry and logical? just bc the boggart is snape doesn’t mean that snape is more deeply traumatizing than neville’s parents’ torture? the entire thing is meant to be read as a joke so when will the antis let me live and stop using this scene to “prove” that snape abuses children….?
F) neville: pls don’t turn into my nan either she’s scary af
G) Neville was a sensitive child and it totally makes sense to be afraid of someone like Snape when you are insecure.
H) Why is that we never talk about the fact that Neville doesnt want it to turn into his Grandmother? Cause I feel like that is a lot more telling than him being afraid of a scary teacher. Like there is a high chance had Snape not had just been there the Boggart could have also taken McGonagalls shape as well since she is equally as intimidating & scary to Neville as well.
I) You know that super widely accepted theory that Hermione’s boggart isn’t really her failing her third year exams, but a deeper fear of failure and/or a fear of not fitting into the wizarding world?
It’s 100% fanon, but it makes a lot of sense a) because that’s human psychology for you, and b) because the boggart has to represent the fear somehow, it has to “embody” it.
So now, let’s take a look at Neville. His family treated him pretty terribly to try to squeeze magic out of him when they thought he was a squib, right? I mean, they put him in danger of death to get his magic to manifest itself. So, in Neville’s experience, being useless at magic is about the worst you can be. Your own family would rather see you dead than see you turn out a squib. Being useless at magic means your uncle Algie dangles you upside down from a window (and drops you accidentally, but never mind that).
And then Neville goes to Hogwarts
and meets the harsh, abrasive teacher that is Professor Snape.
Professor Snape, who points out all his faults and shortcomings. Mind you, so does McGonagall, but while she can be strict, Snape is the one who’s nasty about it.
I think it’s more than plausible that, same as McGonagall telling her she failed represents Hermione’s fear of failing as a witch, Snape’s blunt criticisms represent for Neville a real threat of being rejected by his family and/or being put in threat of death. Again.
And so, the boggart takes on Snape’s form to represent Neville’s deeper fears, and not because Snape is actually so dreadful that he is the main fear-trigger to a boy whose parents were tortured into insanity
and who was threatened and outright abused by his own family for not being to produce magic early enough.
You have to admit – that’s a more plaubisble fear for Neville, especially since Snape has never actually done anything to him (I can’t say this loud enough) in the two years and a bit he’s been his teacher, whereas failing at magic has already had unpleasant consequences.
J) Ok, I know this is already long, but I think we also have to look at this scene from outside canon. We can ignore all this psycho-babble about fears and whatnot, and take a look at what JKR wanted to show her readers.
I think the main point of the boggart scene, apart from giving an early clue regarding Lupin’s lycanthropy, is to show how Harry is not like other kids.
Other kids have fears typical of kids. Sticking to canon, without interpreting anything, we’re shown a mummy, a banshee, a rat, a snake, a bloodshot eye (wtf), an amputated hand (again, wtf), a spider, a nasty teacher (Snape), and failing every subject. Honestly, these sound either like specific phobias that could happen to anyone given certain circumstances, or terrors from stories or films (actually, Hermione’s fear is the one that shows the most maturity).
But not Harry. Harry’s worst fears are the dementors. Fear itself, as Lupin says. And all this goes to show is that Harry isn’t like others. He has a tragic past. He has a shabby childhood. He has already had two near-death experiences while at school. Harry’s boggart shows that he’s been forced into a maturity that doesn’t correspond to his age, and that he’s been able to step up to the situation.He can no longer afford childish fears like teachers or grades, because there are very real threats both in his past and in his future.
This is a point that can’t be made if instead of Snape you show Neville’s uncle threatening to drop him from a window, or his parents dribbling down their chins in St. Mungo’s, or if instead of McGonagall you show Hermione’s friends and teachers spitting at her as she leaves Hogwarts in shame, with her wand snapped, or if instead of spiders you show Ginny’s lifeless body lying in the Chamber, or even if instead of the bloodshot eye you show say, Lavender’s uncle with bloodshot eyes, a bottle of vodka, and an erection.
[reverting back to in-canon analysis, what the fuck was Lupin thinking? He shields Harry from the boggart, but what about all the other kids? What if the boggart had really become Lavender’s uncle with an erection in front of the whole class?]
So I think there’s definitely an element of downplaying other kids’ fears to show just how horrible Harry’s situation really is. Neville’s boggart, from a story telling point of view, is part of that, and not so much a point about Snape.
And honestly, all of Harry’s character growth in the first two books is basically lost if all you get from this scene is “asdflglkw the greasy git omg he tortured neville in class, RIP in Pieces greaseball”.
i love you so much honestly this is the greatest addition i’ve ever gotten on a neville’s boggart post
because!!! i’ve never actually considered that the boggart might show fear representations. which is sad, because the text literally tells us that it does (harry’s fear is “fear itself” not just dementors… lupin’s fear is not the moon but his lycanthropy which it represents). so it’s such an excellent point that neville’s fear isn’t snape himself, but what snape represents to him – failure and lack of magical talent, which snape is always mean to neville about. but! neville didn’t get that fear of failure and lack of magical talent from snape – he got it from his family (his uncle! throws him from a window! his grandma says over and over that he’s not as talented as his parents). which so easily explains! why snape and neville’s grandma are so linked together for him that his mind immediately jumps to augusta when talking about being afraid of snape. they both represent failure/lack of talent to him…. and the difference between them is that while snape may reinforce those fears, augusta (and the rest of neville’s family) is the one who gave him those fears.
