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HC: Sev and Minnie

masterseverussnape:

Affection Headbutt by ZiLingLiew

In my head that kitty is Minerva, and yes, she is perfectly content to sleep there and get sev’s robes covered in fur. He doesn’t mind, she’s warm and her purring helps his nerves settle when the post-cruciatus curse tremors start

Analysis: Snape and PTSD

severace-snape:

pro-lily-pro-snape-anti-snily:

half-light-01:

ch4n71c0:

pro-lily-pro-snape-anti-snily:

legilimensxsnape:

pro-lily-pro-snape-anti-snily:

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.”

Sun Tzu  The Art of War

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.“

It’s also why, as @pro-lily-pro-snape-anti-snily said, he reacts so much worse to Harry’s Levicorpus than his Crucio.

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.

What’s the difference between Snape, Sneep and Snep? I’m absolutely clueless.

snictionary:

Snape: just a Snape. That’s his name. It’s Snape. Nothing special bout it.

Snep: A cute(r than usual) Snape. Especially used when discussing child Snape. E.g a Snape with a flower in his hair is always a Snep. 

Sneep: an obnoxious version of Snep. Still cute but.. you don’t want to encounter a Sneep. Trust me. 

By this Defenition, Snape is definitely a Snep (I want to just give him a cuddle whenever I come across him in canon)

Gallery

House hat pattern (Ravelry link)

hogwartsknits:

House Hat pattern by Disa Lind.

The Headmaster Snape Conspiracy

a-spitting-slytherin:

mollymcgiftens:

tetragon4:

So, here’s a theory for those
who, like me, bemoaned the fact that Snape has never been given a second
chance. In a way, his biggest flaw was to submit to a master, this being
Voldemort. Which then led to him submitting to a second master, Dumbledore, to
redeem himself. Although his actions might have helped Harry, in the end, he
was unable to start over. It is a sad conclusion, indeed: No matter how hard
you try to make up for the damage you caused, you will not be able to start
over. I do not wish to engage in the debate whether he would have chosen death
over life or not – rather, I would like to offer some hope to those who prefer a
kinder, a more gentle world. This is my contribution to the “Snape survived and lived grumpily
ever after” theme.

In order to give Snape an
escape hatch, we will have to revisit the final battle in Deathly Hallows. Step
by step.

Chapter Thirty: The Sacking of
Severus Snape

On their way to alert the
other teachers, McGonagall and invisible Harry come across Severus Snape, the
official headmaster of Hogwarts. After a fierce fight, Snape takes flight, and
his decision is met with irony by McGonagall:

“Our headmaster is taking a
short break.”

Now, there is an obvious
discrepancy between the title of the chapter, the content, and the comment
itself. Snape was not sacked, because it is the Board of Governors and the
ministry which hold the power to sack a headmaster. We have been reminded of
this fact twice, in book 2 when too many children had been attacked by the
basilisk, and in book 5 when Dumbledore was sacked by Fudge. Of course, one may
argue that the teachers sacked their boss by resisting his orders. For now, I
will let this argument stand as it is. It is worth mentioning, though, that
although McGonagall makes important decisions concerning the security of
Hogwarts, she is not called headmistress at any point in the chapter, nor is
she shown to enter the headmaster’s office, a tell-tale sign of being
acknowledged as the official headmistress.

In an interview, Rowling
claimed that Snape “abandoned his post”, which contradicts the chapter’s title
as well.

Obviously, the title
intends to mislead the reader. The teachers’ actions have nothing to do with
his desertion. Effectively, they did not sack him, even if their actions led to
him fleeing the castle.

The second information that I
take away from the chapter and the interview is that Snape has officially been
acknowledged by Hogwarts as headmaster.  Bear with me, this argument is more amazing
than it sounds. Snape had been installed as headmaster in a similar way to
Umbridge: He was chosen against the better judgement of the other teachers by
the governors/ministry, and both candidates were promoted not with the best
interest of the children in mind.

Now,
Hogwarts actually is not bound to acknowledge the person chosen by the
ministry. Umbridge was denied the post, and due to that, she was unable to
enter the headmaster’s office. Yet, it acknowledged Snape: Thus, Hogwarts is
able to pick up the intention of the candidate. Snape was accepted and allowed
entrance to the office, because he intended to serve the school to the best of
his abilities. In order for him to be able to abandon his post, he must have
controlled access to the headmaster’s office.

