Apologizing to Snape?

[eggplant107]

No: HPFGUIDX 139195

Merry Kinsella <merylanna at y...> wrote:

> Harry's job was to learn how to protect
> his private, secret thoughts from LV 
> through occlumency. 

Yes, and Occlumency is a brutal business and Snape was not fighting
fair. Snape was an adult and a skilled professor of magic and yet he
took the precaution of removing his most embarrassing memories before
they started to probe each others minds. Snape did not give Harry, who
was just a school boy, the same opportunity and that seems cowardly to
me. It's like the heavyweight boxing champion of the world putting on
protective padding before fighting a little boy while the kid gets
nothing. And now Snape is whining that Harry is being real mean to him
and is not fighting fair. Boo Hoo.  

> What do we think Snape was yelling
> about? "You are giving me weapons! 

And fortunately Snape gave Harry a weapon and Harry used it as Snape
specifically allowed him to do, "You may use your wand to attempt to
disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of".
Snape gave Harry permission to use ANY method to find weak points in
his opponent, including presumably using his wits. If Harry thought
out of the box and found something Snape did not expect then good for
Harry because Occlumency is not a tea party and Snape of all people
should know that.  Snape made a very stupid blunder in letting Harry
see him removing memories and place them in the pensive, and Harry
took advantage of that mistake. If Harry refuses to exploit mistakes
Voldemort makes he has no chance of ever defeating him.

I can remember debating this "Harry should apologies to Snape"
business when book 5 first came out, but it seems rather incredible
that in the light of book 6 we still are. If Harry had apologized in
book 5 then by now he would feel like a complete fool and wimp, and I
would agree with him.  

> I really doubt LV would offer
> Harry a pensieve

But if he did I really doubt Harry would apologize for taking
advantage of Voldemort's  mistake.

Eggplant