Snape, A Murderer? (Was: Re: Is Wormtail an Occlumens or an open book?)

[severelysigune]

No: HPFGUIDX 95379

I (Sigune) wrote:
<< This is a very interesting discussion. My first thought would be 
to  agree with Carol's view, as she expressed it in other threads, 
that  Snape cannot be a murderer - this is not because I reason 
sentimentally and would hate the thought of my favourite 
character  engaging in anything so terrible as murder, especially 
of innocent  Muggles. It is mainly because I cannot believe 
Dumbledore to  consciously hire a murderer as a teacher. That 
would be morally  totally unacceptable; and I don't believe in 
ESE!Dumbledore.<snip> However, for a Headmaster to entrust 
the students in his charge to a murderer - that  would be 
downright irresponsible.>>

To which Pippin replied:
<< If Dumbledore believes that Snape has truly repented and is no 
longer  willing to do murder in Voldemort's name, why shouldn't 
he trust him?  I don't believe Dumbledore (or Rowling) divides 
the world into people who are capable of murder and people 
who are not.>>

Now Sigune responds:
I am not sure I feel entirely comfortable with what you are saying 
there, Pippin.
I don't like judging people, and I certainly don't like easy black-
and-white distinctions because I don't believe in them. Hey, I'm a 
Snape fan, and a Dumbledore fan too. I like the first because he 
positively radiates badness but fights on the side of the good; and I 
like the second because he believes in choices and second tries.
BUT I don't think that believing in second chances means you can 
forgive and forget anything. Do you think that if Voldie came to 
Dumbledore, sincerely repenting (just supposing for a moment he 
would/could), Dumbledore would consider making him a member of his 
staff? I don't. I think that even for Dumbledore (and Rowling) there 
are lines you cannot cross. And honestly, without wanting to appear 
reactionary or intolerant, I think that is a good thing. There is 
such a thing as responsibility for one's actions.

I think that Dumbledore is willing to forgive and trust again; I 
believe he doesn't make simple distinctions between good and bad; but 
that is not the same as making no distinctions between people who 
murder and people who don't murder. Because we are not talking about 
being *capable* of murder. I should say most of us probably are, in 
extreme situations. We are talking about *having committed* murder. 
That is quite another thing.
I agree with what Nora and Carol said in other posts, that having 
been a DE at all is already quite enough reason for repentance on 
Snape's part. He does share the guilt of what the DE's got up to. 
However, he was young and possibly misguided, so Dumbledore might be 
able to forgive. But to forgive cold-blooded murder of innocent 
people? No matter how much I dislike the word, I feel forced to use 
it here: 'immoral'.

Yours severely,

Sigune