Snape's many good points (and Sirius' many bad points)

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 34707

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "judyserenity" <judyshapiro at e...> wrote:
> Continuing the Snaper/Sirist debate:

> Ok, now on to Sirius' many bad points.
> 
> A lot of people here have given various excuses for "The Prank."  
> However, I don't see the prank on Snape as the worst thing Sirius
has 
> done.  Instead, I think it's his actions in PoA.  

Hmm.  Having earned my Snape-defending credentials, I think it's time
to do my bit for Sirius. <G>

I think it's rather unfair to blame Sirius for the public's panicked
reaction to his escape.  The only way he could've avoided that was to
stay put in Azkaban, and that wasn't a viable option.  Sure, it's easy
for us to say "why didn't he just owl Dumbledore?", but Sirius was
Britain's Most Wanted, both in the wizarding and the muggle worlds,
and he had just finished twelve years of being psychologically
tortured 24/7.  He was in no condition, and no position, to be either
trusting or optimistic, and he would've needed to have both of those
qualities in spades to believe that all his problems could be resolved
simply by writing a letter to an authority figure saying "no, really,
I didn't do it."

As for the Dementors at Hogwarts, I lay the blame for that squarely on
Fudge.  It was his idea, Dumbledore opposed it, they did more harm
than good (in fact, they did no good at all), and I'm not going to
hold Sirius responsible for failing to modify his plan of action (in
so far as he had a plan) to compensate for Fudge's stupidity.


> And now, before we Snapers and Sirists come to cyber-blows, let me 
> point out that I can see why a reader might like either, both, or 
> neither character.  I think Snape is written somewhat
inconsistently, 
> as are all three of James' friends. 

Now this I can totally get behind.  Since both characters are complex
and ambiguous (and, as you say, somewhat inconsistently written), I
wouldn't expect any group to reach a consensus about them.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com