Fear

Inktober Day 2: “Worst Fear”

(Originally reblogged on tumblr 4 Oct 2018 13:54)
thegreatsnapescape

Inktober day 2: “Worst Fear”

I know canonically Snape’s boggart takes the form of Lord Voldemort, but I personally like to imagine that his boggart is… himself.

As a young man, perhaps his worst fear would be seeing himself stuck forever in a place that holds unpleasant memories for him–Hogwarts. Never able to fulfill his potential and doomed to remain powerless, forever the victim.

Later, I think his worst fear might be of the darkness within himself that led him to join the Death Eaters and inadvertently mark for death the only person who’d ever shown him kindness in a cruel world. One mistake in his youth continued to have consequences for the rest of his life and ultimately destroyed everything good in his life.

Tragically, both situations became Severus’ reality.

[link] to the alternative Inktober prompt list I’m following for 2018

 

slytherblogging

Ok but I didn’t know that his biggest fear is supposed to be voldemort.

Like??!

He betrayed voldemort then went back and lied to him stone cold calm at 21 years old. He didn’t hesitate to go back and spy again. He didn’t run away.

And that was his worst fear?

Don’t.

Because that means he faced the very real prospect of his worst fear every single day of his life. It means he died facing it and you aren’t allowed to make me idolize this character any more than I already do.

Better his death be an escape, it hurts less.

So, No. Nope. Nooope! Nu-uh!

He was a master occlumens. You can’t tell me that a boggart, a simple magical creature, could see past that.

I think he wanted it to think voldemort was his worst fear. Maybe it was easier to let himself believe that than look around and see that he was living his own personal hell.

Because if his life as it ended up was his worst fear that would make him a hero, and Severus was nothing if not adverse to his bravery being common knowledge. He’d have much preferred to be remembered as someone with a childish fear of voldemort.

Also what does it say about Lupin’s opinion of Harry that he assumed Snape and Harry have the same boggart?

Also think about the light this sheds on Neville; if his boggart was voldemort then if anyone knew what it was to have to face your worst fear every day and stay calm it was Severus.

Does it suddenly make sense that Severus realised that he was uniquely placed to save this boy from himself by making damn sure he could face the worst of his worst fear and keep coming back for more? Did it kill him a little every time he realised that there was a kid more afraid of him than of voldemort?

Did it terrify him how much of an easy target for voldemort that made this pureblood, powerful, young man? How easily the boy might bend to voldemort will and take half the sacred 28 with him if he did?

Did he decide that it was worth this kid growing up hating him if it made him strong enough to pick up the fight?

Was he quietly proud when he got reports of Longbottom arguing with the Carrows and organising a resistance right under the nose of the man who he had been terrified of less than four years before?

Did it give him hope that he might one day be able to openly oppose his own worst fear?

Did he die knowing that there was a kid out there who would carry the legacy of being strong enough to face his fear for the greater good if he had to, because of what he did? Because of what he chose to do and the sacrifice he chose to make.

Did he die vindicated that his fear was real and justified? When the alternative is that his worst fear was to carry on living. Either way he was a hero. He gave everything and sacrificed everything and faced his worse fear on a daily basis.

No his boggart can’t have been voldemort, or himself, my heart couldn’t take it.

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.