Vengeance on Snape?Re: Snape--Abusive?

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 115764



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> Carol responds:
> I think we've reached a point where we're dealing with preferences
> rather than rational arguments. I don't like the scenes where Harry
> and friends hex Draco and company, however much they may deserve it.

Allow me to disagree.  I find them some of the most entertaining and 
highly rewarding portions of the books.  A personal opinion, of 
course.  However, for what it's worth (and I acknowledge it isn't 
worth very much) I think that is probably the majority opinion.

> Retribution isn't righteousness; vengeance isn't justice. As for
> Snape, he has every right to hand out detentions and deduct points.
> Note that the points may be deducted unfairly, but detentions are
> always deserved. As for the marks Harry receives, it's the
> end-of-the-year marks (and the OWLS) that matter, and Harry always
> passes. I'm not bothered by Snape's teaching methods; they're far
> outweighed, for me, by his courage, his loyalty to Dumbledore, and 
his
> repeated attempts to save Harry despite his dislike. And I would not
> be at all entertained by any form of retribution by Harry or Neville
> against him.

Once again, allow me to disagree.  I would find this to be extremely 
humorous and most appropriate.  And once again, for what it's worth 
(which isn't much) I think this is probably the majority opinion of 
readers of the books.

 <Snip>

 He's make a hell of an
> auror, IMO.

Not without a change in attitude, he wouldn't.  I would hope that law-
enforcement officials would have a much more highly developed sense 
of propriety, and a much greater maturity, than Severus has displayed.

> 
> As for Harry killing Voldemort, I hope it won't come to that, but if
> it does, I want it to be an act of justice for the good of the 
entire
> WW, not a personal act of vengeance for the death of his parents.

These two things are not mutually exclusive.  Indeed, what better 
situation can you have when you are able to execute justice for 
society and vengeance for yourself in the same act?  Nor do I agree 
that the simple act of taking deserved vengeance somehow taints or 
darkens Harry's character.  Dumbledore, for instance, urged Harry to 
recognize that pain is part of being human.  So is anger and 
vengeance.  Perhaps not a pretty part of humanity, to be sure, but an 
inevitable and inexpungable part.

 But
> I'm hoping for a way to destroy Voldemort without resorting to the
> means and methods of the enemy--no Unforgiveable Curses, which
> apparently corrupt the soul. It would be better, however sappy it 
may
> sound, to kill him with kindness somehow.

I doubt Harry will use the unforgiveables to destroy Voldemort.  I 
think we will see him use love of some type in his struggle.  In my 
opinion, that is sappy, in fact insipid.  However, it seems decreed 
by JKR so there you have it.

 I don't know what I want,
> exactly, except that I don't want Harry motivated by the petty and
> ignoble desire to punish or get even, whether the enemy (or 
perceived
> enemy) is Snape, Draco, or Voldemort. We saw that ignominious motive
> with Sirius Black's vicious crusade to murder Peter Pettigrew. What
> chance Black had to grow and develop as a character occurred only
> because his quest for vengeance failed and Harry prevented him from
> tainting his soul with murder. 
> 
> Carol

Well, first of all I'm not sure we did see Sirius grow and develop 
much as a character.  Secondly, I think a good case can be made that 
not killing Pettigrew was a foolish mistake taken at the behest of a 
naive and overly sentimental child.  Without Peter, Voldemort would 
not have been able to inact the ceremony in the graveyard.  Yes, he 
might have been able to return, somehow, but it is nevertheless the 
fact that Harry's mercy led to Voldemort's return, and thus to 
Sirius' death.  Thus Sirius' soul remained "clean" at the expense of 
his life.  Which was better?  To live after killing a traitor who 
richly deserved it, or to die with clean hands leaving your godson 
torn and in pain from his part in your death?  Would Pettigrew's 
death have been a greater evil than that of Sirius?  These are  
religious questions, I admit, and not ones on which we will ever 
reach consensus.  Nevertheless, the arguments for punishing this 
character or that are extremely complex, and different opinions can 
easily be justified using similar moral systems.  But most of all we 
should probably remember we are dealing with a book primarily 
valuable for its entertainment value, not some modern annex to the 
King James Bible.

Lupinlore