Next, let us remember what
happens when Hogwarts is without a headmaster: The office remained closed to
everybody, not just Umbridge, when Dumbledore had been sacked. The castle
therefore does not distinguish between intention when allowing somebody
entrance: Only the headmaster may pass. And when there’s a headmaster, the headmaster
controls the admission of guests. Every time that Harry was allowed into the
office, either Dumbledore was in the office (thereby letting Harry in without a
password) or the headmaster’s password served as proof that the headmaster
invited the person.

Let us move ahead to chapter
thirty-three: The Prince’s Tale

Harry received Snape’s
memories, and in order to watch them, he must gain access to the Pensieve in
the headmaster’s office.

The gargoyle then asks Harry:

“Password?”

Do you spot the discrepancy?

If Snape had abandoned his
post, there would, in effect, be no headmaster. Therefore, the gargoyle would
have to remain silent, because nobody but the new headmaster would be able to
enter the office. Snape’s password would have been rendered invalid.

At this point,
the office still recognises Snape as the headmaster.



The most logical explanation,
of course, is to assume that the castle is unaware of Snape’s death, because it
happened in the Shrieking Shack, which is located in Hogsmeade, and despite its
connection to the Whomping Willow, it is outside the boundaries of Hogwarts
itself. And when Snape failed to return in due time due to his death, he
effectively abandoned his post.

But here’s the thing: Rowling
offers her words above in a very specific context.

Fan: Was the absence of snapes
portrait in the headmaster’s office in the last scene innocent or deliberate

J.K. Rowling: It was
deliberate. Snape had effectively abandoned his post before dying, so he had
not merited inclusion in these august circles.

If Hogwarts was unable to
recognise the death of the headmaster outside the boundaries of Hogwarts, all
the people who received a portrait must have died in Hogwarts. Which is,
statistically, unlikely.

Hogwarts had, according to legend, been built 1000
years ago. According to harrypotterwikia,
there are 23 recognisable portraits in the office (movie version), with eighteen
additional ones. These people would have on average served 24 years. Taking
wizard lifespan into account, this makes sense, especially since some of these
headmasters are known to have served up to 40 years alone. Basically, almost
all of the headmasters in the past 1000 years would have had to have died on
the premises to receive a portrait. Which is incredibly unlikely.

Even if you
disregard movie information: In the books, there are enough portraits to cover
the walls. They have been described as “rows” of portraits. Let us assume that
there are enough portraits in the room for them to debunk the aforementioned
theory.

Conclusion: Hogwarts does
recognise when a headmaster dies outside the castle.

Which leaves us in an
uncomfortable spot: If Hogwarts would have recognised Snape’s death, and Snape
had still been headmaster by the time Harry entered the office, then Snape was
not dead yet.

Yet Harry claimed he was. And of
course, he is the master of death, right? He must know…

Which brings us back to the
Shrieking Shack.

Chapter thirty-two: The Elder
Wand

Snape is bitten by Nagini,
because Voldemort thinks him the master of the Elder Wand. Harry approaches the
bleeding man, and he receives the memories Snape is ejecting. Before Harry
abandons the man, they lock eyes:

[…] after a second something in
the depths of the dark pair seemed to vanish, leaving them blank and empty. The
hand holding Harry thudded to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

Seems quite dead to me. But
here’s the thing: Harry never checks Snape’s pulse, nor his breathing. For all
we know, his eyes have gone starry due to shock, induced by blood loss. Which
is… incredibly likely. Since he is bleeding out. And nobody is even attempting
to do first aid.

To our knowledge, Snape is
still alive, albeit half-way on the other side already. Somehow, Snape survives
far enough into this battle for Harry to walk back to the castle and into the
headmaster’s office.

Still, there are issues. For
instance, we said that Snape did not abandon Hogwarts yet, otherwise the
gargoyle would not ask for a password. So… did he abandon Hogwarts by being
such an ungrateful bastard as to die before his time?

Even it being a rhetorical
question, there is a definitive no as an answer. After all, Dumbledore died
before his time, too, ungrateful bastard that he was, leaving everybody in this
utter mess, and yet he deserved a portrait. Snape did not.

Here’s the thing: Snape must
have abandoned his post after having been left for dead in the Shrieking Shack.
Therefore, he must have lived through this gruesome ordeal.

There are two very obvious
problems with this one.

  1.     Shock due
    to blood loss
  2.    
    Poison

Since Snape lost control over
his extremities due to shock, he is unable to take a potion. Remember?

The hand holding Harry thudded
to the floor, and Snape moved no more.

