Snape deliberately provoked Harry to better read his mind
While rereading Order of the Phoenix, I put particular focus on the chapter Occlumency, where the mechanics of Legilimency and Occlumency are first described. I found one quote by Snape particularly interesting.
“I told you to empty yourself of emotion”
“Yeah? Well I’m finding that hard at the moment,” Harry snarled.
“Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!” said Snape savagely. “Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and who allow themselves to be provoked this easily -weak people, in other words- they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease Potter!”
Now, a lot of people have pointed out how Snape is really talking about himself in that quote. And I agree. But that’s not what I want to focus on. Rather, I would point out how Snape is describing the people whose minds can be easily penetrated. Of particular interest are an inability to control ones emotions and being easy to provoke. I believe that Snape, knowing this, has at times deliberately exploited this to be able to read Harry more easily.
This is very clear, I think, in Goblet of Fire, in chapter 27 Padfoot Returns. Snape suspects Harry of having stolen Boomslang skin and Gillyweed from his stores. So he interrogates Harry to find out the truth.
“All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over large head Potter,” said Snape quietly, once the rest of the class had settled down again.
Harry didn’t answer. He knew that Snape was trying to provoke him. He had done this before (emphasis mine). (…) “You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you,” Snape went on, so quietly that no one else could hear (Harry continued to pound his scarab beetles, even though he had already reduced them to a very fine powder), “but I don’t care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me Potter, you are nothing, but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him.”
Harry tipped the powdered beetles into his cauldron and started cutting up his ginger roots. His hands were shaking slightly out of anger, but he kept his eyes down, as though he couldn’t hear what Snape was saying to him.
“So I give you fair warning Potter,” Snape continued in a softer and more dangerous tone, “pint-sized celebrity or not -if I catch you breaking into my office one more time-”
“I haven’t been anywhere near your office!” said Harry angrily, forgetting his feigned deafness.
“Don’t lie to me,” Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Harry’s. “Boomslang skin, Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores and I know who stole them.”
I highlighted the first segment to show how Snape’s attempts at provocation are deliberate, and not just his standard assholery (according to Harry at least, but I trust him in this). The second and third segments show how Snape has succeeded in provoking Harry, so that he is now in an emotional state, and his mind is easier to penetrate. Finally, Snape attempts to read his mind, which is shown by the final emphasized segment. Eye contact has been established as being important for Legilimency, and though the most skilled (like Voldemort), can make do without, it tends to be necessary and always helps.
Snape is not the only character to covertly use Legilimency in the books of course, and it’s always fun to go back and notice these little details.
To add to this old post, it even makes sense why Harry would not notice Snape reading his mind, like he did in the chapter Sectumsempra in HBP when Snape was interrogating him about where he had learned the spell. During the climax of the book, in the chapter Flight of the Prince, we have the following scene:
“Stupe-”
“Blocked again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!” sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once more. Now come,“ he shouted at the huge Death Eater behind Harry. “It is time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up-”
This is after the Sectumsempra scene. Here, we have explicit confirmation of Snape reading Harry’s mind, with the key detail here being that Harry doesn’t notice. What’s similar between this scene and the one in GoF, that was different in the Sectumsempra scene? Harry is enraged. Only in one case was his rage deliberately provoked, but artificial or not his mind would be affected just the same, easier to read both times. (Of course the factor of the Occlumency lessons and Harry learning that Legilimency is even possible also matters, but I think this factor matters more. Plus it’s cooler)
