Snape and Prophecy and Harry WAS:Re: TBAY: Definitely NOT a Snape Theory (lo

[ornadv]

No: HPFGUIDX 145465

>Pippin:

A>t bottom, Harry's
> need to blame Snape is a selfish one: James, Lily, Sirius and
> Dumbledore ultimately chose to leave him orphaned rather than
> abandon the fight against Voldemort, and Harry doesn't
> want to deal with that.

>Alla:

>Oh, of course, how DARE Harry is to blame the person who told
>Voldemort that his parents are the parents of the one who will
>dispose with Voldy eventually?

>Selfish Harry, very selfish. How dare he think that but for Snape's
>involvement he may have grown up in happy home and not abusive one?

>Of course Snape is NOT to blame for blabbing prophecy to Voldemort,
>because Lily and James would have died in any event. He is also NOT
>to blame for treating Harry like dirt in the classroom, because
>Harry needs to be kept in line or because Harry can deal with it or
>because Snape is too damaged and cannot help himself. :-)

>As to your argument that Dumbledore , Sirius and James and Lily
>chose to leave him orphaned, rather than abandon the fight, that it
>is IMO at the least unproven and at the most simply incorrect.

Orna:
I think, as usual, Snape is pulling all the attention to himself, 
thereby making it difficult to see other things – it always comes 
back to him. I'll try and add something, but I'm sure I'll find 
myself in a minute back with Snape <g>.

I don't know if anybody really accuses James Lily and Sirius of 
leaving Harry orphaned, just because they want to fight Voldemort. 
And leaves Snape as the best guy in town. 

The point, as I understand it, that for a one year-old to loose his 
parents, it would be a natural feeling to accuse his parents for 
having left him orphaned because of whatever – what does a one year-
old (and more-year-old) really care about the why. It would be 
natural to have some resentment towards them, somehow. Or some 
questions of whether they did the right thing. Perhaps in form 
of "Why did they change the secret-keeper", something, anything, 
which would connect with a very immediate feeling that places the 
responsibility of a child's life with his parents. You are able to 
come into terms with it somehow, but it's something very natural to 
real emotions towards real parents.  Now Harry grew up in 
surroundings, which made it nearly impossible to find his way there. 
The Dursleys related to Harry's parents as good for nothing or never 
to be mentioned. That would force Harry either to accept this POV, 
thereby seeing himself as a child of lousy parents, or to rebel 
against it forcefully – imagining his parents were faultless. For 
the WW Harry's parents and himself are near-saints, sorts of 
miracles, in a way. Even DD, when he mentions James' rescue of 
Snape, doesn't hint anything of James being part of a far from 
perfect adventure. It's actually Snape who gives Harry a more 
accurate picture of his father, but he is so suffused with hate, 
that it is very difficult for Harry to digest, at least not without 
having to hate Snape more. 
I'm not forgetting Snape's part in Harry's parents' death, but his 
parents death was brought about by quite a few people – Voldemort, 
Snape, Wormtail, Sirius. Of the four, we know only about Voldemort 
and Wormtail that they did it consciously and willfully.
Snape was at the time a DE, it would be natural for him to tell 
Voldemort the prophecy. I want to add – that's what basically war is 
about- two sides trying to kill each other. There would be never any 
hope for peace, if you can't reconcile with former enemies, once 
they are willing to stop killing you. The WW is not about peace 
right now, because Voldemort still leads his war. But if Snape was a 
DE and decided to go over to the "Good" Side, what's this obsession 
of interminably blaming him because of his former deeds? (If he is 
DDM!, of course). Harry has the right to be angry with him, not to 
be able to be any close with him. Lupin is quite a good model – 
because he can appreciate Snape, without liking him, and without 
hating him. He is also one who shows Harry that his father wasn't a 
saint, but that growing up is possible, and that the world isn't 
divided between good nice people and bad evil ones.

I wouldn't say his motive for not blaming his parents is a selfish 
one – I think it is very difficult to blame dead parents, whom you 
know so little about – not even how they ended up getting married. 
But it is an issue for him to deal with – I agree there with Pippin.

I think this marriage issue shows just how confusing this is for 
him -  one moment he blows Marge up because she insulted his father, 
the other moment he is ready to believe that his father forced (!) 
his mother to marry him.  

So the pressure for him to find a tangible person whom he can blame –
 is really very strong, and Snape is ideal for it – in contrast to 
Voldemort, and to his parents – he is real, he is always there 
somehow in important moments, and in daily and nightly life. And he 
has many characteristics which make him utterly revolting.  
  
The nearest he can get to dealing with those feelings, and not only 
accusing Snape, is in the OotP when he smashes DD's room – somehow 
not pretending to be on the trail of the villain, but knowing he 
hurts and doesn't care about anybody, even if it's DD, who has saved 
him some minutes ago. But then he goes back to accuse Snape, 
although it is clear that basically he is just trying to lessen his 
own guilt: "Harry disregarded this; he felt a savage pleasure in 
blaming Snape, it seemed to be easing his own sense of dreadful 
guilt, and he wanted to hear DD agree with him". (OotP). 
And it does interfere with his ability to integrate complex feelings 
about the "Good Sirius" – he can't stand hearing Sirius described as 
mistreating Kreacher. 

I'm not blaming Harry – I'm just pointing out that the way he 
pictures his loved ones (especially those who are absent most of the 
time) and his hated ones, is very strongly colored by his needs to 
relieve himself of guilt feelings. 

I would like to add just another thought- Harry might be feeling 
guilty, even about staying alive, about his mother getting killed 
because of him. I know it's Voldemort, in fact, but somehow he might 
feel it's because of him. Riddle "helps" him there – because he 
tells him in CoS that his mother didn't have to die – what I would 
call a nice dose of guilt feelings brought casually right into your 
heart.
IIRC, Jen said that Voldemort's power is in his ability to use 
people's vulnerable spots. Stressing Harry's guilt feelings might 
serve him in trying to make Harry less efficient in defending 
himself, and also might lead him to behave irrationally – looking 
for another (relatively innocent in this connection, but greasy 
enough) person to blame. 

I want to underline, that I'm not accusing Harry – just trying to 
see, how guilt and blame might be playing along, misdirecting his 
POV. 


Orna