MadEye & Malfoy - James & Snape - Everyone & Umbridge

[D.G.]

No: HPFGUIDX 68872

I, for one, really hope that Snape does begin to soften --or at least 
change-- in his demeanor towards Harry.

At risk of being sacrilegious, I'm getting rather tired of the 
ongoing and all-too-predictable Snape/Potter relationship as it now 
stands.  "Oh, yawwwnn -- another day, another Dark Arts Class, 
another bit of pissy-boy pranksterism by Draco Malfoy that sabotages 
one of Harry's potions, another vindictive sneer from Snape, another 
10 points taken off..."  

ENOUGH ALREADY! Been, there, conjured that!  

After all... we've seen evidence of emotional complexity and depth in 
other characters -- to mention just a few:  Hagrid, for all his 
fierce demeanor, is a soft-hearted sentimental lug at heart;  the 
invincible Dumbledore, as we now now, is capable of deep sadness and 
remorse; McGonnagal (sp?), beneath her prim and proper exterior, is 
both flexible and kind-hearted, to say nothing of fiercely loyal and 
courageous.  And of course, the youthful protagonists grow and 
complexify [is that a word or a spell!?] as time goes on.

Meanwhile, Snape keeps sneering, keeps bullying Harry, keeps favoring 
the son of a man who is now a known Death Eater (and seems determined 
to keep doing so, even though that very son revealed himself as an 
active accomplice of the Dark Lord when he confronted Harry at the 
Ministry in OoP).  I simply can't buy it any more -- Snape is simply 
too smart and too important to the story to carry on as a one-
dimensional "meanie," even if he is on "our" side now.  And, with 
what we now know incontrovertibly, for him (as a member of the Order) 
to favor Draco, in class or otherwise, comes close to being an act of 
treason. 

Maybe the glimpse of young Servius being tormented by BMOC Potter and 
his buddies represent the beginning of the kind of insight that will 
allow the guy to show us some of the depth and perspective he MUST 
have, given all he's been through and all he knows.  I certainly hope 
so.  

D.G. ("JazzmanChgo")