Hi! I've only recently discovered your blog and really enjoy your take on Snape, it's very close to how I imagine him and you manage to put his character into words so well!
What I've been wondering: Tobias is often headcanoned as having a drinking problem. Do you agree with that take? And if so, how do you think that would affect Snape's drinking habits as an adult?
Thanks so much, that’s very kind of you! And super interesting question, I’d love to hear your (or anyone else in the Snape community’s) take on the same!!
I do tend to buy into the headcanon that Snape’s father drank. I know there’s not much to indicate either way in canon, but this interpretation most reflects my own experience of working class towns dominated by a dying industry. It makes sense to me that Snape’s father might have found some relief from the crushing economic uncertainty in the bottle, but that the drinking also ended up fueling his temper and leading to ever more common scenes like what Harry spotted in Snape’s memories during Occlumency lessons.
If Snape’s father did drink, I do think it would affect Snape’s attitude towards drinking. While I was pondering how exactly, I got to wondering how much we know about Snape’s drinking in canon that might give us some hints. Here’s what I found:
1. He does drink, and he keeps drinks at Spinner’s End. When Bellatrix and Narcissa pay him a visit, Snape orders Peter to “bring us drinks…some of the elf-made wine will do”, meaning he probably keeps more than one bottle and more than one type of drink in the house. We know the wine, at least, is not something he touches often (it’s dusty) but it is definitely not a relic of his father’s (it is elf-made). Furthermore, Peter protests that he is not here to “make [him] drinks and—and clean [his] house”, which could imply that he has asked to be served before, though if it was in private or for another visitor we don’t know.
Snape has between one and two glasses over the course of the visit, and seems wholly unaffected by the alcohol. It is important to note that the wine plays a part in his cover; he is playing the courteous host, and toasting to the Dark Lord conveys that he is a deferential servant stalwart in his service and proud of the Dark Lord’s favor. He sips his drink at ease as he answers Bellatrix’s questions, which could reflect a comfort around drinking—he genuinely does seem to be having some great fun with Bellatrix and his casual sips could be quite natural—but it's hard to draw too much from this chapter, as he is in situation in which he is clearly aware that he is being closely watched and conscious of the image he is trying to project.
He is not noted to be drinking at any point after his little back and forth with Bellatrix, and he’s set his drink down by the time Narcissa pleads with him to save Draco. Taking this into the realm of headcanon, it's possible that that when he feels he must focus, when he is under the gun and his actions and decisions have the potential to impact others, he views drinking as a distraction, not a recourse.
2. He does not seem to drink at Hogwarts. Although it is true that our POV at Hogwarts is limited by what Harry sees, we do get references to staff drinking. Hagrid and Trelawney are the first to come to mind, but Harry also notes McGonagall being “rather pink in the cheeks” at Christmas dinner, sees McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid, and Moody at the Three Broomsticks during trips into Hogsmeade, and observes and even manipulates Slughorn’s drinking in HBP. However, Snape is never noted as drinking, even when it is clearly permissible for the teachers to indulge.
In fact, we get the lovely Christmas party scene that throws Slughorn, Trelawney, and Snape together in a group, and Harry observes that both Trelawney and Slughorn are drunk, but doesn’t mention anything about Snape. He is as composed and controlled as ever, and sweeps off from their group to go berate Draco without so much as putting a glass down. Thus, it seems Snape avoids liquor while at Hogwarts, but it is not clear why exactly (a sense of responsibility or duty as a teacher, feeling as if he must always be “on alert” while at Hogwarts, simple dislike, etc). Either way, it could uphold the previous impression that Snape’s reaction to drink in stressful situations is to avoid it rather than to imbibe.
So returning to the question at hand 😅—how Snape’s drinking might have been affected by his father’s, if he did in fact drink—I headcanon that Snape became particularly sensitive about how drinking might impact his responsibilities. If his father’s habits played a part in the abuse/neglect of his wife and child, he might feel a strong sense of aversion to drinking while he is “on duty” as an authority figure or while he is responsible for others’ well-being. As a teacher, a Head of House, Harry’s secret protector, an Order member, and a spy, that’s… well, almost always. So when he does drink, I can’t see him drinking to the point of losing any amount of control over his behavior. He just can’t afford a slip—and I think it scares him in more ways than one.
WOW I didn’t expect to write so much lol sorry 😂but this was super fun to dig into and I’d love to hear your (and anyone else’s) interpretations of Snape’s drinking habits!
