[HPforGrownups] Re: Authority and rule-breaking

[Morag Traynor]

No: HPFGUIDX 16712

Koinonia wrote:

>If Snape is truly such an evil and mean person why does Dumbledore
>allow him to stay?  Why did D. invite Snape to Hogwarts in the first
>place?  I am just saying there is more to Snape then we have seen.

Evil? No.  Mean? Yes!  I imagine D's reasons were
1) As an ex DE who secretly spied for the good guys, he is probably in some 
danger and Hogwarts is the safest place for him.
2)  I think JKR said something to the effect that D believes there are many 
ways to learn, which I took to mean that if there were no unpleasant 
characters and no danger at Hogwarts, it wouldn't be a very good preparation 
for the real world.  True, and it wouldn't be a very interesting story 
either.
3) I'm sure there *are* reasons we don't know about yet.  "Things are not 
what they seem" *is* a major theme, and there are plenty of hints that Snape 
has done/will do something courageous and admirable.

Someone on this list (sorry, can't remember who) put it very well when they 
said that Harry is in the process of learning that the good guys are not 
always the nice guys.  (Tom Riddle seems like a nice guy, until you get to 
know him better).  You can be mistaken about someone's allegiances, but you 
can't be mistaken about whether someone has bullied you, and Snape is a 
bully, whatever else he may be.  I am prepared to give him credit when he 
does something to deserve it, but so far, he hasn't.  I know he saved 
Harry's life in the bucking broomstick episode, but that was just his duty.

> >
> > "Professor Snape was forcing them to research antidotes.  They took
>this
> > seriously, as he had hinted that he might be poisoning one of them
>before
> > Christmas to see if their antidote worked."
>
>
>I personally thought this was a very funny part.  There is no way
>Snape would ever poison one of the students!

I know - it made me laugh too :) and I never thought he would poison anyone. 
  I just put it in because I like it!  The *truly* evil characters are never 
treated in a humourous way, and Snape's behaviour is often so outrageous 
it's funny.  Making Neville test his potion on his beloved Trevor is both a 
horrible thing to do and a very funny scene.

I suppose what prompted my post in the first place is that I see Snape 
getting cut a lot of slack on the strength of something we don't know about, 
while not getting much stick for the things we do know about.
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