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Werewolves. I believe that Severus' antipathy to werewolves was due to something he believed to be Remus’ betrayal. Remus had never tormented him. That would have meant a great deal Severus, as a lonely teenager. There are two times we read about Severus following someone and spying on them for his own ends. One is Lily, in the playground, (which naturally implies more such incidents.) The other is his spying on the Marauders.
The books speak of him hiding in the bushes, watching Lily with hunger. He was not a predator, but despite everything, despite planning and cunning, he was something much more innocent. He wanted a friend.
I believe it was in the same spirit that he watched the marauders. It is true, he was amongst a gang of Slytherins, who nearly all turned out to be Death-Eaters, but they were Slytherin. They were the powerful rich old families, pure-blood, wanting for nothing. The demands put on the neglected boy we see on the train must have been enormous, and they would have had to be hidden, must be demonstrated immediately even as they were developing.
How lonely he must have been, would have been, even had Sirius, James and probably others, not tormented him while their followers jeered.
He would have noticed Remus with them, shabby and poor as himself, another boy who would have been an outcast. He would have seen the apology in Remus' eyes, the awkwardness, the inability to prevent his friends, the disinclination to participate. Intrigued, he would have watched, noticed the illnesses, the absences, perhaps scratches and minor wounds. In his mind he would have conjured sympathy in Remus - not pity, but possibility of understanding, fellow-feeling, even... even friendship.
Remus regretted not preventing his friends from tormenting Severus and as good as called himself an idiot. But this was Remus' thought. Even Sirius and Dumbledore did not share it. Severus was bullied by the leaders in the school, and by extension an entire crowd. He would have been keenly aware that Remus had been reading during his worst memory, even more aware he was frowning. He would also have assumed with the same keenness of feeling that Remus would wished he was not bullied.
The whole school, and the world, from his earliest childhood, had been against him, save his shining Slytherins. A simple refusal to participate would grow and expand into an almost convincing illusion of understanding and warmth. Severus was not lost yet. There was no brand on his arm. He was free to make his own choices. I believe something in him was still tender and wistful enough to believe he could have that friend. I believe he was innocent enough to fool himself into believing Remus would have sat with him - talked, shared books, perhaps, ideas, sympathies - if only Remus had been free to do what he really wanted.
He would have watched and waited, thinking kindly too of a boy with secrets, poverty, pain. He would have dreamt as he had of himself and Lily, prepared himself again for an approach, ineptly. The day actually came, though the message was from Sirius.
Then came the Shrieking Shack fiasco. Sirius tried to kill him, and Remus was a werewolf, vicious, terrifying. , and they all stood against him, favoured. Even Remus. Dumbledore was perhaps the only one who could have redeemed him from the Death Eaters. He waved him away, treated him as nothing, protected his young lions. It was the end of many things for Severus, and I believe he channelled all his hurt into hate and rage and dismissal. I believe he swept Remus, and werewolves by extension into this, calling him a weapon, a danger even into adulthood, trying to convince himself.
Nevertheless, I believe the earlier truth wound itself into Severus' obsession. He was somewhat obsessed. Even before Remus came to teach, his third question to Harry, in his first ever class, was about Aconite, Monkshood, Wolfsbane. I believe those sad tendrils of hope still lived, though as melancholy, as mourning, as sorrow, as part of himself he had also lost. In my world, it is this spirit, almost of a past, ghostly Severus that infuses the Wolfsbane potion which he brews for Remus.
The books speak of him hiding in the bushes, watching Lily with hunger. He was not a predator, but despite everything, despite planning and cunning, he was something much more innocent. He wanted a friend.
I believe it was in the same spirit that he watched the marauders. It is true, he was amongst a gang of Slytherins, who nearly all turned out to be Death-Eaters, but they were Slytherin. They were the powerful rich old families, pure-blood, wanting for nothing. The demands put on the neglected boy we see on the train must have been enormous, and they would have had to be hidden, must be demonstrated immediately even as they were developing.
How lonely he must have been, would have been, even had Sirius, James and probably others, not tormented him while their followers jeered.
He would have noticed Remus with them, shabby and poor as himself, another boy who would have been an outcast. He would have seen the apology in Remus' eyes, the awkwardness, the inability to prevent his friends, the disinclination to participate. Intrigued, he would have watched, noticed the illnesses, the absences, perhaps scratches and minor wounds. In his mind he would have conjured sympathy in Remus - not pity, but possibility of understanding, fellow-feeling, even... even friendship.
