"I trust him".

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 116834


>kmc adds:
>The failure of the Occlumency is due to a trust issue but Harry is 
>the guilty party here not Snape?

catkind:  I had this down as Snape betraying DD's trust in him, not
because he failed to get the unwilling Harry to learn, but because he
stopped trying.  So it's not a betrayal of trust that he threw Harry
out of his office in a temper, but it is that he didn't hoik him back
in the next week. He has not done his best to do the extremely
important task DD set him.

I'm undecided as to whether Harry has let down anyone's trust in him.
If so, whose?


Agreed that Snape did not do his very best by abandoning the 
lessons, hence Dumbledore's disappointment when he told Harry 
he'd hoped Snape could overcome his feelings about James. In 
that sense Snape did "betray" Dumbledore's trust in him.

As for Harry, one could certainly say he betrayed Snape's trust
by sticking his head where it didn't belong. That's true even if
Snape wasn't consciously "trusting" Harry not to delve into the
pensieve, but simply didn't think to retrieve the memories before
he left to deal with Montague. Harry's action is wrong, and he
knows that very well, hence the justifications to himself.

Beyond that, Harry also betrayed the trust of those who told 
him how important the Occlumency lessons were, and how 
critical it was that he take them seriously. That would include 
Lupin, Siruis, and Dumbledore. Further, he also betrayed 
Dumbledore's trust by violating Snape's privacy.

Yet I consider "betrayal" a very strong word for everything that
happened during the Occlumency lessons. True betrayal to 
me implies intent, and I don't think either Snape nor Harry 
intended the lessons to fail. Also that failure came about partly 
because of extenuating circumstances (Harry's violation of 
Snape's privacy, the lack of explanation about why the lessons 
were so important--which might have provided Harry sufficient
motivation to apply himself--as well Harry's susceptibility to 
Voldemort's manipulations). I think it's because of those 
extenuating circumstances, some of which were unexpected,  
but some of which Dumbledore should have foreseen, that led 
Dumbledore to blame himself foremost, and to experience no
diminishment of trust in either Snape or Harry. 

Which explains--in too many words, no doubt!--why he continues
to trust Severus Snape.

Julie 








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