Skip to main content

harry potter - Why did Snape have it in for Neville?


It's clear why Snape picked on Harry (because of James); or on Hermione (Harry's friend; and ALSO a Gryffindor, AND a muggleborn, with audacity to know the subject and annoyance of showing it off when he wanted Gryffindors AND muggleborns to look stupid and incompetent).


But why would he pick on Neville so hard?


Neville wasn't Harry's friend, he wasn't a typical Snape-rubbing-raw Gryffindor, and for sure Snape wouldn't have hated him for his parents having been Aurors.


Being bad at Potions doesn't seem to be it either - otherwise he'd pick on Crabbe and Goyle more than on other Slytherins (though less than on any Gryffindors).



Answer



It seems that it was because Snape resented Neville for not being the "Boy-Who-Lived".



Snaped loved Lily, and Lily ended up dying because Voldemort chose Harry and



... marked him as his equal ...



[with the influence of Snape himself].


So Snape seems to have been resentful of Neville (and probably himself) for not being the one who should have died. Meaning that Snape thought Neville's parents should have been the ones to be killed and not Lily (and James). As pointed out in the comments.


Other Points:



  • Neville was also horrible at Potions (and everything else), right up to the events in the Order of The Phoenix and was an easy target.

  • Snape was a bitter and resentful person in general, especially towards anyone in Gryffindor.


  • Snape has a 'tough-love' approach. We see him outwardly mistreat Harry at school all the way up to the end. But find that he was always inwardly protecting Harry from the shadows. He may have been doing similar things with Neville; except Neville needed a lot of 'tough-love'!


All of these put together, makes for a horrible experience from Snape towards poor old Nev.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more