"I'm not proud of it"

[slgazit]

No: HPFGUIDX 106845

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Renee" <R.Vink2 at c...> wrote:
> But mark that neither Sirius nor Lupin engage in blaming Harry or 
> pointing out he's being punished for his own fault. They see the 
> problem: that his image of his father as a knight without reproach 
> has been badly damaged, and that this hurts. So they decide to make 
> an attempt to control the damage and repair the image as much as 
> possible.

Not quite. They try to put the incidence in perspective - that it was
not an isolated case where the two arrogant little berks attacked a
helpless Snape, but part of a pattern where Snape apparently gave as
much as he got (presumably in a sneaky way). I am not trying to defend
their actions - having been on the receiving end of school mates abuse
I know how horrible it can be, but even in the pensieve Snape hardly
acts innocently (attacks, verbally abuses Lily, etc.).

> 2)Lupin: 'He was only fifteen -' 
> Harry: 'I'm fifteen!'
> What does he mean to say - I'm fifteen, and if I know better, why 
> couldn't my father? Isn't that a little self-righteous, after he's 
> invaded Snape's privacy? (NB: I don't believe in the theory that 
> Snape left the Pensieve unguarded on purpose.)

With both what Harry saw in the pensieve and the fact that he saw it
in the first place it is important to remember the context. The
incident Harry saw was the culmination of years of mutual hostility
where Snape was easily as if not moreso guilty than the others. To
illustrate, consider the scene at the end where the DA members and
Harry perform multiple hexes and curses on Malfoy and his two mates on
the train. If it were viewed in isolation, you'd have argued that it
was a gross over-reaction. But viewed in light of Malfoy's behaviour
during the year, it is completely understandable. Likewise, Harry's
peeping in the pensieve makes sense: he has had his entire past,
especially episodes he'd rather no one, let alone Snape, found out
about, laid bare before Snape for months now. All along, Snape has the
privilege of selecting what memories he is willing to reveal. This
during occlumency lessons that seem increasingly unhelpfull and
coupled with inexusable behaviour by Snape towards him during lessons
(mocking him constantly and awarding him zeros left and right). I can
hardly blame Harry for feeling both resentfull and curious or that he
acted on that given the chance.

> Compare this to his behaviour in the Shrieking Shack scene in PoA. 
> There, he isn't sorry at all for sending Snape straight at a raging 
> werewolf - 'Served him right.' Maybe the excuse in OotP isn't 
> entirely sufficient, but compared to no excuse at all it is a 
> significant improvement.

In the shrieking shack Snape is viewed by the participants as an
enemy. Do they even know he was on Dumbledore's side? All they know
about him is that he was this Slytherin kid with whom they had so many
conflicts and who associated with future DE's. In OoP they have a more
balanced view of Snape (though I personally think he has a good chance
to become evil again if he is not already).

Let's not forget another thing that happened in the Shrieking Shack -
that Snape, despite both Sirius' and Remus' protestations to his
innocence and offers to have it proved, was all set up to have Sirius
delivered to the dementors regardless of any proof to the contrary and
was willing to let them kill Sirius in the most horrendous way
imaginable because of a childhood grudge. Is it a wonder that Sirius
still hated him (and vice versa) in OoP?

> 4)Lupin and Sirius fondly reminiscing. The weakest part in their 
> reaction, but only to comprehensible to me - we've got two damaged 
> men here, who are reminded of the only happy period in their lives.

Not so. They have known James for over 10 years until his death. From
the viewpoint of people in their mid to late thirties, who have both
been through hell since, James' showing off at 15 seems as sweet and
innocent as a 5 year old telling us he can do anything. Moreover, they
have known James for many more years until his death and know that
this was only a passing stage.
 
> 5)The outcome of this conversation. My impression is that Sirius's 
> and Lupin's attempt at damage control succeeded fairly well. Harry 
> seems to - reluctantly - accept their reaction. He doesn't dwell too 
> much on his fathers shortcomings in the rest of OotP, nor does the 
> affair keep him awake. 

Another important outcome of this I think was the change of Sirius's
and Lupin's attitude towards Harry. In this scene it was as if Harry
was the moral judge and both adults were struggling to justify their
actions and obviously shamed by them. I think it made them both, and
especially Sirius, have a lot more respect and love for Harry as a
person in his own right, and no longer just their best friend's son. I
am sure we would have seen this in his attitdude had he lived.

Salit