Harry's revenge on Snape?

clio44a clio44a at yahoo.com
Sun Feb 8 21:25:32 UTC 2004


No: HPFGUIDX 90492

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Andrew" <baseball_07_05 at y...> 
wrote:
> >By the way, as totally compelling as it is, I HATE the idea of
> >Voldemort snaking his way into Harry's mind and creating havoc 
>there,
>> too sad! :(
>> 
>> Sue
>>
>
> 
> I agree. You can't always speculate like that, and actually expect 
> anything in the story. It is JKR's story and you have to think what 
> she is likely to do. Will she do certain things to destroy the 
> charactar she created, I highly doubt it. Plus this is 
a 'childrens' 
> book. Well, not anymore. Just as Lord of the Rings wasn't a 
> childrens book at all. You always have to remember these are 
> charactars that JKR created, not real people.
> 
> Andrew


I do not think it is necessary for Voldemort to manipulate Harry to 
do something he will regret later. Harry is not thinking clearly at 
the end of OotP. He is mourning, he is frustrated about Dumbledore's 
behavior, and he is angry about the whole being kept in the dark 
about the prophecy and Order business stuff.

I would not equal Harry doing something violent with destroying the 
character, btw. This story is after all about choices and moral 
growth.
In order to mature Harry MUST make mistakes. And learn from them. In 
OotP JKR has lead Harry closer towards the abyss of bitterness and 
mental instability than I thought it would be possible for such a 
popular children's book. 

BTW, I think it is an insult of JKR's abilities as a writer to say 

quote:
>You always have to remember these are >charactars that JKR created, 
>not real people.   

I believe it is due to the realism of the characters that the books 
became so popular.



Well, back to the Harry/Snape hate problem. These two people will 
inevitably meet again. Given their characters I can hardly imagine 
either one of them to apologize and make peace with the other. It 
would be great, if Harry found the strength in him to do so, but I 
believe at this point of the series this is wishful thinking. Snape 
has just climbed in Harry's Most Hated People list in spot 2, right 
after Voldemort, but above Draco Malfoy, Umbridge and many people 
more.

So, what is going to happen? I think these two are set up for a major 
clash. I can imagine that Snape taunts Harry until he leashes out 
violently. Maybe even with a Cruciatus. (See my original post why I 
think so.)

Would JKR write that? Yes, because it is important what Harry thinks 
afterwards. I can picture him being disgusted with his own doing. And 
he will realize that violence does not help him in any way. He will 
not have fun seing someone in pain, and it will not ease his own pain 
about Sirius' death. This could be an important step in Harry's 
maturation. To recognize one's own mistake is a very important lesson.

Would JKR write about physical violence? Yes. Injuries in the 
wizarding world are not a big deal. They can be mended very quickly 
and rarely have consequences (Moody is an exception). Especially 
Snape has been depicted in scenes of bodily violence before. He 
confronts Quirrell in PS, he duels with Lockhart in CoS, he throws 
Harry out of his office in OotP. He is wounded by Fluffy in PS, he 
receives a head wound in GoF and fights with James in OotP. JKR is 
certainly not afraid of letting him suffer.  

Harry hurting Snape would also tie in nicely with the whole 'James-
the-bully' subplot. Harry feels sorry for Snape when he peeks into 
his pensieve. He doesn't want to be like his father. If he did 
something to Snape, he would prove Snape's constant 'You are just 
like your father' right. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Can you 
imagine how disgusted Harry would be with himself if that would 
happen?   
Harry's realization of what he is able to do when angry is in my 
opinion a much better basis for a peace with Snape than his anger at 
the end of book 5. After all it is Snape who says in the Occlumency 
lesson that one must learn to control one's emotions. See the common 
ground?


Clio, 
who thinks Harry is too young to be a second Ghandi yet.
  






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