Harry IS Snape!

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 141163


> Julie now:
> I'm not sure Snape did recognize he was putting people in mortal 
> danger. I think he was just eager to do his job for Voldemort, not
> really thinking ahead about where it would all lead. Of course he
> should have known, but the abstract concept is much easier to
> dismiss than the cold, hard facts. Once Voldemort told him it
> meant the Potters, and that he was going to kill them, putting
> names and faces to it brought that reality into harsh focus. 
> If Voldemort had named another Wizard family, I think Snape
> would still have been hit in the gut by the reality of what he'd
> done. I don't know if he would have followed the same path
> to Dumbledore, but I think he would have left LV, perhaps to 
> meet up with a fate similar to Regulus Black's.
>  

Pippin:
We already have two characters who were too naive to realize
what killing meant. I'm not so sure we need a third. I think Snape
knew enough to know he didn't want to be a killer, but thought
he was clever enough to stay out of trouble. And according to
Bella, he's been able to so far. But  if so, why did
he change sides (if he did)?

One thing we know about Snape, like Harry, he's a cauldron of 
displaced  anger. I'd been thinking Snape's anger at James got 
displaced onto Harry because James was dead, but what if Snape 
has been displacing his anger at James for a lot longer?

 There are  reasons why young Snape might be conflicted 
about hating James: James saved his life and James was everything 
Snape wanted to be. Snape might have dealt with the conflict by
displacing his anger elsewhere; onto Muggles and Mudbloods
perhaps. Perhaps Snape was not quite as naive as Regulus, but
naive enough to think that pureblood wizards like James were
not likely to be in danger. We can see this kind of thinking in 
CoS where Neville is told he can't possibly be in danger from
Slytherin's monster because he's a pureblood.

Racism can be fueled by displaced anger -- we can see that
in the Pensieve scene where Snape throws a racial taunt at Lily
but, IMO, he's really angry at himself for being weak. If Snape joined
the Death Eaters as an outlet for his displaced anger at James,
then he might indeed have been horrified by Voldemort's plans,
because they would force him to face his conflicted feelings.

As Dumbledore said, what Snape wants is to be able to
hate James's memory in peace. I wonder if what Harry has to
do is not forgive Snape but give him permission to hate James's
memory as much as he wants to. Only then will Snape be
free to see Harry as more than a surrogate James.

Pippin