Snape. Lorrie Kim.
“The beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes.” This is a magical image for what we Muggles would call a flow state, the quietly sustained ecstasy of full absorption in creative activity. It is a state of enjoyment in one’s own powers, a self-sufficient form of vital happiness. Bitterness, loneliness, and hostility fall away. For the rest of the series, when we see Snape endure unspeakable pressures, we can remember that he revealed his secret in this first speech: as long as he could sustain a soft simmer, whether in a cauldron or in his own mind, he had a limitless source of joy.
