Lupin niceness factor & Harry as human Sneakascope

[Diana <dianasdolls@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49611

Maria:
>And yet another thought. While Fake!Moody is cool, he isn't 
really nice<

Pippin replied:
Oh, he's nice to Neville. Gives him that Herbology book. Harry 
even thinks it's something Lupin might have done.

Now me:
Except Fake!Moody *only* gave Neville that book as a round-a-bout 
and sneaky way to help Harry in the second challenge of the Tri-
wizard Tournament.  Barty!Moody figured that Harry would ask 
everyone around him for aid in figuring out how to breathe 
underwater, including Neville, but Harry did not.  In fact, Barty!
Moody even said that he was quite frustrated at how "proud and 
independent" Harry was because he *never* asked Neville for help in 
trying to find a way to breathe underwater.  Barty!Moody even tells 
Harry that Neville would have told him in a second about gillyweed, 
if *only* Harry had bothered to ask him.  So, Barty!Moody was then 
forced to stage a conversation with McGonagall asking her if Harry 
would think to use gillyweed in order to breathe underwater, knowing 
that Dobby, who owed Harry for setting him free [and worships Harry, 
too], was listening and then would run straight to Harry with the 
information.   
More than once, Harry seems a little unsure of Fake!Moody, 
especially in the beginning.  Harry was rather horrified after Fake!
Moody's first lesson showing them the Unforgivable Curses.  How much 
of that was due to his sudden realization that that was how his 
parent's died, I don't know, but at least some of seems to have been 
because of Fake!Moody.  
"They were talking about the lesson, Harry thought, as though it had 
been  some sort of spectacular show, but he hadn't found it very 
entertaining - and nor, it seemed, had Hermione."  [GoF, page 218, 
1st American edition]
"...Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. 'You all right, are 
you, Potter?'  'Yes,' said Harry, almost defiantly."  [GoF, page 219]

 >>Lupin, on the other hand, *is* extremely nice,
Harry feels it, and I don't think you can fake that kind of
thing. In 
this case I'd trust my gut feeling, which is what I do.<<

Pippin replied:
Harry's gut failed to warn him about Quirrell, Lockhart, Riddle, 
Scabbers, or Fake!Moody. I don't think, despite his boast to 
Draco about knowing who the wrong sort are, that his track 
record is very good. 

Now me:
I'll start off by saying that Harry is not a living Sneak-o-scope, 
and sometimes has trusted the wrong people, but that is because he 
trusts Dumbledore's judgement about people, except where Snape is 
concerned.  And his feelings toward Snape are totally based upon 
Snape's constant, vicious mistreatment of Harry, Ron, Hermione, 
Neville and basically every Gryffindor he comes across.  
Dumbledore hired Lockhart because no one else wanted the job.  
Dumbledore never knew Peter Pettigrew was an animagus.  The fact 
that Lupin never told Dumbledore he, Sirius, Peter and James were 
unregistered Animagi...let me quote the book:

"'I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of 
course...he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster 
would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he 
had set down for my own and others' safety.  He never knew I had led 
three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally.  But I always 
mangaged to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan 
our next month's adventure.  And I haven't changed..."  
"Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his 
voice."  'All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering 
whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus.  But I 
didn't do it.  Why?  Because I was too cowardly.  It would have 
meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, 
admitting that I'd led others along with me...and Dumbledore's trust 
has meant everything to me.  He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and 
he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable 
to find paid work because of what I am.  And so I convinced myself 
that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned 
from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with 
it...so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."
Lupin obviously regrets his cowardice and selfishness and confesses 
this to Harry.  If Snape is attributed all the these 'heroic' traits 
as a former DE-spy now working for the good, all while verbally 
abusing Harry his friends and every Gryffindor he runs across, then 
I can't see why Lupin must be painted as evil, treacherous and a 
villian because he did something very stupid and then admits it.  

Now I want to go over each person you named above.  In the case of 
Quirrell, Harry hates Snape as much, if not more, than Snape hates 
him and was blinded by these feelings enough to never conclude that 
Quirrell could be evil while Snape was trying to do good.  [Side 
question: Did Snape tell Dumbledore about his suspicions about 
Quirrell trying to get the Sorcerer's Stone?  I don't think he did 
or Dumbledore would have had Quirrell, and therefor Voldemort, 
immediately in hand.  Why didn't Snape tell Dumbledore?  Hmmm?]  
Even Quirrell commented that Snape acts like a villian while in the 
final chamber with Harry in SS/PS.  
Lockhart was the only person who came forward to take on the 
position of DADA professor, as Hagrid states in CoS.  Harry detests 
Lockhart because Lockhart embarrasses him constantly, and Harry 
avoids him whenever possible.  He knows he is a vain, pompous, 
celebrity-fixated git.  And he knows that Lockhart doesn't seem to 
know what he's doing when it comes to performing magic, which is why 
Harry didn't want Lockhart trying to fix his arm when the bludger 
broke it in CoS.  Harry knows something is "off" about Lockhart, but 
can't quite put his finger on it - and given all the things going on 
at Hogwarts that year, doesn't really think about it enough to put 
all the clues together.  Harry is curious, but not nosy.  
Also, while Harry had his suspicions about Lockhart, he must have 
concluded that Lockhart wouldn't have published all those books and 
be so famous in the WW if he was a *completely* clueless git.  The 
fact that it turns out that Lockhart is also on the close side of 
nasty by trying to erase Harry's and Ron's memories and sacrifice 
Ginny's life to preserve his fame and fortune was probably quite 
surprising to Harry since most of the villians Harry encounters want 
to torture him, tear him limb from limb, kill all muggle-borns and 
wreck havoc upon the WW and the Muggle world.  Lockhart was a very 
small-minded villian, who, if he'd succeeded in the CoS would have 
inadvertently allowed Voldemort to come back to life as a strong, 
human-looking sixteen-year-old. 
In the case of Tom Riddle and his diary, Harry is so driven by the 
desire to solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets that he uses 
the diary as a means to an end [sort of a Slytherin trait, eh? :D] 
to find out what happened last time the chamber was opened.  Harry 
wants to solve the mystery so badly that he ignores Ron's warning to 
not pick up the diary, and keeps it regardless of the danger it may 
hold.  Harry also believed that Riddle was only a memory that spoke 
through a diary.  He is still quite unfamiliar with many magical 
things that most wizards would be wary of, and would not even 
remotely think that Riddle could suck the life out of Ginny and come 
back to life.  Harry was so worried about Ginny that he didn't 
really focus on Riddle at first, but his attitude changed quickly 
toward him when he really began to focus on him.
As for Scabbers, Harry didn't think he was anything more than a fat, 
old rat.  I'm not going to say that Harry's lack of perception was 
responsible for not recognizing what Scabbers really was.  Heck, an 
entire family of wizards [yes, I mean the Weasleys!] didn't know 
that Scabbers was more than a rat for over twelve years!
I can't find the quote right now, but I'll keep looking and post it 
when I find it, but somewhere in PoA, I remember Harry as thinking 
that he could help trusting Lupin.  

Diana