Harry IS Snape.

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 141368


Kathryn Jones wrote:
>> The enormous contrast between Snape and Harry is Harry's inability 
>> to sacrifice anyone for the good of the cause. Harry already 
>> refused to  allow the death of Peter Pettigrew, who became the one 
>> responsible for the return of Voldemort. This might make 
>> Harry "good" and a hero in the eyes of many, but his decision was
>> obviously the wrong one in lives cost as a result.

zgirnius:
There is certainly a nice contrast, which you point out, between the 
decision of Harry at the end of PoA and the decision of Snape at the 
end of HBP. But I'd hesitate to call Harry's decision "wrong" in this 
case. Harry, at the time he acted, had no way of knowing that his 
action would permit Pettigrew to go to Voldemort and facilitate V's 
return. I presume he imagined Pettigrew would be tried by the MoM and 
found guilty of the Muggle murders and then jailed in Azkaban in 
place of the (now cleared) Sirius. Snape, on the other hand. was in a 
position to clearly see the "good" consequences of his decision to 
kill Dumbledore.

Nora wrote:
> I don't see JKR going towards this 'ends justify the means' 
> philosophy at all.  Far too Slytherin, whose values may be 
> occasionally appreciated but are certainly not glorified.  
> That's not to say that there are not difficult choices and 
> decisions to make about ends and means, but the emphases Rowling
> seems interested in are rather Stoic.  
> One has responsibility for one's own actions/volition, but you 
> can't control what other people do, even as a partial result of 
> them.  

zgirnius:
I agree that JKR would not push a "Slytherin" or "ends justify the 
means" philosophy in her books. But I think this may not preclude an 
explanation of the events on the tower in which it turns out that 
Snape was sincere in his "return" to Dumbledore, and has tried to act 
so as to further DD's cause. (So, Snape killed DD because DD was 
dying anyway, and this way Snape removes the DEs from Hogwarts, and 
protects Draco and Harry, all while keeping his cover with 
Voldemort.) Snape has been a sort of "grey" character all along, and 
(if the above interpretation is correct) Snape took a rather "grey" 
action on the tower. As long as in treating this event in Book 7 she 
makes it clear it was "grey", and not a shining model of moral 
action, I think it can work. I suspect we'll see plenty of 
less "shady" actions on behalf of the Good Guys in Book 7...

zgirnius, wishing both of you a nicer weekend in the future!