Father - figures (Was: Snape the Father)

[draco382]

No: HPFGUIDX 38025

Marianne wrote:

< Of course we have no way of knowing if James would have been a 
good, 
< all-around dad - one who is loving and kind, yet who still provides 
< discipline and order, and expects his kid will listen to him and 
not grow up into some sort of spoiled brat.  And since Harry 
apparently
< knows so little about his parents, his view of James at this point  
<strikes me as completely positive and thus, somewhat unrealistic.  
He 
< doesn't associate James with any sort of bad or questionable 
< behavior - leaving out whatever negative comments Snape makes about 
< James in Harry's hearing, but Harry tends to discount those.
<


I just wanted to stick my head into this interesting discussion.  
There was one scene that stood out to me in particular: After the 
third task, Moody (the fake one) is questioning Harry, reveals his 
plot to send him to Voldemort, and is about to kill him.  Just then 
the door is broken down and there stands Dumbledore, McGonagal...and  
Snape.  Snape?!?!  What the...
Sure, that doesn't alone make him some kind of father figure, but 
he 
is one of the only characters that has consistantly been there for 
Harry from the beginning in one way or another.  These three 
characters (Dumbledoor, McGonagal, Snape) seem sort of like Harry's 
guardians in a way.  Even though they may not agree with his 
behavior 
at times (or may out-and-out hate his guts) they have been there to 
help him in their own ways.  Lupin and Black are also trustworthy, 
but I feel like their connection to Harry is purely b/c he is 
James's 
son.  They are kind of like his foster fathers (??)  May be Snape, 
Dumbledore and McGonagal know how important he is in the grand 
scheme 
of things (ie: Destroying Voldemort) and while they may not have  
vested interest in him as a "son", they are still interested in his 
wellfare.  Perhaps Snape could be his only true "guardian angel"  
type...
anyways, Hagrid makes a pretty good "mother" figure i'd say....  :-)  
 
 ~P