for whom are the books named?, Re: Possible message in Evil!Snape

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 137072

Pippin_999 wrote:
<SNIP>

> 
> Well, Harry didn't need seven years of schooling to learn that --
> in fact his opinion of Snape hasn't changed much since his first 
> day of school. What's the point of it all, if Harry hasn't learned
> to *think*?
> 

Perhaps that wisdom is different than intelligence?  That in the end 
we have to make up our own minds, and not let others tell us how to 
think and whom to trust -- even if the person telling us is as kind 
as Lupin or as intelligent as Dumbledore?  That in the end we only 
have our own experiences and judgment upon which to fall back, when 
all else fails us?  Very valuable lessons all, and if Harry has 
learned them they will serve him extremely well.

Actually, I don't know if Snape will turn out evil or not.  Nothing 
would particularly surprise me at this point.  However, I think a 
valuable point has been raised by several people.  This is *Harry's* 
story - not Snape's or Lupin's or anyone else's.  JKR has said that 
several times, and she has said also that, to her, that means Harry 
has to face his destiny by himself, without help from adults.  That 
means without Sirius or Dumbledore, one assumes without Lupin, and 
it strongly implies without the help of a spy who has been cleverly 
planted in Voldemort's entourage by some plot of Dumbledore's and 
who is just waiting to strike at the crucial moment to save Harry's 
bacon.

Snape definitely has a part to play.  But a plot that features him 
as "super spy" threatens to steal Harry's glory, and I don't see JKR 
doing that.  It in effect says that Harry wasn't ever *really* on 
his own after all, and if she's going to pull something like THAT 
I'd really have been much more impressed if she had kept Sirius and 
Dumbledore alive.  That would have at least gone boldly against 
standard formulas.  A super spy plot smells of comic books and soap 
operas and, despite resorting to "the Quest for the Six Horcruxes" I 
hope JKR has something more interesting than that up her sleeve.

As I've said before (and will probably say again) I think in the end 
a lot of HP fans are going to be very disappointed because I think 
the story is going to turn out NOT to hinge on characters in which 
they have a great deal invested.  We've already seen evidence that 
neither Neville nor Luna is going to be as important as many 
believed, and I doubt Tonks will be, either.  Remus still has 
possibilities, and I think Ginny will not be the "sit on the 
sidelines" type either.  And of course the resolution of the Snape 
arc will be important.  Nevertheless, in the end it will very much 
come down to Harry, and to a lesser extent Ron and Hermione.  I 
don't see Snape materializing out of the shadows at the deciding 
instant to save Harry or trip up Voldemort, or for Peter or Draco to 
do that, either.  When all is said and done, it will be "Harry 
Potter and ?" NOT "Severus Snape and the Triumph of the Super Spy" 
or "Draco Malfoy and the Coming of Redemption" or "Peter Pettigrew 
and the Rat's Revenge."


Lupinlore