Forgiving Snape was FF: Re: Who does Snape really hate?

Ceridwen ceridwennight at hotmail.com
Thu Dec 15 12:13:35 UTC 2005


No: HPFGUIDX 144778

mercurybluesmng wrote:
> > And we KNOW that part of the reason Sirius didn't sit
> > tight on Ministry raid night is Snape's continuous taunts about 
being
> > snug in his nice little hideyhole and not having to do any of the 
real
> > work.
> 
Miles:
> Do we? I don't. I think that Harry is very much wrong in blaming 
Snape for
> this. Considering Sirius' unhappiness due to his passivity at GP 
12, and his
> love and protective instinct for Harry, he surely would have joined 
the
> Order going to the Ministry even without a single of Snape's taunts.
> Harry himself is much more responsible for Sirius' death, and he 
projects
> his own guilt onto Snape. But we should not take Harry's PoV as 
granted.

Ceridwen:
Agreeing with Miles.  Placing Sirius in Snape's power like that only 
makes me think that Sirius is a prime example of the Darwin Awards, 
where people who are utterly stupid to an amazing degree, off 
themselves through character flaws before they can reproduce and send 
their misguided genes into the next generation.

Sirius was a Gryffindor.  He would have the highest and lowest of the 
Gryffindor traits.  Courage taken to foolish extremes is 
Foolhardiness.  Because of the conditions in which he finds himself, 
Sirius's courage is manifest in the worst possible way - the ill-
advised trip to the Ministry.  He is rash in his decision, and he 
wouldn't have been sitting around thinking 'I'll show that Snape a 
thing or six' when he decided to go.  Part of the torture of his 
hidden existence is inactivity.  An opportunity to stretch his legs 
and his magic, and his desire to be useful, is presented, and he 
can't refuse.  Sirius's death resulted from a string of bad choices 
starting with going after Wormtail instead of reporting him to the 
MoM or Dumbledore.  That's what kept him a prisoner in his own house -
 the need to hide from the Ministry.  And being trapped like that led 
to his need to get out and do something, like see Harry off at the 
train or traipse off to the MoM.

And, maybe, Sirius's OTT Gryffindor Foolhardiness comes from his 
conscious decision to cut any Slytherin tendencies out of his life.  
He's seen the downside of Slytherin in his own family, so he won't, 
he refuses, he *will not*, use cunning arts to remain hidden and 
rejects such ideas from others.  As the character is written, without 
the blame going around, he could be yet another example of the ill 
which comes from denying a part of one's self, or the habit of 
denying Slytherin House's place in Hogwarts.

If Snape's taunts, which he's handled since his school days, are 
really what bring him down, then it's probably best that he not 
reproduce, and not pass on his rash stupidity to his godson.  I don't 
think JKR went *there*.

Ceridwen.







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