Harry's Cold Anger (was RE: How should Harry deal with Snape)

[dzeytoun at cox.net]

No: HPFGUIDX 107900

cubfanbudwoman wrote:

In fact, and maybe surprisingly, I think that 
icy hatred might work *very well* to get Harry to the point where he 
can do this. Maybe I'm weird, but I think when he's hopping mad, 
filled with fiery indignation and rage, he CAN'T see reason. When a 
person feels *icy* hatred, it's somehow calmer, leaving room for a 
little rationality to enter in. I mean, it's "hotheads" who make 
rash, angry decisions, right?

DZEYTOUN:  Oh my goodness, no, no, and absolutely not!  Icy anger is MUCH more dangerous than hot anger, and MUCH harder to deal with.  Whereas the hotheads make rash decisions, its the people possessed of icy hatred who make misguided, malicious decisions that cause a hundred times as much hurt and injury.  Look at Snape himself, if you want an example.  Is he a hothead?  Generally not, except when provoked by some extreme situation (catching Harry in his pensieve, having the Order of Merlin withdrawn).  Typically, Snape's anger is of the cold and long-enduring sort.

That last is the most dangerous aspect of icy rage - it endures.  Whereas hot anger burns itself out relatively quickly, icy hatred settles into the core of a person and sinks roots.  It can easily persist, unabated, for decades (and even centuries in the case of whole groups of people).

JKR has said that Harry must "Master his own feelings."  I would caution against making easy assumptions about what this means.  Lots of people would like to see Harry not exploding.  Very well.  That would be a form of mastering his feelings.  But it is quite possible to master your feelings in this regard and do nothing whatsoever about eliminating your anger.  Snape is a master occlumens, and thus has done a superb job of "mastering his feelings" by his own definition (e.g. when he barks at Harry "Master yourself!")  That has had little effect on his rage, however.

In short - and this is not a prediction, just a plausible outcome - Harry might well "Master Himself" in book 6 by controlling his outbursts, but at the cost of feeding the cold anger inside.  His isolation from his friends at the end of OOTP is not a good sign.  By the end of Book 6, Harry and Snape might well be able to work effectively together in some sense - but only because Harry has become MUCH more like Snape.

Dzeytoun