The Dursleys, the Weasleys, Hagrid, and Snape: Nice people get a pass

[lyraofjordan]

No: HPFGUIDX 125091


--- "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c.
> 
> Well, the answer of course is that the Weasleys and Hagrid are nice
> and Snape and the Dursleys aren't.  Therefore the former get a pass 
to
> a certain extent and the latter don't.  And, here is the clencher, I
> think THAT IS PERFECTLY APPROPRIATE.
>

Lyra:
Well, yes, people who seem nice probably do get a pass. But, in the 
books, as in RL, nobody is really consistently nice, are they? The 
Dursleys are probably perfectly nice to 99.9 percent of the people 
they come in contact with -- coworkers, teachers, neighbors, etc. 
It's just Harry and the rare other wizard they meet who are not 
treated nicely. Snape seems quite civil to McGonnagall and the other 
staff members we see him interact with; he's quite pleasant to 
Lucius, and for all we know, to all the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs he 
teaches. And Molly, while generally nice in her own special way, has 
a bunch of prejudices that keep her from being nice to everyone -- 
how "nice" was it to publicly question whether the newly-bitten 
werewolf should be the same room with Arthur, two weeks away from the 
full moon? How "nice" is it to grumble about the train 
station "crawling with muggles" when those muggles are just going 
about their business, same as the Weasleys? (seems to me she makes 
other derogatory comments about muggles as well, but I can't recall 
any specifics). So, while niceness might be undervalued, it's also 
hard to get a handle on and use as a measure of someone's goodness.