How should Harry deal with Snape? (was: Why Snape doesn't have to be human)

[dzeytoun]

No: HPFGUIDX 107705

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" 
<susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:
> SSSusan:
> I like this question of Neri's, and I think it just might serve 
> Harry well if he were to consider it very seriously.  I can 
> understand your reaction, Alla, but I don't know that I agree with 
> you.  We've seen very little indication that Snape is interested in 
> changing.  So if a change is going to occur between the two, I 
> think it just might have to come from an effort of Harry's.
> 
> What could it hurt for Harry to TRY this tack?  Not a thing.  The 
> bigger question, I think, is:  Is it *possible* for a 16-year-old, 
> filled with anger and frustration, convinced this man truly loathes 
> him, to set all that aside and say, "NO. I will not feed the cycle 
> by being a berk to him.  I will not give him reason any more to 
> fail me, to sneer at me, to belittle me. I will show him that I 
> understand we MUST work together."  


I understand the logic behind this, but I have three main 
objections.  First of all, such a solution to the Snape/Harry dilemma 
would imply that the way to deal with bullies is to submit to them, 
which is a dangerous precedent.  Secondly, it would be deeply 
unsatisfying.  I realize that the last is a purely subjective 
statement, but I think I speak for a large number of people when I 
say that I will be extremely dissatisfied if Snape's behavior does 
not come home to roost in a very meaningful way.  Harry proving he is 
the better man by becoming a "model" student, or undertaking that 
behavior just to cooperate with Snape for the good of the Order, just 
doesn't cut it - if no other reason than that such a plotline would 
be so very trite and stale.

The most important objection, however, is that the time for this 
approach has already come and gone.  IF someone like Dumbledore or 
Lupin (or best of all, Sirius) had approached Harry with this idea 
BEFORE the events of OOTP, I suppose it might have had a shot.  But 
now Harry's feelings for Snape have gone past the stage of anger, 
resentment, or even rage, and settled into cold hatred.  Observe his 
response to Snape at the end of OOTP.  It was nothing if not coldly 
polite.  He did not fume or argue, he did not even waste much energy 
feeling resentful after McGonagall intervened and sent him outside.  
He just felt icy hatred for Snape, period.  I suspect that, all 
things being equal, Harry will never initiate such a policy as 
described above on his own, and he would likely view any advice along 
these lines from anyone else as far too little, far too late.

In order to reach an accomodation with Snape, Harry must not only 
deal with all the previous water under the bridge, he must forgive 
Snape for what he sees as Snape's complicity in Sirius' death.  I 
don't subscribe to the theory that this is simply an outlet for his 
own guilt.  Certainly there is a large amount of that going on, but 
that is not the only factor.  Harry honestly believes that Snape had 
a hand in Sirius' death because of Snape's behavior during Occlumency 
lessons and his goading of Sirius at Grimmauld Place.  Whether he is 
correct or not is beside the point at the moment, and very difficult 
to determine because a case CAN be made against Snape.  Not enough of 
a case, perhaps, to win conviction in a court of law, but certainly 
enough to have seminary students arguing a pretty interesting case of 
conscience.

All together, I think it is going to take a major event to make for 
an opening between these two.  First of all, it will take large 
revelations concerning the history between Snape and the Marauders, 
as well as revelations about why Dumbledore trusts Snape.  Secondly, 
it will take a personal development on Harry's part which will 
probably not entail him coming to respect Snape, but which will 
likely render Snape a minor factor in his overall view of the world.

Dzeytoun