Not getting this one.....

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 143277

 
Jen: 
> And the biggest thing--Harry's ability to love may protect  him from 
> Voldemort, but it appears to make it worse for everyone around  him. 
> His parents, Sirius, & Dumbledore have all died trying to  protect 
> him. And instead of feeling more and more angry at Voldemort  for 
> these deaths, who is really behind all the events to a greater or  
> lesser degree, Harry instead hates Snape!

Pippin:
Wait, are you saying that if Harry hadn't loved his parents,  Sirius and
Dumbledore, they wouldn't have died? Of course it's easier for  Harry
to blame Snape, because Snape is an enemy he can actually
imagine  defeating. Thinking about blaming Snape releases him from 
the powerlessness  he feels against Voldemort. 








Julie:
I think Snape is easier to hate too, and I mean that literally.  Despite
a couple of encounters, Voldemort still remains a shadowy figure to
Harry (and everyone else). He killed Harry's parents, ordered Cedric
killed, as well as Dumbledore, and basically orchestrated the  disaster
at the DoM when Sirius died. But how do you hate a shadow, except
in the same somewhat distant way you view the object of that  hate?
 
OTOH Snape is no shadow. He's a flesh and blood, thinking and  feeling,
ever-present person in Harry's life (other than during the summer  months).
Harry has interacted directly with him on a regular basis for six years. 
It's much easier to feel real, visceral hate toward Snape, and Harry's  hate
was pretty well-cemented *before* Dumbledore's death (the one thing  he
can directly pin on Snape, at least from what his eyes told him--if  there's
more to it, he, and we, don't know it yet). 
 
If you think about it, Harry's hate of Snape has been much stronger,
in so far as his emotional reactions, than toward Voldemort or even 
toward Wormtail (more directly responsible for Harry's parent's  deaths,
and directly responsible for Cedric's death). Harry has directed most  of
his negative energy toward Snape, who, should he be DDM! as far as
loyalty goes (leaving out his shades of OFH/Grayness), is not a  danger
to him or the WW, while focusing much less on the very proven danger 
of Voldemort and his DE cronies. 
 
Fortunately Snape will not be regularly present in Harry's life in  book
7 in the physical sense, and without his ever-present sneer (in  Harry's
POV anyway!) rubbing salt in old wounds, Harry should be able to focus 
on his real enemies. (And Snape may turn out to be a  real enemy, but
for some time now that distinction has been a moot point to  Harry, who
has seen Snape as *his* enemy regardless.) 
 
Julie 
(who still expects Snape to help Harry in book 7, be it covertly, or  overtly
at the end, or both)


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