Snape's Patronus

The Spider, the Lily, and Snape's Patronus

What makes Severus Snape tick? Is there a logical explanation for the bizarre combination of sneers, insults, wicked smiles, and towering rage? We'll start with a comment, not about Snape, but about Harry:

[Harry] really is the whole story. The whole plot is contained in Harry Potter; his past, present and future -- that is the story. Harry came to me first and everything radiated out from him.
(from jkrowling.com)

Because Snape plays such a major role, we might expect that his secret motivations "radiate out" from Harry. In other words, Snape's background is not an independent tangent, but an integral part of Harry's own saga. We can be sure that Snape's behavior is affected by memories of Harry's father. In this essay, we're going to play with the notion that Snape had strong feelings for Harry's mother. That's not a new idea, of course. Clever observers like Q.P. Chaffers caught on to it even before Half-blood Prince (in Intrigue that is Lily Potter on mugglenet.com).

Luckily for us, there is more that can be said about Snape and Lily. This particular essay will look at Snape's patterns of animosity toward Harry. Some additional supporting evidence involving the Prince's Potions book will be examined, as will the symbolic meaning of spiders. This will lead to a guess about the form of Snape's Patronus (hint: it's not a spider). Finally, we'll try to identify the main sticking point, from Snape's viewpoint, that puts a chronic strain on his relationship with Harry.

We'll step around the specific nature of Snape's relationship with Lily (friendship, admiration, or romance) and simply try to show that he was fond of her. We'll also skip the question of Snape's true allegiance. Although this essay tends to support the idea that Snape opposes Voldemort, more complex interpretations are possible.

(Page numbers for HBP are from U.S. hardcover; all others are from U.S. paperback. All boldface has been added to quotes. Special thanks to Rannaro, whose Excellent Fan Fiction inspired me to study this issue.)

The Annotated Potions Book - evidence of friendship

We learn early in the series that Lily excelled at Charms. Then, suddenly, Horace Slughorn reveals that she was "a dab hand at Potions" (HBP page 191). We ought to question the reason for complicating the profile of a dead character. It wasn't necessary to make her one of Slughorn's favorites. Potions aside, Slughorn describes Lily as bright, charming, vivacious, brave, and funny (HBP pages 70 & 489).

Perhaps Harry is more like Lily than even Slughorn imagines. Maybe they both excelled at Potions because of the same resource: Snape's notes. Here's a little hint to suggest these notes were originally written for Lily:

... Ron had more difficulty deciphering the handwriting than Harry did
(HBP page 194)

So the notes are most easily read by Harry's eyes. But whose eyes does he have? Lily's.

Better evidence comes when the class is working on antidotes. The Prince's note says 'Just shove a bezoar down their throats.' But is it so hard to remember what a bezoar does? The instruction is conversational. Contrast it with Snape's frustratingly brief marginal notes, like nv for 'non-verbal' and incantations without descriptions (Levicorpus and Sectumsempra).

When Harry takes advice and grabs a bezoar, Slughorn states -- twice -- that this action reminds him of Lily:

"You've got nerve, boy!... Oh, you're like your mother."
(HBP page 378)

"That's the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs!... Just like his mother..."
(HBP page 378)

He used a bezoar... just like his mother. To fully understand what happened in Potions class some twenty years ago, note the following exchange:

Ron was resentful that Harry hadn't slipped him a bezoar too.

"It would've looked stupid if we'd both done it!" said Harry irritably.
(HBP page 380)

Aha! So the bezoar trick only works once per class! And Slughorn all but says Lily used it before, even though we know Snape is the one who wrote the note. That makes some sense: Snape is such a true master of potions he would've enjoyed mixing a complex antidote. So the message to Just shove a bezoar down their throats was written for somebody else -- it was written for Lily.

Occlumency Lessons - evidence of strong feelings

In order to gauge Snape's later reactions during Occlumency lessons, we first need a "baseline" reaction to an event which does not affect him emotionally. So we'll look at the Hex which Harry used in the first session:

"Did you mean to produce a Stinging Hex?" asked Snape coolly.
(OotP page 534)

"I thought not," said Snape contemptuously.
(OotP page 535)

Snape is cold, contemptuous, and in perfect control, just like he is when teaching class.

