Snapers or Sirists (was Defending Snape, Dissing Sirius)

[blpurdom]

No: HPFGUIDX 34676

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> wrote:
> > Don't you all think it interesting that most Snape fans can't 
> > seem to cut Sirius any slack, and most Sirius fans only want to 
> > give Snape enough rope with which to hang him? If someone bashes 
> > one "S-man", the defense of that character almost always 
> > includes an attack on the other "S-man."

I too like both characters, and I am equally able to be a Snape 
apologist and a Sirius apologist (see below).
 
> Well, being one of those emotionally-split people who love both S-
> men, I've thought about this quite a lot.  [snip] We have sketchy 
> information about the prank, but the impression I get was that 
> Sirius did it because he thought Snape was a git, and that he 
> didn't intend Snape to be killed or hurt, he simply failed to 
> think through the consequences.  This doesn't speak well of 16-
> year-old Sirius' temper or intelligence, but since we have no 
> information at all on how and why Snape joined the DE, we really 
> can't say who's doing better or worse here.

The motivation about wouldn't speak very well of Sirius (not that 
the "prank" does in general) but I would hazard to say that he 
probably had much more dire motives and felt rather stuck, or he 
wouldn't have done something quite so extreme (and something he 
clearly did without much thought--I think it was spur-of-the-moment 
and not premeditated at all).  

Think about it; all of the Marauders had something to hide.  Remus 
was a werewolf.  The others were illegal Animagi.  If Snape was in 
the position of almost being mauled by Remus, it was probably 
because he followed the Marauders, wanting to know what they were up 
to or wanting to get them in trouble for being out-of-bounds.  If 
they were simply sneaking around the castle and he did this, I doubt 
Sirius would have responded by doing something that could have 
killed him.  But Snape was in a position to know about Remus and the 
others.  I think Sirius' main motivation was to protect Remus from 
being outed as a werewolf; he may not have cared whether it became 
common knowledge that the other three had mastered the Animagus 
transfiguration.  He was protecting his friend.  

What happened when Snape let "slip" to the Slytherins (the end of 
PoA) that Remus was a werewolf?  Remus had to leave the school.  
Lost his job.  When Snape was young, Dumbledore may have been able 
to threaten him with expulsion if he Remus' secret (once Snape had 
almost been mauled, the wolf was out of the bag, obviously).  As an 
adult, Dumbledore could possibly have given Snape the sack and sent 
him out into the world, but he probably felt that would put him at 
risk of retaliation from former DEs (I'm one of those who thinks 
Dumbledore hired Snape to give him sanctuary at Hogwarts after it 
was revealed publicly that he was a spy).

To go back to Snape's view, he probably thought he was quite right 
to get Remus the sack; a werewolf IS a dangerous creature to have 
around, especially if he's not taking his Wolfsbane Potion.  There 
were extenuating circumstances the night they were all in the 
Shrieking Shack, obviously, but as someone who was once almost 
killed by a werewolf, I think Snape can be forgiven for his 
particular perspective on this.  And I think Sirius can be forgiven 
for thinking, on the spur of the moment (and at the age of 16) that 
it was preferable for Snape to be attacked rather than reveal his 
good friend's secret to the world and ruin his life (although he 
might have thought about how this friend would feel about becoming a 
murderer).

> The upshot of it all, I guess, is that I'm willing to cut both 
> guys some slack, but not a total clean slate.  Which is fine with 
> me.  It's that combination of genuine nobility and very real 
> personal flaws that attracts me in the first place.

They're not perfect people, certainly, but in their own way, they 
both mean well.  Sirius returns to Hogwarts at great personal risk 
to make sure Harry is safe during the Tournament.  And Snape 
protects a boy he seems to dislike spectacularly.  Many people will 
do this for people they like only, but he doesn't restrict himself 
in this way, showing his integrity and strength of character.

--Barb
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP_Psych
http://schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb