![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
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
fanon
When Sirius tried to explain their treatment of Snape to Harry, he said, "We were all idiots! Well - not Moony so much." He didn't say "not Moony" (ie *at all*), just not *so much*. I call that a clear admission that Lupin *did* join in with the harassment, albeit with less intensity. It's worth noting that Snape's own testimony was that James "would never attack me unless it was four on one." (NB He said "four ON one", which I believe indicates agression, rather than "four TO one", which would indicate mere outnumbering.) And why would he suppose, as he claimed in PoA, that Lupin was in on the trick with the others, if Lupin had never participated in their other attacks?
We learnt in DH that Snape suspected Lupin's lycanthropy *before* entering the tunnel - although no doubt he wasn't expecting to end up in a cul-de-sac with an unrestrained werewolf. He probably supposed the tunnel led to Hogsmeade and that Lupin was locked in a cage before moonrise. (Wouldn't anyone?)
Although the frequency and severity of their bullying provided an adequate motive for wanting the Marauders expelled, I'm not convinced Snape expected to catch them out in expellable behaviour. Their own guilty knowledge would incline them to iattribute this motive to him, but given his obvious fear that Lily was warming to James, I think it more likely he was looking for evidence to convince her that James's "gang" (McGonagall's word) was dangerous and she should stay away from them. He had tried to tell her, but she had resolutely refused to believe his "theory" ... which he had apparently told no one else. (Unless we are to suppose that Dumbledore Obliviated them; at any rate, the Slytherin parents of Harry's generation don't seem to have warned their kids of the danger.)
duj
Re: fanon
Not in his school days, but not even later, when he was a Death Eater. Voldemort could have used the information to discredit Dumbledore and have him removed from Hogwarts, but it seems Voldemort never noticed such information could have been present. What does this tell us of the motivations of Death Eater Severus Snape?
Re: fanon
And Remus' insult on the Map would also play out in PoA. We need to remember that while Snape might not have known EXACTLY what the Map did, it was apparently familiar enough that he knew who made it. If he didn't recognize it from his youth, then minimally, he recognized the nicknames.
When he says he believes the Map came directly from the 'manufacturers' with the purpose of 'luring' Harry outside of Hogwarts, he is outright offering Remus a chance to show he is not supporting Sirius Black. After all, they are the last of the 'manufacturers'. Black shouldn't have the Map in his possession - he's come from Azbakastan - leaving Remus as the most likely culprit. So Snape has a very good reason to believe Remus was helping Black.
Of course, Remus WAS helping Black - just not 'actively'.
As for Remus not being 'in on' the attack in SWM - he DOES have the most to lose IF Snape breaks and blurts out his secret.
It is interesting that IF Snape only went down the tunnel to get proof for Lily and never had any intention of telling his fellow Slytherins (or getting the Marauders expelled), then his keeping his promise not to tell (even after Hogwarts) would tend to indicate that he doesn't really have anything against Werewolves - as long as they take the safety precautions needed.
However, we cannot be TOO sure that Snape NEVER hinted at something. First year Draco believed there were werewolves in the Forbidden Forest and Remus wasn't roaming around there loose until several years after his parents had finished. While Snape may not have outed Remus, he MAY have shared his suspicions that a werewolf might be loose in the Forest after the Werewolf Incident -- Hwyla
Re: fanon
However, we cannot be TOO sure that Snape NEVER hinted at something. First year Draco believed there were werewolves in the Forbidden Forest and Remus wasn't roaming around there loose until several years after his parents had finished. While Snape may not have outed Remus, he MAY have shared his suspicions that a werewolf might be loose in the Forest after the Werewolf Incident
?? Severus did not know the Marauders were letting Remus out. After Remus left Hogwarts he was no more likely to have been roaming around there on full moons than any other werewolf. If anything, the rumors about a werewolf around Hogwarts would have originated in tales of Fenrir who was known to prey on children and who was known to the Malfoys (though I wouldn't take seriously Draco's description of him to Borgin as a family friend. OTOH I wouldn't be surprised if when Lucius was threatening to curse the families of board members in COS he was threatening them with Fenrir and Draco copied the idea in HBP - credit to this should go either to Jodel or swythyv). As an aside, when diaryTom tried to discredit Hagrid to Harry he says Hagrid was raising werewolf cubs. Was 16 year old Tom already thinking of associating with werewolves or was this in response to the same student rumor about werewolves in the Forbidden Forest that diaryTom learned from Ginny?
Re: fanon
I can remember thinking that, but I no longer believe it. Let's face it, lycanthropy isn't something you *can* keep secret for long from your employer, landlord and/or neighbours. Whatever Lupin did after Hogwarts, he wouldn't be able to keep a job past the second or third full moon. (The first absences might be ignored as coincidence.) And the more employers he went through, the less "secret" his secret would be. Snape could have shouted it to the world and it wouldn't have significantly worsened Lupin's post-Hogwarts life. The only thing he had to fear was having his Hogwarts career cut short.
But he knew Snape would be muzzled until they both finished school; his lycanthropy was known to Dumbledore and Pomfrey (and probably all the staff, although that is less clear) and it didn't suit them to have his condition exposed. Whereas the other three Marauders were actually engaging in criminal activity by their unregistered transforming, and Rita's susceptibility to Hermione's blackmail suggests that the penalties for that are severe. Plus they were *deliberately* releasing a werewolf at full moon. It seems plausible to me that the penalty for that would be greater than the penalty for merely *being* that werewolf, unless his willing complicity could be proven in court. *He* might be removed from the school on grounds of safety - if Dumbledore decided not to protect him - but *they* could be expelled, turned in to the Aurors, and have their wands snapped.
I now believe that the whole point of the so-called prank was to get Snape off their tails so they could have their full moon outings without being caught (because heaven knows, no one *but* Snape was bothering to keep an eye on them!) Lupin was the one who benefited most from those outings. The other three could roam any night of the month, but Lupin could only accompany them on full moons. (He could hide under the Cloak other nights, but not keep up with their speed.) So discrediting Snape was greatly in Lupin's interest.
It's important to remember (what many people forget) that Lupin was as much a Marauder, ie a rule-breaker and risk-taker, as his friends. I don't think he would have let the risk deter him from something he very much wanted to do. After all, he regularly courted discovery by roaming where people were; why would he fear Snape more than his chance-met victims, whose mouths *couldn't* be stopped by the threat of expulsion?
duj