Unfinished Business (was: Did Lupin Kill Sirius?)

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 82943

> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:
> > Up to the end of OOP, Harry thought his task was to live up to 
his father's legacy. The readers, well, this one anyway, have always 
suspected that  Harry's task is actually to succeed where his 
father failed. James failed to catch the traitor, failed to save
 Lily, failed to keep his friends from turning to the Dark Side, 
failed to reconcile with Snape, failed to trust Dumbledore fully.
<snip> 

Abigail
> That's a very interesting idea, Pippin, and it answers a question 
that has been in the back of my mind since I read OOP. <snip>More 
> accurately, it bothered me that Snape now holds a grudge which he 
can never resolve against not one but two dead men.  
> 
> Snape has a great deal of unfinished business with the Marauders, 
and at the end of OOP, the last man who was in any position to 
resolve the situation was killed (I don't consider Lupin an active 
party in the discord, although Snape clearly does.  He was obviously 
only a passive observer).  This led to the uncomfortable conclusion 
that JKR might intend to leave Snape to fester in his anger for the 
rest of his life.
> 
> Now you've suggested a more interesting possibility - Harry will 
not only learn from his father's mistakes, he will work to rectify 
them.  The feud between Snape and the Marauders will be laid to rest 
by their collective son.
<snip>

Laura:

Although you could both be right, I must say that I don't like the 
idea that Harry is somehow responsible for resolving the mistakes of 
the generation before his.  Where do we get any canon that suggests 
Harry believes James was a failure?  Being killed by LV hardly makes 
you a poor wizard.  Failed to trust DD?  Lots of credible reasons 
have been suggested for James *and Lily* to choose Sirius over DD.  
Failed to keep his friends from going over to LV?  What was he 
supposed to do other than what he did?  It was only one friend 
anyhow and the least close to James of the 3 Marauders.  James was 
also conducting his own life-being a member of the Order, getting 
married and starting a family...he had every reason to continue to 
trust his friends and no time or reason to check up on them.  Failed 
to reconcile with Snape?  He saved the boy's life-what else did he 
need to do?  Even if he had mixed motives, he risked his own life 
for someone who had caused him nothing but trouble.  That should 
have been the end of it, if Snape were capable of looking past his 
own overly fragile ego.

And as for Harry coming to terms with Snape as a representative of 
the Marauders-I don't know how JKR feels about it, but I don't think 
anyone can give forgiveness on anyone else's behalf, especially if 
the latter person is dead.  That's the reason we aren't to let 
grudges linger-we never know when we might forever lose the chance 
to resolve them .  Harry should not be responsible for the 
relationship Snape had with James and Sirius.  And Snape shouldn't 
make him responsible.  

Snape has now put himself in a very difficult situation in terms of 
his unresolved anger-how is he to rid himself of it?  Does he even 
want to?  This is a man who is fueled by rage.  Without that fuel, 
what would happen to him?  Who and what would he be? Those are 
painful and very serious questions-but they're questions for Snape.  
Harry shouldn't have to carry that burden on top of his own.  In 
fact, if anything, Snape has added one more person to his list of 
people from whom to seek forgiveness-and if he's smart, he'll ask 
Harry while they're both still around.

I like the character of Snape, and I think he's acting for good and 
doing it out of principle (not for LOLLIPOPS).  But he may just have 
to live with the fact that he's made mistakes that can't be 
rectified in this life.