(Anonymous)
"...memory of him in Book 5 as a young boy on a bucking broomstick may be a hint that he isn't good at it, although he seems to have mastered the skill sufficiently enough as an adult to referee Quidditch games...[cut]...if Snape couldn't be a naturally talented broomstick rider like his rival, then he could have decided to one-up James and do something better--fly without a broomstick...."
I have often wondered whether the reason Snape knew a counter-curse for Harry's 'bucking broom' in Bk1, might be because his own broom was once cursed with the same 'bucking' curse (the memory we see in Bk5).
If so, then he might develop the spell not just to 'impress', but as a back-up plan in case he's on a broom that starts bucking while he's in mid-air. We know Snape was allowed to avoid the raids in VW1, but once he kills Albus he knows he will no longer have an excuse and must be sent on raids. In fact, he supplies the info for a known attack in the 7 Potters.
Personally, IF I had watched someone else cursing a broom well enough that even a super-talented natural (like Harry) could not stay on AND I had once experienced a 'bucking broom' myself (and so knew exactly how difficult I would find it to stay on myself) - I would have begun (or restarted) research on learning to fly on my own right after the incident with Harry's broom.
IF not then, then surely as soon as I could after the game in which he refereed (and was almost knocked off his broom by Harry). To give him further impetus, he also probably saw Harry's fall from his broom when the dementors came too close during a game in Bk3.
Snape is after all, probably the only wizard who had seen Lily 'fly' as a child - even if it was only a kind of slowing down of gravity or a catching of the wind. So he would logically come to the conclusion that it must be possible - even if it was originally only a search for a way to slowly drift to ground after falling off a broom. -- Hwyla
I have often wondered whether the reason Snape knew a counter-curse for Harry's 'bucking broom' in Bk1, might be because his own broom was once cursed with the same 'bucking' curse (the memory we see in Bk5).
If so, then he might develop the spell not just to 'impress', but as a back-up plan in case he's on a broom that starts bucking while he's in mid-air. We know Snape was allowed to avoid the raids in VW1, but once he kills Albus he knows he will no longer have an excuse and must be sent on raids. In fact, he supplies the info for a known attack in the 7 Potters.
Personally, IF I had watched someone else cursing a broom well enough that even a super-talented natural (like Harry) could not stay on AND I had once experienced a 'bucking broom' myself (and so knew exactly how difficult I would find it to stay on myself) - I would have begun (or restarted) research on learning to fly on my own right after the incident with Harry's broom.
IF not then, then surely as soon as I could after the game in which he refereed (and was almost knocked off his broom by Harry). To give him further impetus, he also probably saw Harry's fall from his broom when the dementors came too close during a game in Bk3.
Snape is after all, probably the only wizard who had seen Lily 'fly' as a child - even if it was only a kind of slowing down of gravity or a catching of the wind. So he would logically come to the conclusion that it must be possible - even if it was originally only a search for a way to slowly drift to ground after falling off a broom. -- Hwyla