Who Saved Harry? ...NOT Snape.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 115721


> Hannah wrote:

 I know Hermione meant well, but in actual fact it was lucky 
> she didn't *kill* Harry.  If she hadn't *accidentally* knocked 
> Quirrel over as she rushed towards Snape, she would have caused 
> Snape to stop his countercurse while Quirrel was still performing 
> the jinx.  That would have enabled Quirrel to have him off his 
> broom, or whatever it was he was trying to do exactly.
> 
> Snape's countercurse may have been not terribly effective, but at 
> least he was doing something.  There were other teachers there, 
> including McGonagall, and Madam Hooch who was supposed to be 
> refereeing, and they didn't appear to be doing anything.  He also 
> refereed the second game (and I genuinely think he did do that to 
> protect Harry, and not to skew the results), and tried to keep an 
> eye on Harry (he seems to 'follow Harry around').  
> 
> PoA is a different matter.  Snape isn't acting out of a desire to 
> protect Harry, rather to get revenge on his childhood enemies.  Even 
> as a Snape fan I can't really give him much credit for saving Harry 
> here.  But I hope that *someone* gave him some praise for his 
> efforts in PS, even if it was DD and not Harry himself.


Carol responds:
Excellent assessment of the situation in SS/PS, but I think Snape also
deserves some credit in PoA--not for trying to save the kids,
necessarily, but for rushing in, Siriuslike, to face one man he knew
to be a werewolf about to transform and another he believed to be a
homicidal maniac. He didn't overhear the whole conversation and it
would have been a miracle, given his history with MWPP, if he believed
the Pettigrew animagus story before actually seeing Pettigrew
transformed. He could have killed Sirius or Lupin and didn't, despite
his threats.

I think, BTW, that Snape *is* repeatedly trying to save Harry, at
least in part because of his life debt to James, whether it's a
genuine "binding Magical contract" as it would be if James were alive
or a self-imposed matter of personal honor. We see him make the
attempt yet again, in a less direct manner for which he would get no
credit, certainly not an Order of Merlin, in OoP, both by going into
the Forbidden Forest and by sending the Order after him. Even his
attempts to keep Harry out of Hogsmeade in PoA are intended as
protection, and he is extremely provoked with Harry not only for
breaking the rules yet again but for risking his life.

Whether he has actually succeeded in saving Harry yet is less
important, IMO, than the fact that he is perpetually *trying* to save
or protect him, irksome though he finds that duty.

Carol