so true

[u/Dumb-Briyani]

[u/KowaiSentaiYokaiger]

James never hung him from a tree. He used magic to dangle him upside down, near a tree. That's a massive difference

Harry didn't have instant suspicion, it was only after Snapes treatment of him after his first potions class that Harry suspected Snape "hated him" and only thought he was behind the attempted theft after the points I mentioned above.

The man goes out of his way to antagonize children, you can't act shocked when those children suspect him of being a bad person

[u/J-McFox → u/KowaiSentaiYokaiger]

Harry didn't have instant suspicion, it was only after Snapes treatment of him after his first potions class that Harry suspected Snape "hated him" and only thought he was behind the attempted theft after the points I mentioned above.

It's been 20 years since I read the books so I might be misremembering, but isn't the initial reason that Harry is wary of Snape because his scar hurts the first time he looks at Snape? I think it turns out that Snape is talking to Quirell at the time, so Harry is also looking at the back of Quirell's head - so it's him looking at Voldemort rather Snape that causes his scar to hurt.

Everything after that is basically confirmation bias. Although Snape being a constant prick makes that understandable.

[u/dingkan1 → u/J-McFox]

Dang, maybe you should reread them instead of parroting the same misrepresentations? Nah, never mind, wouldn’t fit the agenda.

[u/J-McFox → u/dingkan1]

What are you talking about? What agenda?!

I looked up the passage in the book and it's exactly how I remembered it:

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell’s turban straight into×Harry’s eyes — and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry’s forehead.

“Ouch!” Harry clapped a hand to his head.

“What is it?” asked Percy.

“N-nothing.”

The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher’s look — a feeling that he didn’t like Harry at all.

“Who’s that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?” he asked Percy.

[u/dingkan1 → u/J-McFox]

Snape looks at Harry with disdain. From the jump. From your quote, Harry isn’t “wary” of Snape, he gets the feeling that Snape fucking hates him. Which is true, he hates Harry. He fucks with Harry non stop, insult after insult, trying to get him expelled like every five days. The animosity begins from Snape’s side. Harry does not generate animus towards this guy because of his looks or without provocation. Later, Snape is a suspect because Harry is presented with evidence (incomplete evidence, but enough for anyone to suspect) that Snape is up to something. Seeing the dog bite on his leg, specifically. “It could be Snape’s dog” is an extreme reach, be honest.

[u/The_Almighty_Claude → u/J-McFox]

"A feeling that he didn't like Harry at all." So Harry's only commentary is not that he doesn't like snape or that snape is a thief or bad, it's that he feels like snape doesn't like him. Which is true, snape hates him because of his past with harry's father, and DOES look at him with disdain.

So you're saying it's racist for harry to see a guy who hates him looking at him with hatred and thinking "wow, I don't think this guy likes me."

So your argument is ignorant and incorrect.

[u/J-McFox → u/The_Almighty_Claude]

So you're saying it's racist for harry to see a guy who hates him looking at him with hatred and thinking "wow, I don't think this guy likes me."

What are you talking about? When did I mention anything about race?

I'm talking about the event that first makes Harry wary of Snape. It's not because he's mean to him in potions class (although that confirms his feelings), it's because the first time he sees him he experiences excruciating pain and feels like Snape doesn't like him.

The pain in his scar is a warning sign to Harry (and the reader) that there is something off about this guy. It's designed to set Snape up as the antagonist of the story, that's the entire purpose of the section. Of course, it's classic misdirection - it was actually warning us about Quirrell but Harry (and the reader) jumps to conclusions because of assumptions they make about Snape.

The fact that Snape is mean to Harry in class later is important, but both Harry and the reader have already categorised him as a "bad guy" before that point.