During the summer of 1996, Severus stumbled upon the Muggle machine at a flea market on his way to the shops. He remembers Mrs Evans using a similar model; as a child, he was deeply fascinated by the instrument.
He had accepted that he would not survive the war. It had been quite easy to come to terms with. Severus began to document all of his academic discoveries and inventions. He also worked on a book for teaching potions, inspired by a remark made by Minerva after she grew tired of listening to him complain about the current curriculum. It was a tedious process that helped him relax during the summers he had left. After finishing an academic report, he meticulously packaged it in a leather binder making it ready for publication after his death. Hopefully, others would benefit from his academic discoveries. He at least wanted his sorry existence to not be a complete waste of space.
Occasionally, he would also use the typewriter for poetry.
Based on a request by @pommur (made looooong ago), who wanted our favourite professor using Muggle tech. You can support me on Ko-fi if you’d like ^^ I’d really appreciate it!
I am obsessed with the way that you draw Snape’s hands; the light and shade, the tendons, the flex of his wrist.
What blows me away about this piece is that Snape himself is so engaging - from the creases in his shirt to expression on his face - but the typewriter equally draws my attention. The use of light to create it is just perfect; the hammers and the paper… it blows me away just looking at it.
And then the concept itself. I think one of the most harrowing things about HP is the lost potential of those who are killed, and there’s something so incredibly troubling to me about the notion that Snape almost certainly realises that he’s unlikely to make it out alive.
Still, I think the alternative is almost worse, especially with his schoolbook being destroyed; that his improvements and inventions wouldn’t live on.
The use of truth, half truths and Lies in Spinners End chapter
I think Spinner’s End chapter in HBP is a very effective show of how Snape plays his role as a double agent. It’s an interesting mix of half truths, truth, lies and using people’s own understanding against them. It’s quite clever. So let’s begin, shall we?
When Narcissa calls for his help, he is immediately responsive with her that one can even go as far to call kind. The Malfoys think highly of him (and we know Lucius was a prefect at the time of Snape’s sorting), so this is possibly built on years of good relationship. In contrast, he has a “mocking smile” when admitting Bellatrix into his house, and the scene will go further to show why.
When Bellatrix starts questioning him, Snape counters with “don’t you think the Dark Lord asked me every one of those questions? Do you think I fooled the Dark Lord, the most accomplished Legliemens the world had ever seen?”. What Snape is doing here is using Bellatrix’s extremely high opinion of Voldemort against her. He does this several times in the scene. (“Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord? You think Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with Death Eaters and fought against the Order of Phoenix?”).
Just because Dumbledore is the kind to take in Hagrid, send envoys to giants etc, he is seen as someone who sees the “best in everyone”. As we know from DH, that is categorically not true. Dumbledore’s trust in people is very calculated and not at all based on “seeing the best in people”. However, Snape uses that wide prevailing assumption about Dumbledore against Bellatrix (and also the reader at that point of time). “You overlook Dumbledore’s greatest weakness, he has to believe in the best of people. I spun a tale of great remorse and he embraced me with open arms”.
After he says this, he says an interesting bit of dialogue which I think is true. “- he embraced me with open arms, though I say, never allowing me nearer the Dark Arts than he could help”. I think there is an element of truth in what he is saying here. While one reason that Dumbledore doesn’t allow Snape on the DADA job is because the job is jinxed, the second reason is that Snape’s fascination with Dark Arts is a temptation. It was temptation enough in his youth that it strained his friendship with Lily, and it clearly something he speaks of with passion in HBP, so I imagine Dumbledore is very careful about this. Snape isn’t too happy about this though - he has a lot of pride in his role as someone Dumbledore trusts. So when Umbridge asks him about his unsuccessful attempts to get the DADA job in OOTP, Snape responds “jerkily” : “I suggest you ask him”. I think it offends Snape that Dumbledore isn’t trusting him enough here.
Then he says: “Dumbledore is a great wizard - oh yes, he has, the Dark Lord acknowledges it”. This is true. No matter what kind of role he is playing, he is not going to pretend he doesn’t respect Dumbledore, so he says the truth. Interestingly, the other person he speaks his true opinion of apart from Dumbledore is Harry. The “mediocre, obnoxious and self satisfied as his father before him”. He says as much to Dumbledore in DH, so this is how he truly feels. He also talks, interestingly, of being curious about Harry and his powers (before dismissing him). This is also corroborated in Chamber of Secrets, when Snape is throwing Harry a “shrewd, calculating look” after Harry speaks Parseltongue.
After which, here is his interesting use of half truth. “I am pleased to say, however, Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with Dark Lord shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions were slower than they once were”. While it is true that Dumbledore is injured and he is slower, it is not because of the duel with Voldemort but of the incident with the ring. Once again, Snape is using Bellatrix’s high opinion of Voldemort against her.
Then, of course, Snape’s mocking of Bellatrix’s loyalty. “oh, indeed, most admirable. The gesture was undoubtedly fine” “I had a rather more useful welcome back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is”- I think he finds Bellatrix “brawny” rather than “brainy” lol. Snape seems to value high intellect, and magical capabilities quite a bit (“you have loads of magic,” he tells Lily). He insults people on their capabilities rather than anything else, which gives you a good indication of what he values. Snape as a character craves respect, rather being universally liked. It makes sense, considering his abusive home situation, his half blood status in wizarding world and his poverty in Muggle world - he feels powerless in every instance. I don’t think being disliked bothers him as much as being disrespected (see his reaction to being called a coward by Harry in HBP).
The movie version of this plays up HBC as Bellatrix and she moves the scene forward, with Alan Rickman’s Snape being more conflicted. In the book, Snape is playing her like a fiddle.
you probably only screamed like that because holy water must have gotten into your eye, you swear. this is the thing that binds you together. you’re the reason they hate each other now. you sinned just by being born. that’s what God must have wanted though. that’s exactly what God didn’t want. that’s the human condition, lad. you’ve never felt more at home anywhere than here. you’re not welcome here anymore. the fourth commandment is impossible. all you want is to get away from here. you’re not worth anything there. nothing there is worthy of you. there’s no way to make up for your sins. God forgives everyone who repents. there are spots that never come off. the Virgin Mary never turned anyone away. hell is inevitable. if you haven’t redeemed yourself it’s just because you haven’t tried hard enough. you haven’t got a Church but you still remember all the words. there no hope left for you, except there always is.