He would have needed somebody’s
help to survive. Even if the poison was kicking in slowly, because he was
bleeding it out, too, the wound had to be healed. And Nagini’s poison makes
healing the wound quite a difficult task, as we have been told in book 5 when
she bit Mr. Weasley.

However, I do know of a
creature who is able to not only heal deadly wounds, but also the poison of even a
Basilisk. Fawkes.

Now, Fawkes has left Hogwarts
when Dumbledore died, and he would have no reason to approach Snape. How would
he even know to look for him in the Shrieking Shack?

Let us remember what happened
in book 2: Fawkes found Harry in the Chamber of Secrets, although it is
basically inaccessible and unknown to anybody but the heir of Slytherin. Fawkes’s
appearance was blamed on Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore, and Fawkes acknowledged
this act by offering his protection. This teaches us an important lesson. In
order for Fawkes to offer his tears, Snape would have to perform an incredible act
of loyalty to Dumbledore in the Shrieking Shack.

And he did. Remember when
Voldemort preferred to hear himself talk, like any good, old-fashioned villain?
He had to first make Snape understand why he had to die, before going for the
kill.

“The Elder Wand belongs to the
wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you have,
Severus, the Elder Wand cannot be truly mine.”

And Voldemort even remarks on
Snape understanding what this implies:

“Perhaps you already know it?
You are a clever man, after all, Severus.”

Snape is aware of the fact
that his promise to Dumbledore is about to get him killed. In this moment, he
must realise Dumbledore’s original plan: To sacrifice not only himself, but
also Severus for the greater good. Dumbledore had planned to have the ownership
of the Elder Wand die with him, yet Voldemort would believe Snape to be the
master. Once he killed Snape, he would become cocky, giving Harry a chance to
strike back. Snape was never supposed to live.

And yet, he remains silent.
Sure, revealing his betrayal would have gotten Snape killed as well, but I
imagine that it would have been tempting to take revenge on Dumbledore this
way. Instead, Snape raises his wand.

Oh, we all know Snape to be no
fool. The book never tells us which of the two enemies he prepared to attack.
Because it would have told us about his allegiance before the grand reveal:
Despite being betrayed by Dumbledore, being sacrificed without his consent,
Snape decided to do Dumbledore’s bidding once more.


In Snape’s memories,
Dumbledore told him:

“There will come a time when
Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake. […] when Lord
Voldemort […] keeps it safe beside him, under magical protection.”

In the Shrieking Shack, Snape
decided that Nagini had to be killed. He could not do so openly, because she
was in a magical cage to protect her from harm. Despite the fact that Snape is
a talented wizard, he took too long to protect himself – because he was not
even attempting a defensive spell. He was collecting his strength to attack
Nagini in her cage.

This is his act of incredible
loyalty towards Dumbledore. Snape is brilliant at defending himself – that is
what he has been doing all his life. He showcased these particular skills when
he disarmed Lockhart in Book 2, when he applied to become teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts, when he
protected himself against the onslaught of attacks by McGonagall and the others
in chapter thirty-one. Occluding, too, is a defensive technique, and Dumbledore
considers it Snape’s strength. His entire existence is shaped by defending
himself against bullies, emotions, those that consider him of less worth due to
his blood, children’s remarks on teachers… you get the picture. Snape is a
master at defending. He would not have failed to defend himself. Instead, he
failed to attack in time.

Just like when Fawkes found
Harry simply because Harry was loyal to Dumbledore, no matter the consequences,
Fawkes appeared in the Shrieking Shack to save the day.

And Snape decided to
disappear. He abandoned Hogwarts whilst still being headmaster, and therefore,
he did not receive a portrait, even after he died sometime in the distinct
future.

Probably when he heard that Harry named a bloody child after him. And Dumbledore, of all people. And weirdly, that child’s sister has the same name as his first crush. And to mock him, the brother is called after the two people he probably despised more than Voldemort.

For all we know, Snape moved to
Jamaica, got a brilliant tan, and is the proud owner of a strange book shop in
which you are anything but welcome.

I am totally in love with the idea of Survivor Severus. And of him being a book shop owner ala Bernard of Black Books. He just needs his optimistic and cheery assistant Manny and his drunken female best friend Fran.

*bellowing, slamming fists on table* HE LIVES

THIS!!

Dementors

lillymoid:

friends-of-severus-snape:

snapes-many-buttons:

expectopatronuts:

snapedefender:

expectopatronuts:

queenofthedwarrows:

magicalwayswins:

liminy-lemony:

snapedefender:

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.

