Draco, the UV, and the First Time (was: re: Trial of Severus Snape - UV)

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 141675

Sherry now:

> i could almost buy both DDM and OFH Snape.  But as 
> I see it, if he did indeed make his choice on the tower, 
> then he chose OFH.  He didn't prove his loyalty to 
> Dumbledore by then murdering him.  That can never be 
> justified or rationalized to me.

houyhnhnm:

But if it was what Dumbledore wanted--for Harry to be saved even at
the sacrifice of his own life--then what Snape did wasn't murder. 
This point has been argued over and over and it doesn't seem to make
any impression whatsoever.  

Perhaps it is because, in the real world, it is hard to imagine anyone
being cold-blooded enough to do such a thing without being evil.  But
can you imagine slicing a person down the middle with a knife?  Yet
this is what surgeons do by the thousands every day.  Can you imagine
cutting off someone's limb without anesthesia?  Rescue workers have
had to do such things to free victims of earthquakes.  Maybe you and I
couldn't do such a thing, but it's a good thing there are some people
who can.

And let's not forget, the Potterverse is not the real world.  It is an
imaginary world populated by people who live to be a hundred and fifty
years old and who can be dropped on their heads from great heights
with no apparent harm.  It is not reasonable to expect them to be as
squeamish as RL human beings.

On the other hand, maybe what we are dealing with is two value systems
with no common ground--one which says the sentimentality of the moment
is the highest good, the other which says the rightness of an action
is determined by the effect it produces.

Sherry:

> I'll regret ever reading these books, if that's how it 
> turned out, because killing another person should never 
> be seen as a good thing.

houyhnhnm:

Well there are lots of other books to read, then.  So many books, so
little time.