(you could carry on to discuss how neville fears lack of talent potentially bc of his parents even – if they’re so proficient, as augusta always says, and they still end up tortured and mad…. or connect it to neville being afraid that his family won’t love him or care about him if he’s not proficient in magic e.g. “like his parents”…. which connects really nicely thematically back to how harry is always tied to the memory of his parents, but for harry it’s in a really positive way.)
anyway the point, as all of this extremely lovely analysis is saying, is that when you leave the reading solely at “snape is neville’s greatest fear, snape traumatized neville so much” you’re a) ignoring and/or passing over a lot of neville’s kind of shitty backstory which explains why he’s so nervous and timid to begin with and b) failing to understand the entire point of the scene itself, which is really more about harry’s connection to fear and maturity than about neville. neville is another kid in this scene, with another kid fear. his fear of snape is not unusual or dramatic even in the context of the scene itself (everyone laughs about it, even neville. lupin doesn’t seem concerned at all about it – wouldn’t he, if neville is deeply traumatized?). harry’s fear is meant to be the unusual/dramatic one in this scene…. because harry has been through more shit than all of these kids and thus has more mature fears.
anyway. i bolded the parts i especially loved but really i loved all of it bc what a great thoughtful careful reading of this scene!!!!! that’s what critical analysis looks like people.
I love you so much too tbh, because someone has to make these posts and you do. I usually go with the “enjoy what I enjoy, ship my ships, write my fic, ignore the hate” mindset, but sometimes I get pissed off. Because man, this is basic reading. Basic reading from books originally meant for kids. Idk fam, I’m no English major, but still, it’s obvious this is about Harry first, then about Lupin and Neville, and only last about Snape.
Idk boggarts are weird. I always thought they just representations of fear, but I guess sometimes they don’t (for Molly Weasley it seems to be especific fears). But yeah, in any case, I really think Neville:s boggart is a representation of deeper issues.
Bravo everyone! This is so worth the time to read!
Personally, I figure if Perfect-Teacher-Lupin isn’t the least bit concerned that Neville’s boggart is Snape, why should I be?
The definitive answer to “But he was Neville’s boggart”
When you find this on your dash and now have an in depth response to idiots
The first event of the year will be: Neurodivergent Snape Week! This event is dedicated to all of your Neurodivergent Snape headcanons, meta, fanart, etc. and the challenges he has to overcome because of it. The event will run from Monday, February 19th to Sunday, February 25th!
What is Neurodivergent (aka Neurodiversity)? Neurodiversity is all about accepting people who are neurologically
atypical which is why the theme of the prompts is ‘overcoming
challenges’.
Any of the following would be considered neurodivergent: Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
Dyscalculia, Autistic Spectrum, Tourette Syndrome, and mental illness.
Prompts:
Day 1: Childhood Relationship
Day 2: Slytherin House Dynamics
Day 3: Owls and Newt
(basically job/higher education selection)
Day 4: Death Eater Politics
Day 5: Youngest Teacher on the Staff/Head of House (during and after the war)
Day 6: Harry Potter’s Arrival
Day 7: Voldemort’s Return/Becoming an Active Spy
Theme: Overcoming Challenges
You can also choose to not use the prompts if you don’t want to, but
we just ask that you stick with the theme of ‘Overcoming Challenges’.
What types of posts do we accept? Anything! Fanart,
fan fiction, gifsets, moodboards, graphics/edits, playlists, fan videos,
meta, headcanons (serious or non-serious)! We want to see whatever you
come up with!
Be sure to include #snapeloveposts within the first 5 tags of your posts so that they’re all collected in one place for everyone to see. You can also put@snapeloveposts in the caption or submit posts to us if you prefer. Got questions? Send us an ask, or visit our FAQ page.
As always, we’re excited to see what you all come up with! And please reblog this post so others will see it! 😀
Oh this is going to be fun… so many ideas… and I do need to put them all here or I’ll lose them because dyslexic/dyspraxic #fitting
Snape with verbal dyspraxia? Mixing up sentences in his words that still somehow make sense because his brain autocorrected but his tongue didn’t.
Forgetful young teacher Snape finding out he’s dyslexic well after he left school (like I did)? “excuse me, you have seen my exam results i assure you i am not illiterate.” “no one said you were Severus, but have you seen your handwriting and workspace? It looks like a spider fell into an inkwell, wandered across the parchment and then let the bomb on it’s back off in the pile of paperwork you left on your desk three weeks ago and couldn’t find yesterday when you were supposed to be returning it to your first years.”