As that first lesson continues, seven different memories are plucked from Harry's mind (Dudley, Ripper, the Sorting Hat, Hermione, Dementors, Cho, and a dragon) without Snape showing any emotional reaction. But then,

His father and mother were waving at him out of an enchanted mirror.... Cedric Diggory was lying on the ground with blank eyes staring at him....
(OotP page 535)

We are tricked into focusing on Harry's reaction to a dead Cedric Diggory. But we shouldn't overlook Snape's reaction to the next-to-last image: Lily in the mirror of Erised. After seeing this,

Snape looked paler than usual, and angrier
(OotP page 535)

Snape follows this reaction with a statement that seems to be about Harry. But given Snape's pallor and anger, it's worth considering he might be talking about himself when he derides those fools who "wallow in sad memories" (OotP page 536).

In another Occlumency lesson, Harry gets a sudden glimpse into Snape's memories. Harry watches the boy Snape as he "cried in a corner" (OotP page 591). How does Snape react when Harry sees him crying? He does not -- not enough to break the contact, at least. The crying is followed by a memory of Snape lying in bed shooting flies. Then after that,

A girl was laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick--

"ENOUGH!"

Harry felt as though he had been pushed hard in the chest... Snape was shaking slightly, very white in the face.
(OotP page 592)

What is this girl in the memory doing? She is not spying from behind some bushes; nor is there a crowd of people on hand, as there would be for a flying lesson; and the scrawny boy is still trying, even though she's laughing. Only one explanation fits: This girl is a friend who's come to help young Severus practice flying. The laughter is friendly, not derisive.

So who is she? Probably Lily. Snape could have been alone or with a male Slytherin friend, if nothing was significant beyond the broomstick. But Rowling was giving us a hint.

To finish this section, I have a tidbit concerning Snape's Worst Memory. Only a tidbit, mind you -- sharp-eyed theorists like Chaffers were suggesting it was a bad memory because Snape called Lily a "Mudblood" back when I was running off to the library and getting all mushy over Harry and Ginny sharing chocolate.

Anyhoo, we're looking for more evidence to show which part of the memory makes it Snape's worst. I don't think it's the humiliation -- I believe it is what came out of Snape's mouth, both the word 'Mudblood' and his rejection of Lily's help. The evidence comes from the technique which Snape apparently uses to call up this memory from the depths of his many-layered mind:

Snape eyed Harry, tracing his mouth with one long, thin finger as he did so.
...
Snape stared at Harry for a few moments, still tracing his mouth with his finger.
(OotP 531-532)

This action is only described in the first Occlumency lesson, and that's the only time we see Snape before he starts dumping memory into the Pensieve.

Patterns of Animosity - when Snape sees James in Harry

On the surface, Snape seems to despise everything about Harry. But some things he despises less, other things he tries to ignore, and -- occasionally -- he offers grudging admiration.

We'll start the breakdown with James. When Snape calls Harry "arrogant", he also says Harry is "very like his father" (OotP page 520) or "extraordinarily like your father" (PoA page 284). When Harry sneaks into Hogsmeade, Snape recalls that James "didn't set much store by the rules, either" (PoA page 284). In the Shrieking Shack, Snape claims Harry could have died "like your father" for the combined faults of arrogance and trust in Sirius Black (PoA page 361).

We are told that "James was everything Snape wanted to be -- he was popular, he was good at Quidditch..." (Sirius, OotP page 670). So, naturally, Snape never misses an opportunity to deride Harry's fame. He mocks Harry's celebrity status in their first Potions class ("fame clearly isn't everything" -- PS/SS page 137). He accuses Harry of using the flying Ford Anglia out of a desire for attention (CoS page 78). In the first D.A.D.A. class that Snape teaches, he declares, "I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter...not even 'the Chosen One'" (HBP page 180). In Goblet of Fire, we the reader know that Harry is irritated by Rita Skeeter's articles, but Snape is too fixated on fame as a bad influence to see it that way:

"You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you... [but] To me, Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him."
(GoF page 516)

In Snape's mind, there is still one thing worse than arrogance, rule-breaking, or popularity, and that is Quidditch. After all, Lily was popular, but (as far as we know) she did not play Quidditch. That comes entirely from James. Snape even blames "a small amount" of Quidditch talent for giving James a swollen head (PoA page 284).

Logically, Snape should not care about Harry playing Quidditch. It's not against the rules and it has no bearing on the greater events of the wizarding world. So we can be sure that a bit of psychosis is involved in Snape's actions: For no apparent reason, Snape seizes a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages from Harry in the courtyard (PS/SS page 182); he spits on the ground after Harry catches the Snitch (PS/SS page 224); he tries to get Harry suspended from the Quidditch team (even after vouching for Harry's innocence) following the attack on Mrs. Norris (CoS page 144); and he deliberately schedules Harry's detention following the Sectumsempra incident to keep Harry out of the last match (HBP page 528). Taken as a whole, it looks like an effort to purge Harry of a trait inherited from James.

