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Reviews for Severus Snape and the Sorting Hat

duj 2022.08.21 - 05:43AM 1: One-Shot Signed
Nicely-written, but not altogether right, to my mind. I agree with Very Small Prophet, and I'd add that I'm not convinced by the Hitler Youth comparison. Hitler declared his wish to exterminate Jews before Hitler Youth existed. He published it in a book in 1925. But Voldemort seems to have preferred to hide his intent at first. Canon tells us that people were being disappeared but the public didn't know why. Hogwarts-Lily despised the DE movement but she didn't seem to feel personally threatened by it, nor did she ever point out to Snape that his DE friends wanted to hurt/kill her/her kind. She complained that they were "creepy" and used Dark magic - but it was Snape who was bullied ragged at Hogwarts, not Lily, and the Dark-magic-using bullies were her fellow-Gryffs - not "DE-wannabes". Teen-Snape seemed unaware that there was any conflict between DE aims and friendship with Muggleborns. (Was there really a conflict? Hagrid expressed surprise in book 1 that Voldie hadn't tried to recruit her before.) Even Regulus, cousin to high-ranking DEs, didn't know the truth while at school. He only learned the goal was killing *after* he'd joined. One more point I disagree with: calling Snape's courage a Gryffindor trait. Gryffs are bold "Death or Glory" folk who rush into danger without pausing to think. Snape exemplifies instead a very Slytherin style of courage/sacrifice: "those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends." *Any* means, even including their own deaths.

Jong_Kahn 2011.06.15 - 07:53AM 1: One-Shot Signed
I like this story and all the admirable points you made about Severus' character. I also agree with the other reviewers. Quite a fine little story. SOMEONE should 'do Severus right', since JKR certainly didn't! Thanks for having written this.

Author's Response: Thank you! Sorry for being such a bum about responding. I am working on another story to 'do Severus right.' I hope someday to get it posted here (or maybe on Ashwinder, depending on where I go with it--I've seen you over there too!).

tangerine dream 2011.02.19 - 02:33PM 1: One-Shot Signed
Wonderful! I have always seen Severus as the key to everything. If it weren't for him things would have been very different indeed.

Author's Response: Sorry for my long delay! The key, yes. Imagine the wizarding world without Severus Snape. No wait, don't. Thank you for your review!

Very Small Prophet 2010.10.01 - 06:56PM 1: One-Shot Signed
Not everyone realizes that Severus is the pivot upon which the entire story turns. Had he not loved Lily (who treated him like dirt) and asked Voldemort to spare her life, she would have been mowed down like James was, just another casualty of war. Instead, she died as a voluntary sacrifice, thereby creating the magic which protected Harry and killed Voldie. Without Severus, there would have been no Boy Who Lived. The whole Sorting system has major problems, especially after a thousand years of rivalry and prejudice have warped it. I have a theory that the Sorting made more sense in the Dark Ages when Hogwarts was founded. They represent social classes. Gryffindor = the aristocracy, warriors who (ideally) protected society from outside threats. Ravenclaw = the clergy, the only people who were educated, and who (ideally) provided a way for the intellectually gifted to rise in society. Hufflepuff = the people, mostly farmers, whose hard work supported the entire culture. And Slytherin = the Outsider, the one who cannot or will not fit into a neatly defined role and must fight his way to success through drive, talent, and doing whatever it takes to survive in a world where he doesn’t truly belong. Much more the House of Severus Snape, poor half-blood from Spinner’s End, than of Lucius Malfoy, wealthy and influential pureblood. P.S. I, too, have noticed that Snape never calls Dumbledore by his first name except in fan fiction. I think the recognition of inequality is appropriate. It’s Snape’s way of reminding Dumbledore that he knows and accepts that he’s nothing more than a tool. He would no more call the Headmaster “Albus” than he would call the Dark Lord “Tom.”

Author's Response: Wow, you wrote this review a long time ago! I'm sorry! I like your assessment of the Houses; that makes sense. And I agree with you about the name issue. That's part of the reason I included it at the very end, when Severus knew he was about to die. He finally felt himself equal to Dumbledore, and so he used his first name in recognition of that. Thank you for your thoughtful review. (And just a note about Lily: Another fanfiction writer I admire made the analogy to a Jewish girl and a boy joining the Nazi Youth movement. It wasn't about the name-calling; it was about the fact that the Death Eaters were a real threat to Lily and her loved ones. Severus failed to understand that and lost her because of it. She never got the chance to forgive him, but we can.)

Prof M McGonagall 2010.01.19 - 09:48PM 1: One-Shot Signed
I liked this! I appreciated how you showed the good traits for all the houses that he carries. And I liked how he came to an acceptance of his choices and then was able to move forward.

Author's Response: Thank you for your review, Professor! I think Rowling short-changed the other Houses by showing us only other Houses' contempt for them. So I tried to pinpoint the positive traits of each House and determine how they fit in with Severus. I actually really hate the idea of Sorting 11-year-olds, so I wanted to write a story that helped me to understand why Sorting could be important. And I wanted to give Severus the closure he didn't get in the series, the knowledge that he had made a difference in a positive way and that his contributions were valuable and valued.

kerisk 2009.05.31 - 05:12AM 1: One-Shot Signed
Wow! That was incredible!!!! I am one of those HP fans that was so pissed at book's 6 and 7's demise of Severus Snape.

Author's Response: What is this "demise of Severus Snape" of which you speak?!? No portrait, no body (mentioned), no funeral = no dead Severus. I actually have an idea rattling around in my brain about what happened to Severus after the incident in the Shrieking Shack. Maybe I'll write it one of these days. Thanks for your kind review. This story kind of wrote itself. Severus deserved better.

morgaine_dulac 2009.05.31 - 03:29AM 1: One-Shot Signed
This was a truly wonderful piece and shows so clearly all the traits of Severus Snape, who we love just the way he is. Thank you for sharing.

Author's Response: Thank you very much for your review. Too many HP characters seem so one-dimensional because of the limited POV. It's fun to "flesh out" the characters beyond what Harry sees in them.

Rose of the West 2009.05.30 - 09:29PM 1: One-Shot Signed
That's how I see it, too.

Author's Response: I abhor the idea of Sorting; the more I think about it, the more I hate it. I wrote this story a while ago as a way to reconcile myself to the whole idea. I wanted to believe that there was a reason for Severus's suffering and also that he knew he was a hero.




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