Severus Snape - Part II

[Elmindreda]

And Snape was missing for nearly a week after going back to the Dark Lord in GoF. Somehow I doubt he was vacationing in Bermuda.

I'm deeply ashamed to admit the woeful gap in my canon knowledge, especially that in respect of Severus (le gasp!), but could someone please tell me where this information is in the books? I strongly suspect it's OotP, and I don't have my copy on hand at the monent.

Thanks in advance.
~El

[Equinox Chick]

Hmmm,

Okay, I've checked GOF (from when Snape leaves to the end), OOTP (scenes with Sirius, Umbridge and SWM), HBP (Spinner's End) and DH (The Prince's Tale).

I can't find any mention of the amount of time he spent with Voldemort before returning to Hogwarts. He's definitely at the last feast - but that's a month later. There's also a mention that their DADA classes were no longer running because they had no teacher - but no mention that Potions was similarly bereft of its professor.

I think we can assume that Snape didn't just turn up, say hi and then leave, so he probably would have stayed at least a day/night. However, I can't find any canon evidence (yet) of how long he was with Voldemort.

Carole

[leahsm2]

Okay, probably a stupid new question, but Snape doesn't appear to have a middle name, canonically speaking, but i'm not a scholar on the subject either. So, does he have a proper middle name, or, if not, would the most probable origin of some assumed middle name be from his Muggle or Magical ancestors? Some people have no middle name at all, is that a better scenario?

[Inverarity]

Okay, probably a stupid new question, but Snape doesn't appear to have a middle name, canonically speaking, but i'm not a scholar on the subject either. So, does he have a proper middle name, or, if not, would the most probable origin of some assumed middle name be from his Muggle or Magical ancestors? Some people have no middle name at all, is that a better scenario?

He's never given a middle name in canon. I think he doesn't have one. Or if he does, it's one he never uses. (If that's the case, it probably originated in the Muggle side of his family.)

I don't think making up a middle name for Snape is likely to work in a fan fiction story -- there's really no reason for it to come up, and middle names in general are almost always unnecessary. So it would most likely smack of the author saying "Look! I added extra characterization to Sevvy! Isn't that cool!"

[leahsm2]

Not on his GRAVE STONE it wouldn't. Thanks so much for your thoughtful opinion.

EDIT: I was leaning towards no middle name anyway, but I think he was properly buried.

[Inverarity]

Not on his GRAVE STONE it wouldn't. Thanks so much for your thoughtful opinion.

No problem. A grave stone is one of the few cases I can think of where a middle name would actually be relevant. However, it would still be problematic to make one up for Snape -- he was such an enigmatic, impersonal character throughout the series, I think dropping an arbitrary middle name into a graveyard scene would still be difficult to pull off without being a bit jarring.

Considering that pretty much everyone who knew much about Snape's past was dead by the end of DH, it's not hard to imagine that when they carved his headstone, they just didn't know his middle name and so they left it off.

[leahsm2]

Considering that pretty much everyone who knew much about Snape's past was dead by the end of DH, it's not hard to imagine that when they carved his headstone, they just didn't know his middle name and so they left it off.

Except when they realized the great sacrifices he had made and all he had gone through, it might have been a matter of great importance to get this small detail right, but he may very well not have had one.

[Equinox Chick]

So, does he have a proper middle name, or, if not, would the most probable origin of some assumed middle name be from his Muggle or Magical ancestors? Some people have no middle name at all, is that a better scenario?

On the whole I'd veer towards giving him no middle name. However, if you're delving into his childhood in a backstory, perhaps you could give him the middle name Tobias. You could make the case that at the time of his birth Eileen and Tobias were a loving couple rather than the loveless pair we hear about in the books. Although Snape probably wouldn't appreciate having the name Tobias on his gravestone.

Carole
xxx

[cmwinters]

Argh. I can't find the answer to this. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I read it in a fanfic. >.<

Anyway, while I can't find it in GoF either, there's a series of scenes were Snape is conspicuously absent enough from the main dinner to the point where Harry notices it. And he comes back I THINK on a Wednesday, and he doesn't say anything to Harry but he does regard him evenly from the Head Table.

I wonder if this is a UK versus US difference? Because I originally read the UK versions, but I own the US versions.

*bangs head on wall*

[Equinox Chick]

I'm reading the UK edition at the moment. From the time Snape leaves the Hospital wing, he's not mentioned at all until the feast which is a month later. It also doesn't mention anything about the end of year feast being in a particular day - at least not in GOF.

The only scenes between Snape leaving and the feast are Harry talking to the Diggorys and the Trio talking to Hagrid about Voldemort.

I can't remember any scenes where Snape's absence is noted. Hagrid, Dumbledore and McGonagall all miss several feasts at certain stages, but Snape always seems to be there.



Carole