Justice, Wisdom, etc/ Rules

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 38513

Cindy said:

>  Snape is acting, as Porphyria noted, in 
> the role of public prosecutor as well as a loyal member of the 
> divine counsel.  Again and again, Snape accuses Harry of 
misconduct, 
> allegedly in Snape's role as loyal servant of Dumbledore.  
> 
> But the parallel might not be perfect, because Snape's loyalty 
is  far from perfect.  In PoA, Snape openly questions 
Dumbledore's trust of Lupin, eventually disobeying 
Dumbledore's instruction that  Lupin's werewolf status remain 
confidential.  

You know I'm going to jump on this one, right? ;-) Dumbledore's 
express instruction was given to Snape the student. There's 
nothing to suggest that it remained incumbent on Snape the 
Professor. Was the staff ordered to keep Lupin's secret or was it 
requested by Dumbledore or even by Lupin himself? We don't 
know. Also, in the book of Job, satan is not disloyal to God for 
questioning Job's loyalty to God, he's just doing his job, even  
though Job is in actuality more loyal to God than Lupin was to 
Dumbledore.

Cindy:
>In GoF, Snape may have 
> played a role in allowing a dementor in the castle, despite  
>Dumbledore's express wishes.  

Dumbledore's express wish to keep Dementors out of the castle 
didn't stop Macnair from going to fetch one at the end of PoA with 
Dumbledore's full knowledge and consent. Obviously Fudge has 
the authority to permit it. Let me put a question to lawyer Cindy: if 
the police have a  warrant, can't they search my house with 
police dogs, whether I like it or not?  May I lawfully compel my 
employees to interfere with them in the performance of their 
duties?

Cindy asks:
>>>> If Snape is functioning as satan (specifically  defined as 
the satan in the story of Job), what is the *purpose* of  Snape's 
prosecutorial role?  Surely the satan in Job was not acting 
> to protect Job, although Snape occasionally appears to be 
motivated  by a desire to protect Harry.  Conversely, Snape's 
activities do not  seem calculated to test Harry's loyalty or 
allegiance, which seems  to be the mission of satan in the story 
of Job.  
> 
> What, then, is Snape hoping to accomplish, consistent with the 
idea  that Snape fulfills the role of satan to some extent?
> 
<snip>
> 
> Yes, it is true that Snape is frequently present at pivotal 
moments,  as Porphyria points out.  But he is curiously absent at 
other  moments -- moments when one would expect 
Dumbledore's inner circle   to be accounted for.  Significantly, 
Snape is not present when  Dumbledore makes his first 
important decision about Harry's future --when Harry is left with 
the Dursleys.

>Snape is also inexplicably  absent during all three of the tasks 
in GoF.<<<<<<<

McGonagall wasn't supposed to be at the Dursleys either, 
remember? Snape would have had plenty to do chasing down 
Death Eaters, even assuming he wasn't utterly devastated by the 
loss of his beloved Lily :-) Besides which: Snape as the 
prosecutor is needed only when Harry or somebody is 
presumed to have done something wrong.  Whatever we may 
think of his preparations, Harry's execution of the tasks is 
exemplary,  in fact he even gets extra points for moral fibre, and 
Baby Harry of course is quite innocent.

 I think Snape's main task in GoF was to keep an eye on 
Karkaroff. It seems that Moody took over watching out for Harry. 
One of my favorite scenes in GoF is the staircase episode in The 
Egg and the Eye, in which Snape finds himself on the receiving 
end of unfair suspicion for once. The fact that he defers to  Moody 
though he's obviously aware that Harry is standing there argues 
that Moody had indeed taken over Snape's responsibility for The 
Boy Who Lived.

Cindy asked :
>>>> One final question about the parallel between Snape and 
the satan.   I assume that the satan in the story of Job is the 
supreme adversary  to God, that there is no entity more powerful 
than the satan other  than God. <<<<

The satan is man's adversary, not God's. The dualistic idea of an 
adversary to God influenced Jewish thought during the Persian 
exile and the foundation period of Christianity but was eventually 
rejected by Rabbinic Judaism. In Christianity, the satan was 
elevated (if that is the right word) into SupremeAdversary!Satan, 
a far mightier and more significant figure than the 
lowercase!satan who has no such grandeur. Job's satan has 
always reminded me more of Schlimazl, Yiddish folklore's 
threadbare, wandering personification of hard luck, than of 
Milton's magnificent general of the hosts of Hell. 

 In the Hebrew Scripture, Man's trials on earth (another legal 
metaphor!) are often compared to the potter's wheel. Their 
purpose is to form  man's character. I see this as part of Snape's 
function in trying Harry. For example, Snape's goading teaches 
Harry to keep his temper.  His unfairness nudges Hermione out 
of her excessive deference to authority. 

I think if there is one moral absolute in the Potterverse, it is this: 
Thou shalt not harm an innocent Being. I believe all the good 
characters try to live up to this, even Snape. I don't believe Snape 
is *trying* to persecute Neville; it seems to me he is trying to 
teach him, as he says: "What do I have to do to make you 
understand?"

There is no corresponding obligation to protect--that is what 
heroes are for. 

Pippin