Remus regretted not preventing his friends from tormenting Severus and as good as called himself an idiot. But this was Remus' thought. Even Sirius and Dumbledore did not share it. Severus was bullied by the leaders in the school, and by extension an entire crowd. He would have been keenly aware that Remus had been reading during his worst memory, even more aware he was frowning. He would also have assumed with the same keenness of feeling that Remus would wished he was not bullied.
The whole school, and the world, from his earliest childhood, had been against him, save his shining Slytherins. A simple refusal to participate would grow and expand into an almost convincing illusion of understanding and warmth. Severus was not lost yet. There was no brand on his arm. He was free to make his own choices. I believe something in him was still tender and wistful enough to believe he could have that friend. I believe he was innocent enough to fool himself into believing Remus would have sat with him - talked, shared books, perhaps, ideas, sympathies - if only Remus had been free to do what he really wanted.
He would have watched and waited, thinking kindly too of a boy with secrets, poverty, pain. He would have dreamt as he had of himself and Lily, prepared himself again for an approach, ineptly. The day actually came, though the message was from Sirius.
Then came the Shrieking Shack fiasco. Sirius tried to kill him, and Remus was a werewolf, vicious, terrifying. , and they all stood against him, favoured. Even Remus. Dumbledore was perhaps the only one who could have redeemed him from the Death Eaters. He waved him away, treated him as nothing, protected his young lions. It was the end of many things for Severus, and I believe he channelled all his hurt into hate and rage and dismissal. I believe he swept Remus, and werewolves by extension into this, calling him a weapon, a danger even into adulthood, trying to convince himself.
Nevertheless, I believe the earlier truth wound itself into Severus' obsession. He was somewhat obsessed. Even before Remus came to teach, his third question to Harry, in his first ever class, was about Aconite, Monkshood, Wolfsbane. I believe those sad tendrils of hope still lived, though as melancholy, as mourning, as sorrow, as part of himself he had also lost. In my world, it is this spirit, almost of a past, ghostly Severus that infuses the Wolfsbane potion which he brews for Remus.
crushed
I do think that Lupin could have been friends with Snape under different circumstances. He's quieter, more studious and serious compared to the other Marauders; I could see them making good study partners. And as you said, both outcasts. Snape didn't know that Lupin was a werewolf, at least at first, but I think that he was smart enough to sense that Lupin was hiding a pretty big secret, somethng that he was ashamed of. And if Hermione could figure it out, maybe the young Snape did, too?
I think he still did feel something for Lupin as an adult, since he risks blowing his cover trying to save Lupin during the broomstick chase from the Dursleys', as Hwyla pointed out above. It has to be something more than just protecting a colleague, since he stood by and allowed Charity Burbage to be killed. What, one might wonder, makes Lupin so special?
Which is something I find terribly interesting. He KNEW Remus was a werewolf and he probably was certain Remus would be at the other end of the tunnel (we don't have actual canon that says exactly what Sirius implied would BE down the tunnel, but the implication has been that Snape bought into the 'prank' because he wanted to catch them doing something bad enought to call for expullsion.
The other implication has been that what he would find down that tunnel would get ALL of the Marauders in trouble, not just Remus - so it is my guess that he was aware the Marauders were sneaking out on Full moon nights, presumably spending them in the shack with Remus behind very sturdy bars.
After all, proving Remus a werewolf is unlikely to be enough to get him expelled - let's face it, it's unlikely that the Marauders set up the whole Shrieking Shack and tunnel protection. And I really doubt that it was REMUS that Sev wanted gone so badly. What Snape was looking for was something that would get rid of JAMES and SIRIUS. And that means catching them doing something they should not be doing - like spending the Full Moon with Mooney.
Since Snape never did find out that the Marauders were animagi (until at least the end of PoA), I think that once Snape found out that Remus was roaming the Shack 'freely', he believed that the boys were using some kind of 'dark arts' to keep Remus under control (this is pre-wolfsbane potion).
I rally don't know exactly what to think Snape thought of Werewolves, but I feel at least sure that he did not blindly fear them. There's no indication during SWM that Snape is actually afraid of Remus. So, at the very least Sev was aware that Werewolves were only dangerous when transformed by the Full Moon.
At least until he later met Fenrir. -- Hwyla
I think the difference between Charity and Remus' cases weren't the people but the situation. With Charity he was sitting on Voldemort's right side, at a table surrounded by 40some DEs. There was no way he could pull it off. During the 7-P battle there were 7 separate mini-battles taking place at once, so there were probably no more than 3-4 other DEs in the vicinity and everyone was moving so had he hit the DE as intended he could claim it was accidental.