Chapt. 28 Discussion: Snape, Harry, & Trust

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 115157


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "meriaugust" <meriaugust at y...>
wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Magda Grantwich 
> <mgrantwich at y...> wrote:

> Magda adds:  
> > Nope, Snape was in a towering rage because he'd started to trust
> > Harry - ... and he had been feeling some empathy (NOT liking) for 
> > Harry.  For the first time he didn't assume the worst about Harry 
> > and Harry ... poked his head literally where it didn't belong.  

> Meri comments:
>
> Really? You think he actually started to trust Harry? Because I 
> can't really see that. ... you really think he was trusting the 
> Potter boy, whom he's hated for the last five years? If you can show
>  me canon to back that up, maybe I'll buy it. 
>
> ...edited...
> 
> Meri

bboyminn:

This is a sticky issue because what has happened between Snape and
Harry is very subtle and subconscious at this point. While Magda did
say 'trust', which I suspect she meant in the most general way, she
(assumed as a she) tried to clarify by saying 'empathy'.

I think Harry and Snape now have a deeper understanding of each other,
and while Snape may not have literally gained trust for Harry, he did
let his guard down. I think Snape and Harry now do share a degree of
empathy for each other. They both know exactly what it's like to be
humiliated in front of a crowd of people. They both know what it's
like to be tormented for the entertainment of others. They share a
common bond created by their common experience. Again, this is all
very subconscious at this point. 

As far as canon to back up this point when Harry is talking to Sirius
and Remus about what he saw in the Pensieve, Harry says with a
noticable degree of discomfort that he never thought he would feel
sorry for Snape. I believe Snape had similar feelings. Again, very
subconscious feelings. 

I think once Harry and Snape get over the /hurt/ they suffered in
OotP, they will emerge with a subtle unspoken begrudging mostly
subconscious respect for each other. While there will never be any
great love between them, I believe they will reach the point where
they will be able to functionally work together without it constantly
turning into a battle royal.

So Magda may have been a little off in using the word 'trust', but I
think she still illustrated an aspect of the change in the Harry/Snape
dynamic, and that shift in dynamic was reflected in Snape's response
to the Pensieve incident. Snape, to some degree, has allowed himself
to feel sorry for Harry, and that caused him to lower his guard. Just
as he was allowing himself to be a little more open to Harry, Harry
betrayed Snape in an extreme way. That 'trust' betrayal amplified what
would have been substantial anger on Snape's part under any
circumstances into the extreme fury we saw.

So, again, in a very limited way, I think Snape will get over that
violation of his privacy, and Harry will get over blaming Snape for
Sirius's death. They will both see, to a limited degree, that neither
is who the other thought they were. Snape is very very much /not/
nice, but he is very good, and Harry is not James. While Harry may
have bent a rule or two, he has never been as arogant, mean-spirited,
or cruel as James was.

Just a thought.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)