Is Harry an idiot because he thinks Snape is guilty? Was: Why wizards are so i

[Deb]

No: HPFGUIDX 140573

(snip)
> Sherry now:
> 
> Every time I vow to stay out of the never ending Snape debate, 
something
> gets me back in the thick of it again.  I do not agree at all that 
Harry
> didn't notice conflicting evidence.  Harry saw what he saw.  
Anyone who'd
> been there, in the absolute fear and worry and danger would have 
believed
> what Harry believed.  I believe it, and I'm not an idiot.  Harry 
has only
> ever seen one AK, that we know of, on a spider.  

Deb here: He also was present for the AK -- witnessed it up close 
and personal -- that killed Cedric Diggory. Harry knows what a 
*real* AK looks like, sounds like, and what effect it has on the 
victim. 

GOF page 638 (Amer h.b. edition)
 "From far away, above his head, he (Harry) heard a high, cold voice 
say, "Kill the spare".
  A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to 
the night: "Avada Kedavra!"
  A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he 
heard something heavy fall to the round beside him; the pain in his 
scar reached such a pitch that he retched, and then it diminished; 
terrified of what he was about to see he opened his stinging eyes.
  Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was 
dead.
  For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into 
Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, blank and expressionless as 
the windiows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which 
looked slightly surprised."......    

 from GOF page 217 (Amer. h.b edition) -spider AK
 " "Avada Kadavra!" Moody roared.
   Thee was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as 
though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air -- 
instantaneously the spider rolled onto its back , unmarked, but 
unmistakably dead".

>Sherry
I don't consider that much
> evidence to support the idea that the curse didn't look like an 
AK.  

Deb again:
 HBP page 596 (Amer. h.b. edition)
"Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
 "Avada Kadavra" 
  A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit 
Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror never 
left him; silent and unmoving, he was forced to watch as 
**Dumbledore was blasted into the air**. For a split second he 
seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull and then he fell 
slowly backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out 
of sight".  (added emphasis my own).

Whether Snape is good, bad, or indifferent is not the issue at the 
moment. Whatever curse, hex, jinx or spell he threw at DD up there 
on the tower(with no canon as to what level of verbal intensity he 
was using -Moody and Wormtail were very loud and forceful when they 
said "AK" - in HBP it could be read like Snape said it casually), it 
did NOT act like an AK. While it had the external appearance of one 
(the green light- but in HBP described as a "jet" and not as 
a "blinding flash"), it caused DD to be "blasted into the air". 
Where as in the other incidences we the readers know of.. and the 
ones that Harry has direct knowledge of .... the effect of the AK 
was to cause "instantaneous" death. And the victim, be it spider or 
Hogwart's student or anyone else, drops in his, her, it's tracks! 
They do NOT go blasting into the air.     
  
If, JKR
> forbid, it turns out that Snape isn't a bad guy, then the one way 
I hope
> Harry has matured is to learn not to blame himself for every 
single thing
> wrong in his world and to be able to accept that he made the best 
judgment
> of the circumstances he could, considering what he saw.  He *saw* 
it happen.
> What on earth is he supposed to think?  But oh, for the sake of 
proving
> Harry right, if nothing else, I am hoping that Snape is as evil as 
Saruman
> in the LOTR series!  I'll dance for joy if he is.
> 
> Sherry

Perhaps what Harry is supposed to do is to THINK! And not just 
react. He is now almost 17 years old and in the eyes of the WW he is 
an adult. He has had 6 years worth of excellent education at HW, he 
has experienced many instances where appearances are deceptive, and 
he is capable of logical and complex reasoning. He also knows that 
reacting and overreacting from pure emotions can lead to dire 
consequences. He has been told over and over by Snape, by DD, by 
others as well to curb his emotions.  If Snape did not use an AK on 
Dumbledore, what did he use? And if not the AK, then what effect was 
he going for? And why? And as others have said on other threads, why 
not finish Harry off during his escape? Now that LV is back in a 
body is it really so important to him to be the one to kill Harry 
personally?  Or did Snape just say that to get the others away 
before they could harm anyone else?   

No Harry is not an idiot, far from it, but once the stress of DD's 
death have eased, he will, IMO, need to do a lot of thinking and 
delving into what is true behind the facade of his own experience.

Deb