Harry's story , NOT Snape's (was Re: "An old man's mistakes")

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 138961

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c...> 
wrote:
 
> And therein, I'm afraid, lies precisely the problem many people, 
> including myself, see with the Good!Snape scenario.  It in effect 
> means the books cease being Harry's story and start being Snape's 
> story.  I don't think that's what JKR intends (and I think that 
> accounts for most of her concern about Snape being so popular).
 
<snip>

> 
> The problem with Good!Snape, particularly the Dumbledore'sMan!Snape 
> variety of that theory, is that it effect reduces Harry to a 
puppet.  
> The really important choices, in these scenarios, are those that 
have 
> been made by Dumbledore and Snape.  Dumbledore, through his awesome 
> and far-seeing plan, and Snape, through his wrenching sacrifices, 
> have engineered Voldemort's doom by cementing a traitor at 
> Voldemort's right hand, and Harry is simply the first domino that 
> will set the process in motion at the final confrontation.
 
Hickengruendler:

I disagree with you there. Good!Snape does not have to mean that it 
won't be Harry who will defeat Voldemort in the end or who will be 
the crucial character. First of all, Harry is not really alone. He 
still has a lot of faithful friends, some of them were powerful in 
their own way, who will do everything to help him if possible. I 
don't see why Snape shouldn't be one of them as well, even if he is 
of course at best an ally, and not a friend. For example, if the 
fandom speculation is true and Neville will somehow defeat Bellatrix 
in the end, it won't take away anything from Harry's glory. Of course 
nobody of his friends can take away Harry's burden, therefore from 
this point of view he is alone. But Snape can't take away Harry's 
burden as well. He could at best somehow help him. And Harry of 
course won't go for help to Snape anyway, since he considers him to 
be evil. Therefore it's not that Snape can do that much to help him. 
I suspect he will do something from which the good side benefits, he 
might even become *a* hero, just like Ron and Hermione probably will 
become heroes (and hopefully Neville, Hagrid or some other characters 
as well) but in the end it will still be Harry who will be *the* hero.