Snape and Harry WAS Re: Pensieves objectivity AND: Dumbledore's integrity

[mochajava13]

No: HPFGUIDX 79841

>A Goldfeesh:
>I believe Melpomne is being misunderstood here: I
>believe she means that *Snape* thinks that "Oh no,
>Potter wasn't looking for Potters, he was looking for
>more "Fun with Snivellus" and we all know it." Not
>that Harry was looking for a way to get at Snape.

***

Sarah: 
I always took it as curiosity on Harry's part.  Harry saw the 
pensivve, and was reminded of the Department of Mysteries.  I think 
Harry went over to the pensieve thinking he was going to finally 
discover why the Department of Mysteries was so important, something 
the adults were keeping from him.  But then he sees the great hall, 
but looking quite different from normal.  Harry's thinking "huh?", 
and decided to check it out.  I think Harry was looking to an answer 
for the mystery of the Department of Mysteries, but saw his father 
instead.  And come on, Harry has precious little information about 
his parents.  If he saw his parents in the pensieve, he would have 
dived into the pensieve.  An invasion of someone's privacy, yes.  
But a very, very sad moment that all Harry can learn about his 
parents, the only way he can ever see his parents, is by invading 
someone else's memory.  That's one of the reasons that I felt 
Snape's reaction was too extreme; he was equating Harry with James, 
looking for a way to humiliate Snape.  Snape didn't realize that 
Harry wasn't paying attention to Snape at all, other than to ensure 
he could still watch his father while Snape was there.  Snape, 
understandably, felt that Harry was amused by what happened to Snape 
in the pensieve scene.  He doesn't give Harry the chance to explain 
that Harry wasn't amused by it, nor does Snape realize that Harry 
know very, very little about his parents.  Harry realized that he 
and Snape were similar in that they both were victims of bullies.  
The possibility that Harry was bullied and unloved as a child 
doesn't seem to enter Snape's mind.  I don't think that Snape sees 
Harry as anything but a more famous version of his father.  And 
Harry being an orphan doesn't seem to matter much to Snape.  
(Neither does the whole concept of not speaking ill of the dead.)

Don't get me wrong, I like Snape's character.  He's so slimy and 
nasty.  He's a character I love to be wary about, especially since 
he was a death eater, and was evil/support evil at one point in his 
life.  Harry's suspicion of Snape is valid, I think, since Harry 
doesn't know why Dumbledore trusts Snape so much.  All he knows is 
that Snape was a death eater and is now purportedly a spy for the 
good guys.  Snape is such a multi-faceted character, it's 
wonderful.  Such as, he did buy into the whole pure-blood nonsense; 
he was a death eater.  He's pretty nasty now, even in the presence 
of the Order.  He is such an ambiguity and a mystery.  Fascinating.

Sarah