Snape and Harry again.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 113609

> Potioncat wrote:
> I know some readers think that DD and Snape are pretty much in 
> control of the situation and know all the facts correctly.  I doubt 
> it.  We know that Harry misjudged Snape in SS/PS when he thought 
> Snape was after the stone.  So it's just as reasonable that Snape 
> misjudges Harry. And while Snape may be a Potions Master he's no 
> Emotions Master.  (That sounded more clever before I typed it.)
> 
> I'm also beginning to think there is such a thing as HPfGU 
> contamination.  This happens when a HPfGU members have discussed 
> [insert favorite character here] so often and so well, that the 
> character no longer resembles the JKR-version. I know it's happened 
> with Snape and Black. (The treatment is to read two chapters and 
> post in the morning.) <snip>

Carol responds:
I think you're on to something here. Certainly Snape falsely suspects
Harry (though not without cause) of stealing potion ingredients in GoF
and also, I'm pretty sure, believes that Harry put his own name into
the Goblet (until Dumbledore reveals Imposter!Moody and his
intentions). Quite possibly Snape has reassessed the situation by OoP,
understanding that he has falsely suspected Harry (even though he
still resents him for constantly breaking the school rules and getting
away with it--see, for example, his speech to Fudge in PoA, p. 387).
Also, he's more aware of the danger that Harry is in--and that Harry
*presents* when Voldemort is invading his mind. I honestly think that
he's calmer and less sarcastic in dealing with Harry during the
Occlumency lessons than he previously would have been, even coming as
close as Snape can to praising him, but Harry, having programmed by
Sirius to suspect Snape's intentions, doesn't see this attempt at
objectivity or self-control. And, of course, Harry inadvertently ruins
everything when he looks into the Pensieve. Snape loses control and
all his old suspicions return (although maybe the lessons have served
their purpose by that time in any case, or DD realizes that they're
doing more harm than good and doesn't order Snape to resume them). In
any case, despite the Pensieve incident, Snape still does everything
he can to save Harry from Voldemort by alerting both Dumbledore and
the Order to his peril. IMO, Harry and his friends owe their lives to
Snape as much as to the Order members who actually fought in the MoM
(and to DD himself, who arrived because Snape alerted him).

So, yes. I'd say that Snape and Harry have been misjudging one another
from the first day of classes, or before, when Harry sees Snape
looking at him and thinks *he's* causing the scar to hurt. At some
point, Harry will have to realize that he and Snape really are on his
side. (The first step, IMO, is to admit to himself that Snape is not
responsible for Sirius's death. The second is to accept Dumbledore's
trust of Snape as justified.) And Snape, who has been putting aside
his personal dislike for Harry throughout the series because he
understands on some level that Harry will be central to Voldemort's
defeat, will need to understand that Harry is not James--not his
personal enemy unless Snape chooses to make him so, and that his
flouting of the rules is not (in most cases) a personal defiance of
Snape's authority. Maybe with Sirius dead, they will arrive at some
sort of mutual understanding and respect. Not affection, just the
realization that they're on the same side and Dumbledore needs them both.

Or so I hope.

Carol