in defense of Harry OOP Spoiler

[mkaliz]

No: HPFGUIDX 67043

Barbara_MBowen wrote:
> > SPOILER
> > 
> > Okay, not a fan of Snape.  My 2 knuts on the penseive
> > flap.
> > 
> > 
> > I know Harry did a BAD thing by trespassing on Snape's
> > thoughts in the penseive.  But let's remember
> > something, before we say the kid should apologize. 
> > Snape was invading Harry's mind with every lesson,
> > delving into all of Harry's memories

Then Edis notes:

> Yes OK... but one thought. When in GoF Harry delved into the Pensieve 
> and saw some of Dumbledore's memories he later appolgies to 
> Dombledore who waves the appology aside ... Dumbledore implying that 
> with such temptation it is unreasonable to expect Harry would stay 
> out. Not a good example for Harry when facing this temptation with 
> Snapes Pensieve memories...?

My thoughts:

Actually, Dumbledore chides Harry (gently, but it's still a warning)
afterwards by saying: "Curiosity is not a sin, but we should exercise
caution with our curiosity...yes, indeed..."

When Harry sees Snape's Pensieve on the table, he's again seized with
curiosity (in JKR's words), thinking that perhaps the thoughts that
Snape was hiding had to do with Harry's dreams about the Dept. of
Mysteries. He agonizes over it for a paragraph or so, then decides to
take a peek inside, knowing as he does so that what he's doing is
wrong. He knew that Snape was not likely to be as forgiving as Dumbledore.

What's that old saying, "Eavesdroppers never hear anything good about
themselves" ? ::veg::

And, in reply to Barbara...why would Snape apologize to Harry for
doing his job? Attacking Harry's mind was part of the lesson and
witnessing Harry's memories was a side-effect. Harry, on the other
hand, has no such excuse. He really should have apologized to Snape
for trespassing, after all he did apologize to Dumbledore.

--kai