Harry IS Snape!

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 141079

Juli:
> Harry really hates Snape. I mean, he really, REALLY  hates Snape.
> He would be very happy if Snape were dead, no less. (And thanks 
> again to Krista for pointing out what a goldmine this chapter is on
> Harry's feelings for Snape, which JKR goes to great lengths to 
> detail over several pages). 
*(snip)*
> This also means Harry must forgive Snape, despite his childish
> determination in HBP Chapter 6 that that will never happen. And, 
> yes, Snape should ask for forgiveness. Snape needs forgiveness
> as much as Harry needs to forgive. But HP is not about Snape. It's
> about Harry. In the scheme of things, Snape just *doesn't* matter, 
> so whether he seeks forgiveness or accepts it is moot. But Harry
> *must* forgive, to become the hero and to leave childhood behind
> for manhood. (I know some fans demand vengeance, but vengeance
> is the purview of people like Snape, who gets his revenge  against
> all those he believes wronged him by tormenting anyone who is in a
> position to be victimized, i.e., is weaker than him, much as he 
was  at  
> one time weaker than his perceived tormentors. (Indeed it is a  
twisted
> mirror into which Snape peers.)

Ceridwen:
Harry must indeed get over his hatred, irrational or rational as it 
may be, in order to defeat Voldemort.  The most potent thing to 
vanquish love, is hate.  And Harry cannot have a single ounce of hate 
in him when he goes to the final confrontation.  I don't know how 
Voldemort views the Power of Love theory, but he can use the hatred 
in Harry's heart to turn him just enough so that he cannot harm, let 
alone vanquish, LV.  Like that scene in Star Wars, where Luke is 
urged to just let go and allow the Dark Side to take him (then his 
training will be complete).

Revenge is hatred directed toward a goal.  So, he cannot have revenge 
on his mind, either.  He can't just shove these feelings aside, IMO, 
or LV can dredge them up.  He has to let go.

But, on the Dark Side parallel, it does seem as if Harry's been 
training himself in the Dark Arts.  Trying to cast Crucio, for 
instance, not once, but three times.  Hating in the way he's hating.  
Obsessing over Draco's actions.  Obsessing over Snape's perceived 
role in Sirius's death.  If he actually gives in, even thinking he 
can turn his hatred to good use (casting the perfect AK against 
Voldemort, for instance), then he's lost, and so is the WW.  (Oy, 
shades of LOTR, of Boromir, he who could have been a hero on a higher 
plane, if he hadn't obsessed over the Ring)

JKR is setting us up to see the Power of Love.  And we're all waiting 
for that explanation/reveal in book 7.  Harry will have to be more 
like Lily, in order to grow up like James.  Lily didn't seem, at 
least in the Pensieve scene, to have much animosity toward Snape.  
Hurt feelings over the slur, yes.  But, no hatred.  And it was her 
Power of Love that protected Harry from death, from the DiaryHorcrux, 
from all the things which could have happened to him at Privet Drive 
but didn't.  He'll have to stop trying to be just like James, who had 
to consciously change his behaviors, and try to be like Lily, who 
apparently *didn't hate*.

Others have mentioned parallels between Harry and Snape, and the 
hatred is just another to fit alongside being bullied, and bullying 
in return.  Yes, he has bullied, and harrassed Draco by following him 
around.  Obsession like that is petty, and grows to blend with hate.

The Hero's Journey is intensely personal, and spiritual as well as 
physical.  Harry has the bravery, he has the ability not to care that 
he might die.  He seems to be a powerful enough wizard just by 
birth.  His flaw is hatred and its cousin, obsession.  In order to 
complete both the physical and spiritual journeys, he must expunge 
all traces of his hate and his obsession with catching his enemies in 
their wrongdoing (another likeness to Snape).  He must conquer the 
monster within (which is why I was surprised to find that JKR meant 
Ginny for his true love - the monster in his chest sounds so... 
base!) before he can vanquish the monster without.  Or he is in 
danger of being assimilated by the monster.  He could give in and 
become the next Dark Lord, at the worst-case extension.

Ceridwen, who may be done moralizing for right now.