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No problem--you made a lot of good observations, and I'm delighted that my post has inspired so much discussion! ^_^
Regarding Dumbledore pre-DH, I also thought he cared about Snape, although maybe his actions and understanding of Snape were sometimes flawed--not understanding how difficult it would be for Snape to teach Harry Occlumency, for example. But when he had his talk with Harry, he blamed himself rather than Snape, which I assumed was a sign of caring and remorse. But in DH, it seems like he cares about Snape only as a pawn in his grand plan. But then why he does he take the blame for the failed Occlumency lessons? To give the appearance, if not necessarily the substance, of compassion? Is his remorse not so much for Snape's pain and Sirius's death, but that his plans went awry?
Or maybe he cared about Snape to a certain extent, but is not really capable of caring deeply for another person? The impression I got from DH was that Dumbledore was completely self-centered. He supposedly loves Harry, but he saw that love as a weakness, an unexpected flaw in his plan--an odd reaction for someone who preaches about the power of love. But I guess I'll stop now, before this turns into a full-blown essay on Dumbledore.
Re Slughorn: I also was curious about whether Snape was in the Slug Club. I checked the Lexion, and he isn't on the list of official members, or on the unofficial list of Slughorn's favorites. Of course, it's possible that he was in the Slug Club, and Slughorn just never mentioned it to Harry, but I suspect that Snape wasn't influential or popular enough to warrant special attention as a student. I suspect that Snape might have resented the fact that Sluggy gave special treatment to his favorites and ignored the rest of this students. Also, the fact that young Snape has written so many alterations in his Potions textbook indicates to me that he wasn't getting much out of the official lessons. Probably Slughorn was teaching out of the text by rote, and Snape got bored and did his own research. And in my opinion--and I suspect Snape's--Slughorn was deficient in his duties as Head of House for apparently letting the Death Eaters freely recruit among his students. (I blame Dumbledore for that, too.) I see Headmaster Snape treating Slughorn coolly, with some not-so-thinly-veiled contempt.
See my reply to Oryx for my comments on Lupin.
Regarding Dumbledore pre-DH, I also thought he cared about Snape, although maybe his actions and understanding of Snape were sometimes flawed--not understanding how difficult it would be for Snape to teach Harry Occlumency, for example. But when he had his talk with Harry, he blamed himself rather than Snape, which I assumed was a sign of caring and remorse. But in DH, it seems like he cares about Snape only as a pawn in his grand plan. But then why he does he take the blame for the failed Occlumency lessons? To give the appearance, if not necessarily the substance, of compassion? Is his remorse not so much for Snape's pain and Sirius's death, but that his plans went awry?
Or maybe he cared about Snape to a certain extent, but is not really capable of caring deeply for another person? The impression I got from DH was that Dumbledore was completely self-centered. He supposedly loves Harry, but he saw that love as a weakness, an unexpected flaw in his plan--an odd reaction for someone who preaches about the power of love. But I guess I'll stop now, before this turns into a full-blown essay on Dumbledore.
Re Slughorn: I also was curious about whether Snape was in the Slug Club. I checked the Lexion, and he isn't on the list of official members, or on the unofficial list of Slughorn's favorites. Of course, it's possible that he was in the Slug Club, and Slughorn just never mentioned it to Harry, but I suspect that Snape wasn't influential or popular enough to warrant special attention as a student. I suspect that Snape might have resented the fact that Sluggy gave special treatment to his favorites and ignored the rest of this students. Also, the fact that young Snape has written so many alterations in his Potions textbook indicates to me that he wasn't getting much out of the official lessons. Probably Slughorn was teaching out of the text by rote, and Snape got bored and did his own research. And in my opinion--and I suspect Snape's--Slughorn was deficient in his duties as Head of House for apparently letting the Death Eaters freely recruit among his students. (I blame Dumbledore for that, too.) I see Headmaster Snape treating Slughorn coolly, with some not-so-thinly-veiled contempt.
See my reply to Oryx for my comments on Lupin.