Patterns of Animosity - when Snape sees himself in Harry

The reactions change altogether when Snape sees a quality in Harry that is similar to his own. For example, Snape is a superb Occlumens, and he displays genuine hope that Harry will follow in his footsteps:

"I have been told that you have already shown an aptitude at resisting the Imperius Curse....You will find that similar powers are needed for this..."
(OotP page 534)

In a later lesson, even though Snape is "white and shaking" from having his memory probed, he stops to offer Harry a rare compliment:

"Well, Potter... that was certainly an improvement...."
(OotP page 592)

Although Harry never succeeds with Occlumency, there is one area of skill that he does share with Snape: Defense Against the Dark Arts. Hermione once observed that Snape and Harry have similar perspectives on the subject (HBP page 180). Ironically, Snape was the first professor to teach Harry any practical defensive magic:

He pulled out his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" and just as Snape had disarmed Lockhart, so Malfoy found the diary shooting out of his hand into the air.
(CoS page 239)

At this point, we should look at Snape's D.A.D.A. classes in book six to see what he thinks of Harry's ability. In the first practical lesson, Snape is eager to test Harry (HBP page 180). But, unfortunately for us, Harry goes against instructions and makes a cheeky comment, thus denying the reader an opportunity to gauge Snape's true reaction.

In the next practical lesson... uh oh! There aren't any more! Considering the importance of both Snape and the D.A.D.A. job, this lack of text smells fishy. I think it's a deliberate cover-up. Rowling does not want to make it obvious that Snape enjoys teaching Harry Defense Against the Dark Arts (or that Harry learns well from Snape).

Closely related to D.A.D.A. is the practice of the Dark Arts themselves. When Snape corners Harry after the duel with Draco, he is impressed:

"Apparently I underestimated you, Potter," he said quietly. "Who would have thought you knew such Dark Magic?"
(HBP page 524)

While Draco's life is in danger, Snape is livid, and we expect that because the Unbreakable Vow ties Snape's fate to Draco's. But once Draco is safely in the Hospital Wing, all evidence of anger vanishes. Snape speaks "quietly" or "softly" or even whispers (HBP pages 524 & 528). There is no sneering, no yelling, and no attempt to have Harry expelled. Because it's so out of character, then, it should be easy to imagine that what Snape really wants is for Harry to acknowledge how much he learned from "The Prince".

Patterns of Animosity - The Importance of Hermione

Now we come to Lily, where Snape's silence is deafening. He does not so much as speak her name in Harry's presence. If Snape hated her the way he hated James, this would not make sense. He certainly knew Lily, and knew her well enough to know she was Muggle-born. The lack of commentary is already suspicious. Furthermore, we can make some good guesses about Snape's feelings by observing his treatment of Hermione.

Hermione is a Muggle-born witch, a top-tier student, and a dab hand at potions. I'm sure Snape sees a bit of Lily in her. This generates approval, which Snape carefully hides, and some misplaced resentment, because Hermione makes Lily less unique. Worst of all is Snape's outright disgust over the fact that Hermione is an admiring friend of Harry's. With Harry being so like James, it is the worst part of Snape's history repeating itself.

Most Gryffindors, including Harry's close friend Ron, are given sharp commands, point deductions, or detentions. This is Snape's modus operandi for keeping students under control. But Hermione is an exception. Snape feels an ugly mixture of admiration and resentment, so he just keeps everything bottled up and tries to ignore her -- but then, we can not ignore her, he lashes out with utter cruelty, enough to make Hermione weep:

"Five more points from Gryffindor for being an insufferable know-it-all."

Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears.
(PoA page 172)

Another incident happens right after Harry was defending Hermione:

[Hermione's teeth] had now grown down past her collar....

Snape looked coldly at Hermione, then said, "I see no difference."

Hermione let out a whimper; her eyes filled with tears...
(GoF page 300)

To really see that it's not just Hermione, but the perceived parallel of Harry/Hermione to James/Lily, we can look at Rita Skeeter's article about them. Remember, even though we readers know there is nothing between Harry and Hermione, Snape doesn't know any better than Mrs. Weasley. The article, entitled Harry Potter's Secret Heartache (GoF page 511-512), is top-filled with phrases to make Snape think of Lily and James and himself:

Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents [Harry's parents = James and Lily]...

Muggle-born Hermione Granger...

Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup...

Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections....

Miss Granger's doubtful charms...

"she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy."

