TBAY - Redemption

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 46574

After a hard day at work, Marina slogs home to her little beachside 
flat in Theory Bay.

"Hi, honey, I'm home!" she calls out, kicking off her shoes and 
collapsing on the living room sofa.  Before long, George emerges 
from the kitchen, carrying a glass of Chambord and a small box of 
Godiva truffles.  Restored by alcohol and chocolate, Marina is ready 
to start catching up on current events in the Bay.

"So what have you been doing with yourself while I've been slaving 
away at the office, George?"

The young man looks thoughtful.  "I've been talking with Eileen," he 
says.

Marina frowns.  "She hasn't been trying to get you to bang, has 
she?" she demands sternly.  "You know you're not supposed to bang."

"No, not at all," George says quickly, though there's a furtive look 
in his eyes Marina doesn't entirely trust.  "No banging.  It was all 
very proper and above-board -- we were talking about redemption."

"Ah."  Marina relaxes.  "An excellent subject.  And your specialty, 
too."

"Yes, and Eileen's got me thinking."  George sprawls on the couch 
next to Marina and steals a truffle.  "See, she was looking for 
other examples of redemption scenarios -- other than Snape, I mean --
 to bolster the theory that JKR is interested in the subject.  
Eileen listed the usual suspects: Crouch Sr, Avery, Pettigrew, 
Draco, even Dudley... But I'm afraid I found fault with each one.  
The Crouch Sr storyline takes place mostly off-stage, it's just too 
periferal and sketchy to count as a meaningful redemption scenario.  
As for Avery, as I told Eileen:

> "Eileen, as much as I like Avery, he doesn't really exist in the 
> books. The man you know as Avery is HPFGU's creation, not JKR's. 
> JKR's Avery is probably a pitiful toadie with no personality. So, 
> you can't claim that he has a redemption narrative. Anyone else?"

"What about Peter," says Marina.  "It could happen.  There's been 
forshadowing..."

George shrugs.  "It's too soon to tell for him, and for Draco.  As 
for Dudley... I think Eileen was getting a bit desperate at that 
point."

Marina sighs.  "Speaking of points, George -- do you actually have 
one?"

"I always have a point!"  George looks indignant.  "My point is, I 
think Eileen is needlessly limiting herself by looking only to bad 
guys (or, in Snape's case, former bad guys) for redemption 
possibilities.  But good guys can need redemption too.  Take Sirius, 
for instance."

Marina perks up -- she's always ready to take Sirius, after all.

"Do you mean the Prank?" she asks.  George shakes his head.

"Nah.  The Prank, to be honest, is small potatoes in the great 
scheme of things.  All it requires is for Sirius to sincerely admit 
he was wrong to do it, and the matter will be close.  No, I'm 
talking about the events preceding the Potters' deaths, and Sirius' 
role in them.  He wrongly mistrusted a good friend.  He talked James 
and Lily into a course of action that got them killed.  He promised 
them he'd be there to take care of Harry, and then wasn't.  Yes, he 
meant well, yes he was betrayed, yes, there were circumstances 
beyond his control, but he still made some extremely bad judgement 
calls that resulted in disastrous consequences.  Didn't you yourself 
suggest that Sirius' offer to have Harry go live with him at the end 
of PoA was motivated more by a desire for redemption than any 
meaningful connection with Harry?"

"Yes!"  Marina nods enthusiastically.  "I remember.  I pointed out 
that Sirius really didn't know Harry then, not as a person.  He was 
trying to redeem himself by finally keeping his promise to James and 
Lily."

"Exactly.  And he's still working on it all through GoF -- leaving 
his safe tropical hideaway to live in a cold cave an eat rats, just 
so he can be near enough to watch out for Harry."

"Doesn't do Harry much good, though, does it?"  says Marina.  "When 
the big confrontation with Voldemort comes, Sirius isn't there.  
He's not even there to help rescue Harry from Barty."

"Exactly," says George.  "Sirius is *trying* to redeem himself, but 
he hasn't succeeded yet -- just like Snape.  It's going to be a 
long, hard effort for him -- just as it will be for Snape."

Marina sips her Chambord as she thinks it over.  "I like it," she 
says finally.  "It fits in with what many other readers have noted 
about Snape and Sirius being more similar than either of them would 
be willing to admit."

"That's right."  George beams.  "It's got parallelism.  It's got 
thematic coherence.  It's completely bang-free.  It's perfect!"

"Just for that," Marina tells him, "you can have the last truffle."

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com