Harry as Kreacher was Re: Snape at school was Should Harry have told on DJU

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 100580

Annemehr: 
> Honestly, what good is comparing the mere actions of people, 
when the circumstances and motivations are all important? You 
can't say Wormtail and Snape are equivalent because they both 
switched sides,and we only approve one because we *like* him 
better! One turned to the good side, and that *is* good (unless 
we later hear of some evil motivation for Snape), and the other 
turned to evil and that is evil.
>  Any way, *can* you "betray" evil? In the purest sense, betrayal 
seems to me to be turning against someone who has a claim 
on your loyalty, and I don't think evil has a true claim on 
*anyone's* loyalty.  Therefore, say, Bellatrix turning against LV 
will never carry the same weight as Ron turning against Harry 
would.<
 

Pippin:
Hmmm. Fighting for the good? Good and evil are muddy even 
from our perspective, let alone the characters'.  I think few of 
them  would be so arrogant as to claim so much  on their own 
behalf. And some that would, Fudge and Umbridge, for example, 
would be wrong. From their own perspective,  the  characters 
can only know whether  they are fighting for the  right as they see 
it. 

Some, such  as Regulus, the giants, and possibly the 
goblins, if what Lupin predicts comes true, have seen right on 
Voldemort's side.  Leaving Voldemort, then, entails not only 
turning against Voldemort's evil, but betraying those of your 
friends who still believe in him. And let's not forget how 
convincing he can be. He's got the Malfoys and their sort 
believing he'll put purebloods on top while at the same time he's 
convincing the goblins and giants that he's fighting to secure 
their freedoms. Our Voldy's a talented bloke, and none, so far, 
have been  wise enough to see through all his deceptions.

Was Mrs. Black evil? It seems to be totally missed that she was 
not a Voldemort supporter to the end. "They got cold feet when 
they saw what [Voldemort] was prepared to do to get power. But I 
bet my parents thought Regulus was a right little hero for joining 
up *at first.* " --OOP ch 6. (emphasis mine)

Voldemort murdered Regulus, Mrs. Black's much better son, and 
everybody treats it like it couldn't have possibly mattered to her. 
Sheesh! Then Sirius goes to Azkaban as a Death Eater--no 
wonder she was heart-broken! Does everyone think having the 
wrong idea about Muggles and House Elves exiles you from 
humanity?

To me,  I'm afraid that it's not that simple. We teach our children 
in school that racism is bad. In our culture it's a given.  But no 
one has ever been taught at Hogwarts that Muggles are the 
equals of wizards, or that House Elves should not be slaves. 

Consider the real world  of the eighteenth century.  A 
good many people whose ringing words about human freedom 
are enshrined in the founding documents of my society and 
fondly quoted to this day, held slaves and would not have 
considered me, a woman and a Jew, their social equal. Yet I 
have rights  today because they were willing to risk their lives for 
their imperfectly imagined concept of human dignity.

Pippin