Snape's reaction is bizarre. Normally, he relies on his talent for "keeping a class silent without effort" (PS/SS page 137). Laughter is "instantly quelled" with a look (HBP page 460). Not this time. This time, Snape reads the newspaper aloud in class, no doubt hoping to shame Hermione into tears. He then goes one step further and splits up the Trio, symbolically separating Harry and Hermione in retribution for having failed to separate James and Lily.

Spider Symbolism - Snape and other ambiguous Slytherins

Without even mentioning Snape, we can identify a symbolic pattern involving spiders. They are associated with what I call "ambiguous Slytherins," those who have somehow betrayed or abandoned Voldemort.

When we meet Horace Slughorn, he is not hiding from Voldemort-the-killer, but from Voldemort-the-recruiter:

"What would the Death Eaters want with...me?"

"I imagine they would want to turn your considerable talents to coercion, torture, and murder," said Dumbledore.
(HBP page 68)

After that meeting, this is how Harry thinks of Slughorn:

... a sudden and vivid mental image of a great swollen spider, spinning a web...
(HBP page 75)

We never meet Regulus (we're assuming he's R.A.B.), but we get a tour of the room where he'd originally left the locket:

They found an unpleasant-looking silver instrument... which scuttled up Harry's arm like a spider when he picked it up
(OotP page 116)

They moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where they found spiders large as saucers
(OotP page 117)

Those two spider references bracket a mere five paragraphs, where I suspect there are many hidden clues about Regulus. Notably, the "heavy locket" is mentioned in that span.

A less obvious use of the spider symbol comes from Barty Crouch Jr., a.k.a. the imposter Moody. He tells Harry,

"Oh if there's one thing I hate... it's a Death Eater who walked free...."
(GoF page 476-477)

His list includes a number of Slytherins, I'm sure, who were unwilling to follow the Lestrange route into Azkaban. Certainly Barty Jr. hates Snape. Knowing this, it's interesting to look back at GoF chapter 14 where Barty Jr. teaches about the Unforgivable Curses. His chosen victims for demonstrating torture and murder are -- you guessed it -- spiders.

Now let's look at the references to Snape. Keeping in mind that spiders kill flies,

A greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling, shooting down flies.
(OotP page 591-592)

The title of HBP chapter two (where Snape lives) is pretty obvious:

At last, Narcissa hurried up a street named Spinner's End...
(HBP page 21)

In Snape's Worst Memory, he is described as walking

in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider
(OotP page 643)

There are many more spider references which should provide some fun speculation outside the scope of this essay: Ron's boggart, the spiders in Harry's cupboard under the stairs, fear of Slytherin's basilisk, etc. But for now, I think we've covered Snape. Next, we'll see how this relates to his feelings for Lily.

The Patronus

From the World Book Day Chat 2004,

Ernie: I wonder if you can let us know what form will Professor Snape's Boggart and Patronus take? I am very curious.
JK Rowling: Well, I'm not going to tell you Ernie, but that's because it would give so much away.

Indeed it would. That seems to rule out the spider, as Snape's spidery characteristics are already established.

So let's consider an interesting feature of the barriers which guarded the Philosopher's Stone way back in book one. Each of the Professors (and Hagrid) provided a defensive mechanism in accordance with his/her subject, but with one notable exception: Snape.

There really was no Potions challenge. Snape provided a riddle; a test of logic.

Now fast forward to the third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Once again, it seems possible (if not stated) that a number of Professors contributed talents to the maze's hazards:

Skrewts -- Care of Magical Creatures (Hagrid)
Boggart -- Defense against Dark Arts (imposter Moody)
Hedges -- Hagrid tended these, but Sprout probably helped (Herbology)
Reversed gravity -- Charms (Flitwick)

There is no Potions hazard, but once again there is a riddle, posed by a sphinx. Just knowing that, I'm inclined to think Snape put it there; and the nature of the riddle gives more clues pointing to Snape:

"A person in disguise..."

"A -- a spy?"
(GoF page 630)

Snape, of course, is the big-time spy in the story. Then,

"A creature I wouldn't want to kiss...a spider!"
(GoF page 630)

Snape, as shown previously, is frequently symbolized by spiders. It's not necessary to think that he included "spy" and "spider" in the riddle (or even that he placed the sphinx, really). The connections are more likely to be clues from the author to the reader.

The link between Snape and the sphinx is important when we see that the sphinx symbolizes Lily. It's early dialogue with Harry is an eerie parallel to Lily's dialogue with Voldemort at Godric's Hollow:

"You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me."