Dyspraxia- Suddenly not being able to ride a broomstick makes perfect sense.
ADHD- there’s just something about potions that calms him down.
Dyslexia- “hold on? The words don’t strobe at you when you’re tired? I don’t believe you! Why would you ever stop reading if they didn’t do that?”
“Why would I write anything down? it’s not like anyone, including me, will be able to read it later” but also “if I don’t take copious notes and write down every detail I will never remember any of this.” – pick your SPLD
“I LITERALLY had my wand in my hand three seconds ago, where the hell is it?!” In the fridge where you left it for some reason when getting a drink two hours ago.
Sev forgetting and leaving his wand lying around then trashing his quarters looking for it so many times in his first few months as a professor that three of his colleagues independently buy him wand holsters for Christmas
Verbal dyspraxia- “wait, I’m not shouting, stop telling me I’m shouting.”
a conversation with dyspraxia:
Severus: pass me the thing!
Minerva: what thing?
Severus points: the thing! minerva the thing! the long thing!
Minerva: grangers essay?
Severus: the pointy thing!
Minerva watching him brew: stirring rod?
Sev: THE THING minerva! for making the flames smaller
Minera watching him gesture: Oooh, your wand!
Severus: YES my wand! Duh!
Social dyspraxia- “don’t look at me like that, if you didn’t want an honest answer why did you ask for one?”
Autism/Asperger/ social dyspraxia- “why is she crying? What did I say this time? Stop looking at me like that I was only being honest!”
Dyslexia/dyspraxia and the pen grip issue- “Severus what did you do to your hands?” “wrote with a quill for more than three minutes, why?” “I haven’t seen a case of carpal tunnel this bad since Filius decided he was going to teach swish and flick spells to every year for a month.” “Are you suggesting I invest in a dicta-quill?” “If you don’t I swear you’ll get four under your Christmas tree when I tell all the staff that’s what you need.”
Dicta quills that don’t like his accent and keep leaving ink blotches because they stay on the parchment when he stops to think of a word and can’t remember it, and then they transcribe him rapidly talking around the word and talking to himself as he tries to riddle it out because it’s on the tip of his tongue
“I love that character,” I say as I come up with upsetting headcanons for them. “Absolutely adore them,” I tell you as I bunny up sad story ideas for them. “They’re my favorite,” I sigh as I pick the most depressing songs for a playlist for them.
“I just want them to be happy,” I insist as I write horribly angsty oneshots centered around their misery.
“My son,“ I say as I think warmly about his broken body huddled on the ground.
“I love you so much”, I say, as I fill them with self hatred.
“That awkward moment when the US Army shows more care for its charges than the Gryffindor head of house.” – Evan, my other half
Minerva McGonagall denied a terrified, inept, child access to a safe refuge at night with a convict on the loose because she was angry at him.
Minerva McGonagall bullied an entire house full of teenagers into isolating said terrified child at a time of heightened security when they should have been sticking together.
I mean, Dear Gods, Even the US Army makes its new recruits do the whole Battle Buddy thing and anyone who’s ever served or knows anyone who has knows that the Army doesn’t give a Flying Fuck about its soldiers.
But go on, tell me how Snape is the monster in that book for feeding a Toad shrinking solution that is easily identifiable by sight, smell and the fact that he knew the class Know-It-All had whispered the correct instructions into the incompetent child’s ear. I’ll Wait.
The only person who ever suggested that Snape had any sort of romantic link to Lily was Voldemort “he desired her, that is all.” Now, are we really trusting the judgement of a man who canonically doesn’t know what love is?
It makes more sense to me that he loved her like a sister, from when they were children.
No one ever said that a Patronus changed only for romantic love. In fact, if we take Harry as an example, his father was his Patronus, someone he considered would protect him and had died for him.What is there to say that something didn’t happen in their lives that made Severus think Lily had protected him at some point in a way that put her life at risk?
He loved her before he was ever capable of understanding romance and only ever showed concern about how James practically stalked Lily in school for five years.
It would make the way Harry brought Voldemort down even more perfect, not romance but real, honourable, platonic, love brought him down.
The same love Lily had for Harry.
The same Love that made Narcissa lie to Voldemort so she could go find her son.
The same love that Harry felt when he looked at his best friends which made it impossible for Voldemort to possess him in the department of mysteries.
It seems like the kind of thing J.K. would do.
This is why it didn’t matter whether Dumbledore protected just her or her and her entire family but also explains why Severus thought of her first.
This is why he protected her son for years- not because he was bitter or because he wished it was his son but because to him Harry was family, so it didn’t matter if Lily loved James or not.
She was never going to marry Severus and Severus probably never considered her in that light either- they had known each other too long.
He wanted her safe, “all of them safe”, he knew he had no role in her life, and he didn’t care as long as she got to live. He was willing to give “anything,” to keep them safe.
That’s not the actions of a jealous spurned lover, in my opinion, that’s a brother protecting his sister even if he doesn’t agree with her life choices and they’re estranged because that’s what families do.
tanzanitedepths Deactivated 
Slytherblogging 