People are wrangling over what Snape might have been thinking during that deliberate pause right before the "I see no difference" comment.
Pippin proposed a LOLLIPOPS-flavored variant, and then added:
He's not thinking, "what's the nastiest thing I can say to a helpless teenage girl", he's thinking, "how do I make this hysterical underage female get herself under control without blowing my cover, and what the hell just happened to me?"
Marina was dubious, and suggested:
It's all the standard Snape nastiness, and I think that he is, in fact, thinking "what's the nastiest thing I can say to a helpless teenage girl?"
Nah.
I don't think he was thinking anything at all. The nasty comment leapt immediately to his mind -- I agree with Pippin that Snape likely doesn't have to ponder too long to come up with biting things to say.
No, the pause was just for effect.
I think the comment was intended to wound. And comments like that one are just a whole lot more effective if they're preceded by a long pause, preferably accompanied by a steady appraising look. They just are. If what you want is to make someone cry with your words, then that's precisely how you go about it.
—Elkins
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