Minerva NOT DD's Confidant? (was Two scenes for most everyone)

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 144053

> > Lupinlore:
> > Also, the relationship she had with Snape, if we go by what she 
> > said at the end of HBP, was not warm, friendly, or approving.  

> Leslie:
> It's obvious at the very least their relationship was respectful 
> and collegial.  Mostly I cannot believe McG intensely dislikes 
> Snape because we haven't seen a hint of that, not at all.  Their 
> interaction is not fraught with any sort of simmering discontent, 
> or resentment.  We'd have seen that by now.

Christina

I'm going with Leslie on this one.  As a matter of fact, the subject 
that is brought up in canon the most concerning Snape/McG relations 
is Quidditch!

Ch 9, PS/SS: "I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we 
can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team 
than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I 
couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks...."

Ch 12, PoA: 
"Seriously," said Professor McGonagall, and she was actually 
smiling. "I daresay you'll need to get the feel of it before 
Saturday's match, won't you? And Potter -- do try and win, won't 
you? Or we'll be out of the running for the eighth year in a row, as 
Professor Snape was kind enough to remind me only last night...."

So McG and Snape are Quidditch rivals, which I think seems quite 
playful.  McG is even smiling when she tells Harry to try and win, 
which gives the impression that Snape's goading was friendly, as was 
her desire to beat him.

Also:

OotP, chapter 38: 
'Professor McGonagall!' said Snape, striding forwards. 'Out of St 
Mungo's, I see!'

The only times I can ever recall Snape using exclamation points is 
when he's yelling at people in anger.  Severus Snape, giving a 
cheerful greeting?  Huh?

So that is my canon-supported way of saying that I find it hard to 
believe that McG has any sort of deep-seated dislike for Snape.  McG 
is shocked by the news of what happened on the tower because she 
never had serious thoughts that Snape had been betraying them.  She 
responds to the news with "I can't believe it."  That doesn't sound 
like somebody who has "entertained severe doubts."

> Lupinlore:
> and I do maintain that if some similar scene does not happen to 
> punish Snape for his child abuse, JKR is a very poor writer who 
> has no idea how to satisfactorily deal with important moral issues.

Christina:

Well first of all, I cringe a bit whenever somebody lays out a 
criteria that, if not met, would make JKR a "very poor writer."  In 
particular, I don't understand why punishment for Snape specifically 
is such a criterion.  Sometimes people just don't get what they 
deserve.  Sorry, but that's just life.  I don't see how mirroring 
life in books is the path to poor writing, particularly when JKR has 
been doing it for the entire series.  *All* of the characters are 
flawed, but they don't all need to be punished for their ills, do 
they?  I think we can all agree that Voldemort will die in the end 
of the book, but where's *his* comeuppance, his moral punishment?  
Apparently having Snape die is not sufficient payback for the "child 
abuse" that he has inflicted in the classroom, but IMO Voldemort's 
evils are 100 times worse than Snape's.  Does Voldemort need to be 
gutted and quartered before he dies to satisfy you?  At worst, Snape 
can be said to be emotionally abusing Harry, but Voldemort is trying 
to kill him (and I would argue that the emotional damage done by 
Voldemort is in a league entirely its own, which surpasses any 
possible damage Snape has done *by far*)!  Certainly that is cause 
for some extreme punishment.  I don't think there is a book long 
enough to include sufficient retribution against Voldemort, and 
you're worried about Snape?

The number of characters who have done wrong is HUGE- Voldemort, 
Peter Pettigrew, Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, 
Umbridge, Percy... there is no time in a single book for retribution 
against all of these people.  A single book that is part of a series 
whose greatest message is the power of *love,* where Harry is held 
in high moral standard for being not vengeful, but merciful.

My second problem with what you are saying is that everybody's moral 
code is different.  There is no one "moral" story.  Even when people 
agree on an aspect of morality (ie, Snape must be punished for being 
mean to Harry), there is still room for disagreement about what 
exactly constitutes suitable punishment.

> Leslie:
> To my mind, Snape gets his cumuppance every day of his life. Being 
> him is its own worst punishment.

Christina:

I couldn't agree more.  He's quite a sad man; at times, downright 
pathetic, as many have said.  He doesn't seem to enjoy life much, 
and is lonely and bitter.  I don't need to see him called out by 
McGonagall or forced to apologize; IMO, he's already been punished 
enough.  His quality of life is poor, and it's entirely his own 
fault.  Even though I don't see Snape's wrongdoings as being nearly 
as severe as Lupinlore does, Snape's situation really represents the 
best form of retribution if you ask me, because he did it to 
himself.  He is the instrument of his own misery.

Christina