I have to disagree. The Boggart incident was mature? Calling him by his first name rather than 'Professor' is mature?
I wasn't referring to the Boggart scene here, but to this particular instance. I think of the last names as a schoolboy thing, the way Harry and Draco refer to one another as Potter and Malfoy, while the more civil relationships use first names (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, etc). Dumbledore and McGonagall call one another Albus and Minerva. Remus is remiss in using it in front of a student, but Snape is remiss in merely referring to Remus as "Lupin" as well--as Dumbledore consistently reminds Harry, the last name unadorned by the honorific is also rude. For perfect politeness in the presence of a student, Snape should have addressed Remus as "Professor Lupin" and Lupin should have addressed Snape as "Professor Snape." But of the two alternatives of direct address they did use, "Severus" is adult and collegial and "Lupin" is adolescent and brusque.
I don't mean to be "letting him off the hook" when I say that part of it is an honest attempt to be friendlier. I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive, especially to someone who used to pal around with James and Sirius, where an obnoxious tweak here and there was probably part and parcel of the way they inter-related. Now, does he care whether Snape is hurt by it or takes it as an opportunity to "loosen up"? I sincerely doubt it. But this method of tweaking leaves an opening for Snape to actually behave like a colleague.
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Date: 2004-05-08 11:24 am (UTC)I wasn't referring to the Boggart scene here, but to this particular instance. I think of the last names as a schoolboy thing, the way Harry and Draco refer to one another as Potter and Malfoy, while the more civil relationships use first names (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, etc). Dumbledore and McGonagall call one another Albus and Minerva. Remus is remiss in using it in front of a student, but Snape is remiss in merely referring to Remus as "Lupin" as well--as Dumbledore consistently reminds Harry, the last name unadorned by the honorific is also rude. For perfect politeness in the presence of a student, Snape should have addressed Remus as "Professor Lupin" and Lupin should have addressed Snape as "Professor Snape." But of the two alternatives of direct address they did use, "Severus" is adult and collegial and "Lupin" is adolescent and brusque.
I don't mean to be "letting him off the hook" when I say that part of it is an honest attempt to be friendlier. I don't think the two things are mutually exclusive, especially to someone who used to pal around with James and Sirius, where an obnoxious tweak here and there was probably part and parcel of the way they inter-related. Now, does he care whether Snape is hurt by it or takes it as an opportunity to "loosen up"? I sincerely doubt it. But this method of tweaking leaves an opening for Snape to actually behave like a colleague.