"So...so will you move, please?" said Harry, knowing what the answer was going to be.

"No," she said...
(GoF page 629)

As Harry already knew the answer, there seems little point (outside of giving clues) for his question.

Next, observe that the sphinx has the head of a woman and the body of a lion. The lion is the animal symbol for Gryffindor, and Lily was a true Gryffindor -- something Snape could never forget.

Finally, there is a glaring commonality in descriptive characteristics between Lily and the sphinx. Lily is described in Snape's Worst Memory:

She had thick, dark red hair... and startlingly green almond-shaped eyes
(OotP page 647)

The sphinx is described in the maze:

She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon Harry as he approached.
(GoF page 628)

Despite a multitude of descriptions for Harry's (and thus Lily's) eyes, they only appear "almond-shaped" in Snape's memory. Hence the sphinx represents Snape's concept and memory of Lily, and I am convinced his Patronus takes that form -- a sphinx.

Bravery - the main sticking point

Of all the Harry/James/Snape qualities, this is what really irritates Snape. Put simply, Snape does recognize Harry's bravery (how could anyone not?) but he is infuriated that Harry perceives brave as being like James and unlike Snape. In the chapter titled Snape's Grudge, Snape pointedly claims that "There was nothing brave about what [James] did" in saving Snape's life (PoA page 285).

Snape displays satisfaction (to Harry's surprise) when Harry acknowledges Snape's dangerous job:

"...it is not up to you to find out what the Dark Lord is saying to his Death Eaters."

"No -- that's your job, isn't it?" Harry shot at him.

...there was a curious, almost satisfied expression on Snape's face when he answered.

"Yes, Potter," he said, his eyes glinting. "That is my job."
(OotP page 591)

The theme reaches a climax during Snape's flight from Hogwarts, when Snape drags James into the conversation from out of nowhere:

"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" shouted Snape. "Your father would never attack me unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I wonder?"
(HBP page 602-603)

Fittingly, this is the last thing we hear from Snape:

[Harry:] "Kill me like you killed him, you coward--"

"DON'T--" screamed Snape, and his face was suddenly demented, inhuman... "CALL ME COWARD!"
(HBP page 604)

Snape is so upset over this issue that he's made a subtle attempt to teach Harry that he, Snape, was never a coward around the Marauders. Harry didn't catch on, though -- not many did. The lesson is contained within the punishment that Snape gives Harry after the Sectumsempra incident:

He pulled out a card from one of the topmost boxes with a flourish and read, "James Potter and Sirius Black. Apprehended using an illegal hex upon Bertram Aubrey...."
(HBP page 532)

Catch that? Every card has the victim's name on it. We are then given a narrative overview of Harry's task,

It was, as Harry anticipated, useless, boring work, punctuated... with the regular jolt in the stomach that meant he had just read his father or Sirius's names... occasionally accompanied by those of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.
(HBP page 532)

Harry notices familiar names, including those of people he doesn't like (i.e., Pettigrew). But one of James and Sirius's favorite hex victims is missing from the files:

"And [James] stopped hexing people just for the fun of it," said Lupin.

"Even Snape?" said Harry.

"Well," said Lupin slowly, "Snape was a special case."
(OotP page 671)

The message (which Harry does not get) is this: No matter how often Snape was hexed, whether it was one-on-one, two-on-one, or even four-on-one, he stood his ground and hexed back. He, unlike the Bertram Aubreys of his time, did not go to the authorities to bring down punishment on the Marauders. This sort of "playground code" might be childish, but Snape desperately wants Harry to acknowledge some form of courage on Snape's part.

Conclusions

To this day, Snape retains very strong feelings for Lily Evans, as evidenced by his behavior toward Hermione, his reactions to certain memories, and his sphinx Patronus. Even if they had only been friends, and Snape had harbored no romantic interest, Snape would have resented her marrying James. He might see their marriage as the path which led to Lily's death (even while taking some blame on himself).

Snape now suffers from some degree of a paternal displacement obsession (to make up a fun little phrase). He despises those characteristics in Harry which are derived from James, and even seeks to purge them from Harry's person. He admires those characteristics in Harry which are similar to Snape himself, and desires to see them at the forefront.

The most difficult issue is Harry's greatest attribute: courage. Snape is convinced, deep in his heart, that he is braver than James ever was. Thus he is tormented by Harry's continued insistence that the opposite is true, that James was bold and brave while Snape is a coward. If Harry can ever bring himself to acknowledge Snape's courage, it might go a long way toward healing the rift.

Do you have an addition, objection, or comment? You can discuss this theory on HPANA.
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