"I trust him".

[cat_kind]

No: HPFGUIDX 116653


> Finwitch wrote:
> <snip>
> What bothers me here is: just *how far* is Dumbledore's trust 
> in Snape go? Is it just trusting Snape to come up with a potion, 
> or trusting him with his life, or, most likely, something in 
> between? 
>
> Pat replied:
> You have touched on something that has always bothered me about 
> that phrase.  When DD says that he would trust Hagrid with his 
> life, I really want to know why.  Hagrid doesn't seem particularly 
> able as a wizard, especially since he stopped any formal education 
> after just three years.  But that one I can accept as DD realizing 
> that Hagrid is fiercely loyal to him.


catkind:  I read each of those "I trust him"s as "I trust that he is 
on our side".  You wouldn't trust Hagrid to brew a polyjuice potion 
to save your life, or to keep a secret, any more than you would 
trust Snape to hatch out a dragon egg, if that happened to be the 
life-saving task in question. But Dumbledore would trust Hagrid to 
try his best to save his life.   
(OT: A friend once said of another, I'd trust him with my life, but 
not with my wallet.  That's rather the sort of trust I think DD has 
in Hagrid.)

> Pat: But with Snape--there is a totally different issue.  Why 
> does he trust Snape so much?  What did Snape tell him or do to 
> earn that trust?  I don't think that is an easy thing where DD 
> is concerned.  And DD seems so unwavering in his trust of Snape.  

catkind:  Does trust have to be earned? 

> Hannah: Great post Pat!  Trust - and the betrayal of it - are such 
> important themes in HP so far, I'm sure that they're going to play 
> a big part in the big conclusion. <snip>
>
> There's GH and Pettigrew - the ultimate betrayal, and also the 
> underlying themes of distrust between the Marauders, who all seemed 
> to suspect each other. <snip>
>
> It's one of the great HP mysteries why both LV and DD, both highly 
> intelligent, powerful men, seem to trust Snape.  One (or maybe 
> both...) is going to be in for a very nasty shock at some point.  

catkind:  Do we have any evidence that LV trusts Snape? There's the 
fact that Snape is still alive, I suppose, and that they at least 
seem to think he may be useful as a spy.  It could just as well be 
that either LV thinks he has used Legilimency and "knows" Snape is 
loyal, or that he doesn't actually trust Snape and is planning on 
using him anyway, feeding him false information for example.

IMHO trust is being portrayed as a virtue:  even if you sometimes 
end up getting betrayed,  those who trust people tend to win out in 
the end.  Even the big Pettigrew betrayal, at least part of the 
disaster is because of the trustworthy people who fail to trust each 
other as well as the people who trust PP.  If Sirius had trusted 
Lupin... If they had trusted DD to know the SK had been changed...  

I think that the way DD trusts people is one of his greatest 
strengths.  He trusts Sirius again after the Prank;  he trusts 
Hagrid when noone else does. He chooses to trust Snape despite his 
dubious history, and Snape has become a strong weapon on DD's side.  
Admittedly, Snape has failed his trust with the Occlumency, and is 
hopefully feeling properly guilty about is - I sincerely doubt DD 
will stop trusting him because of it, and suspect it will only make 
him more loyal. 

If you trust people, they will try desperately hard to live up to 
it.  LV, on the other hand, doesn't seem to trust his DEs further 
than he can Crucio them.  And if you don't trust your followers, 
they are liable to stab you in the back when it's to their advantage 
to do so.  This is the way I see things going, anyway.

catkiknd