LOL! I don't know about hero worship, myself, but I really like Lupin's handling of it all over Christmas at the Weasley's when he explains how he neither likes or dislikes Snape, but recognizes he owes him. Since Dumbledore - and, I believe, J.K. Rowling - is all about second chances and redemption, I think Snape's behavior and ultimate [I think] martyrdom plays into that. Or, to "go all Tolkien" on this, I think it's mercy - Dumbledore's, as he himself points out in the Tower to Draco - like Bilbo's, that will in the end decide the fate of many.

PS. And although Snape, who has known meanness himself, is now mean to Harry, he has also saved Harry's life repeatedly, helped him tremendously (especially in this case, throughout the novel, during which Harry thought of the wise "Prince" as a friend), and after this last encounter, he refuses to fight Harry and even gives Harry the exact formula for defeating Voldemort ("learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed"). Rowling also emphasizes trust and the need to look beyond the surface in her books, and Snape is the poster child for both. I find it particularly poignant that Dumbledore trusts Snape with the most difficult of tasks - tasks that will make Snape even more of a stranger in a strange land, hated by all sides. I appreciate the fact Rowling allows her heroes to have faults (Lupin, for example) and her faulty characters to be heroic (Snape). But that's just my two cents. ;)

Aw! :) I don't agree with you about Harry being jumped on when he makes a mistake - it seems to me that Dumbledore, Lupin, and many others have warned him repeatedly about his tendency to jump to conclusions and read things only through the coloring of his misconceptions, giving him lots of chances to rethink his perspective (as Dumbledore and Lupin, and Arthur Weasley, and Hermione, and Ron all did this time about various things). I'm also not sure how being a child comes into this, as this is a coming of age story about a young man less than a year from his majority, who must learn the hard lessons -- literally, the disillusionment, to use the spell as a metaphor -- before he is, truly, an adult capable of defeating evil on his own. In fact, one of the things I like is that Rowling doesn't pull punches in his coming-of-age story. But we may be talking past each other. I don't see myself in the "St. Snape" category; I'm just happy to see complex, multi-dimensional characters who challenge the simplistic white hat/black hat sense of storytelling. And I'm also happy to see an author deal with the inherent limits of the point of view she's chosen, so we must engage our own analytical tools to see what Harry might be looking past: or, to put it another way, to agree with Dumbledore that we might just understand more than Harry does at times. Clever author!

This essay - here - goes a long way toward explaining why I am in fact fascinated by the Snape character, FYI.

Well, now I've finally finished the book, I'm reading thru all this. Really good postings. I agree with you on the joy of JKR's dimensional characters. I love them in that they are more "real" than many, especially those found in "children's" lit. Good and evil are not black and white in the real world. Yes, Snape is mean and ugly, but we are shown WHY. No, not an excuse, but a reason. I don't believe he is evil - mean, of course, but not evil. As you say, he has saved students many times. One of the most touching/telling scenes, which I recall whenever thinking on Snape, is how quickly and utterly he places himself before the kids as Lupin changes into the werewolf in POA. Yes, Harry was mistreated as a child as well, and did not end up like Snape, but all people are not of the same stuff made. This be a life lesson I've harped to my own child for 14 years, and thanks to Rowling, have been able to discuss again.

I never thought of Snape as Hero but he is definitely heroic.

Nice distinction. I agree completely.

the bleakness of what is to come gives all his earlier interactions additional sharpness.

Beautifully put! And speaking of bleakness, am I the only one who found the description of his home in the second chapter particularly poignant?

I don't blame Snape for treating some of the Gryff kids the way he does at all. gads. all that self-righteous goodness would get any cynic worth their salt down. :-P

LOL! Well said indeed.

Excellent point about Snape's early life! By the way, along those lines, you might want to check out a great essay by zoepaleologa: "So Where Is Spinner's End?".

I agree 100%! :) Glad to know we're on the same wavelength! By the way, I just added a new one to my list.Check out his lovely essay here for more good stuff.

Oooh! Wonderful. Thanks so much!

It's funny to participate in a fandom that is still in the works :)

Isn't it? :)

Thanks! St. John Climacus was a Syrian who lived roughly 525-605/606 CE. He was, if I understand him correctly, a learned scholarly monk who lived in the region of Mr. Sinai and wrote two important works in particular: the "Scala Paradisi," which describes the "ladder" we must follow to virtue and religious perfection, and was apparently hugely successful in its day, and the "Liber ad Pastorem." He was the Abbot of Mt. Sinai before his death, and he was known as a wise, contemplative figure who spent much of his time in solitude and study. And that's about all I know.

It's funny how the very first to finish the book were adult academic (geeks) because we read so damn fast!

LOL! So true, so true. *puts hand dramatically to brow* It's a blessing and a curse! ;)