“why do fangirls always make them gay?”

teland:

frankcoffee:

euclase2:

amberfeather:

euclase2:

Imagine being in a relationship in which you are treated like an equal, consciously and unconsciously, sexually, emotionally, socially, romantically, without being bound by gender expectations, without risk of pregnancy (or having your reproductive rights taken away from you), without feelings of inferiority, without being mistreated or neglected because men don’t understand your body and can’t be bothered to learn how to give you pleasure (or that you even deserve pleasure). Imagine having a reciprocating relationship with someone who knows how to touch you and how to talk to you, who will never abuse you or take away your consent. Imaging feeling powerful, safe, like the default rather than the specific or second-class. Imagine not requiring special handling by awkward, inconsiderate men who were never taught any better. Imagine being allowed to touch and enjoy and indulge without apprehension. Imagine being able to trust your partner. Imagine knowledge and understanding, someone who sees your depths and treats you the way you’d treat yourself if you hadn’t been told from birth that you weren’t worth it.

Girls aren’t “making them gay.”

Girls are fantasizing about being equal.

I have wondering about this in fandom for many years and reading this just made me tear up. I figured this was a big reason, but breaking it down to this extent made me so extremely sad. I realized a long time ago that even if I met the nicest guy in the world, I still have to battle all those things mentioned above. Just being friends is hard. I don’t have a happy history in this area like a lot of women and I have major trust issues with men and I wish somehow that wall could be broken down and we could all truly be seen as equal…as people with value. If you have all of the above with someone of the opposite sex then you are really lucky. See women are expected to give all those things listed above and settle for not getting them in return. I believe it’s a rare thing if you have it returned. Like I said, if I was with the nicest guy in the world I will always doubt myself, think he see’s me as different, talk to me different… Why? Because that’s our experience. This world raises us to believe we are worth absolutely nothing. The idea of being equal is one of our greatest fantasies. 

It’s sad that it has to be a fantasy. 

It’s totally sad.

But on the other hand, slash writers are some of the most empathetic people I know. And they’re great educators, too, probably in ways they might not expect. A good slash fanfiction writer can help women understand their desires and overcome some of those feelings of shame and worthlessness.

Think about how many girls have learned how to masturbate thanks to slash fanfiction.

Sometimes just knowing that we’re all reading and enjoying the stories is an immense comfort. People will tell you that slash is trash, that fangirls are desperate and pathetic, but ladies telling ladies that they’re allowed is a powerful thing.

Yeah, oh man. This is. Yeah, this is a lot. I especially feel the taboo surrounding female sexuality to the point that even though I’m Pretty Gay myself, I’m uncomfortable with my own sexuality (not as in orientation) and also dealing with the sexuality of other women. Like in some ways, I am always hesitant to appreciate sexiness in women because we are almost never shown female sexuality in a safe, respectful, and equal way and it still freaks me out. 

I will never forget — and I wish so *badly* I still had a copy — the essay one of my exes wrote before she gafiated, in which she talked about how the act of writing slash and being part of the slash community in general had allowed her to “write herself back into her body”.

To, essentially, take off some of the blinders and filters western culture had put on her, all the things that had convinced her that, as an “overtall, fat, awkward, anxious, and altogether unattractive” person (she did have some anxiety issues, but none of the rest was true by any measure but all the lies we’ve ALL been told), she deserved neither happiness, nor romance, nor anything resembling sexual parity or satisfaction.

We met through fandom — she later told me she’d been quietly lurking on my mailing lists and around my websites for two years before she ever actually spoke to me — and we had four good years together before our relationship started to fall apart.

And, while not all of our happiness — together and separately — can be laid at the feet of the various slash goddesses, quite a lot of it can be.

Slash wrote *me* back into my body, too — several times, in several ways. Slash connected me to genders I never could’ve imagined, or could’ve imagined being *worth* connecting to in the days before I really understood the possibilities inherent to taking the media I had been given and *transforming* it.

We are *here*, and our pleasure is worth it — our pleasures, plural, are part and parcel of our identities.

And, you know, some of us, after we’ve been writing slash for a good, long while?

Find new ways to express those pleasures when women are there, new ways to understand those aspects of our sexualities — our *identities* — which include *hetero*sexuality.

It’s a journey. A process. A continuum. A spectrum. A *multiverse*.

Of *pleasure*.

And it’s all allowed.

Because we made it that way.

Because we *make* it that way.

Every day.

IRA

slytherblogging:

So apparently I follow at least one IRA (Russian not Irish) blog on tumblr.

I use tumblr to find crochet patterns and fellow Harry Potter pro-Snape fans.

I deliberately don’t do politics on my tumblrs after an old account I had way back when turned into a car crash of anon hate and kitten binders.

Wow. The horror(!) IRA- they’re hardened criminals I tell you(!)

As much as I appreciate it @tumblrstaff you didn’t have to tell me I’m not in trouble for following them. I know that there are kids on here so it’s a fair cop that you did, so I don’t blame you. But it probably wouldn’t have stopped me even if I had known what they were- for the following reasons;

If they’re producing content I agree with or have an interest in I’m not that fussy. No one stopped listening to music written and performed by convicted pedophiles in the 80s, did they?

Know your enemy, if they are propaganda machines I’d like to know what their angle is so I can be educated and aware enough to combat it effectively

That aside though,

I don’t actually recognise any of the blog names you sent me, are you sure I was ever following them? Or that they ever existed? They all look like unsubtle porn blogs anyway, the might have followed me but I doubt I did any more than block or ignore them.

5 things I like about ME

cannithebear:

severus-thramsay:

thepinkseat-askthemoonbunny:

allhailthedramallama:

Whenever you get this you have to say five (5) things you like about yourself, publicly. then you have to send this to ten of your favourite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) 🙂

I was tagged by @iamyourbloodydealer (f-friend? o.o)

1. My writing

2. My eye color (my eyes are very dark, i like that)

3. My gardening skills (I love my plant children)

4. My ability to sleep in/on any kind of public transport/moving vehicle

5. The fact that I am the cool cousin to all of my cousins

I tag @satandidnothingwrong @nightrayspaths @thepinkseat-askthemoonbunny @bounding-heart @my-musicalravenclaw @stained-glass-sphinx @free-gavin @fridamcguiness @briannawhiteme and @wordsofivory (I know you don’t follow me but you’ve reblogged my one final fantasy vx post so often I feel like I’m entitled to tagging you once)

My amazing friend @allhailthedramallama tagged me in this so imma do it. Five things I like about myself are:

1: My writing skills

2: My drawing skills

3: My love of the supernatural (fuck yeah, vampires and wizards all day)

4: My hair

5: My totally awesome imagination

I tag: @weasleyismyking540, @veelastardust @dumbledore-grindelwald @groaningturtle @kittykz @severus-thramsay @sternbeere @acciotomriddle @night-ghast and @bounding-heart (Don’t know if all of y’all follow, but I know and love you guys the best 😘)

Love you too! Thanks for tagging me 🙂 I won’t tag those Bunny has already tagged :p

1) my eye colour is a dark stormy grey

2) my being eccentric

3) my way with words when I talk in real life. It’s not fancy but I know how to get my point across in a clear manner

4) My confidence when I speak to people

5) My inner strength

@harryj-is-my-bae @dementedlollipop @marvelstars @halfbloodsev @matronablack @snuffles-groovy-doghouse @xxtheforgottenonexx @loseyourself-dontloseyourmind @whatshernamemaria @cannithebear

Thanks for the tag @u@

1. My drawing abilities

2. My teeth

3. My hands

4. My academic abilities

5. My imagination

@toasterswillrise @damnationofthestars @dancingspiders @zohoffman @tekukago @jodie-got-her-gun @procrastinatingauthoratwork @hookingmarvellous @lunaticfridgediva @poisoninmyveinz

you know I don’t normally do these but it’s nice to see some positivity on social media so yeah… (also if I tagged you and you don’t know why it might be because you follow @slytherblogging and that’s me too)

1. my unquenchable curiosity. I signed up for a postgrad degree because I was bored!

2. my willingness to get stuff done- if it is physically possible for me to do it with what I have to hand and a youtube instructional video I will give it a crack!

3. My complete lack of shame, I will sit and read erotic fanfic at work and I will also tell you about it if you ask!

4. My eyes, I have my dads deep-set brown eyes and I like them

5. My hands, I have my mums hands, they’ll, do anything I ask of them (mostly, they’re good at bodge-jobbing) even if they are a bit odd looking (which adds to the charm).

@alittlesnarry @masaothedog @tinninniburi @a-spitting-slytherin @patronouslove7 @nixiejo @kirasnapeaddict @potteryet @severusdefender @mollymcgiftens