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

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 140577

Deb:
> 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? 

Jen: Harry just saw his mentor and the 'last and greatest of his 
protectors' apparently killed in cold blood by someone completely 
unexpected. I seriously doubt any human, wizard or Muggle, would be 
capable of detaching himself and cooly analyzing that situation. 
Remember Harry is frozen to the wall, and has had to stand by 
defenseless while Dumbledore weakens and slips down the ramparts, 
taunted by DE's who should never have been in Hogwarts in the first 
place. Not to mention Harry spent the evening in Voldemort's death 
trap force-feeding Dumbeldore potion and watching him writhe and cry 
in pain. The boy's had a hard night!

Harry's own conflicted relationship with Snape is one thing, but how 
he interprets the situation *in the moment* was completely 
reasonable given what he knows and doesn't know on the tower. What 
Harry sees is Dumbledore apparently pleading with Snape, which 
frightens Harry, and then a look of hatred and revulsion on Snape's 
face as he points his wand at DD and says "Avada Kedavra." I mean, 
that last one is the kicker. I seriously doubt Harry is taking that 
moment to review every Avada Kedavra he's seen or heard about and 
mentally ticking up the list as to whether Snape really meant it, or 
whether it was a real AK or maybe another spell designed to throw DD 
*over* the tower, but not actually kill him....that analysis is for 
message boards, not terrible, shocking moments when your brain is 
frozen in horror.

What Harry *doesn't* know would fill a book. He knows nothing about 
the clauses of the Unbreakable except that Snape is sworn to protect 
Draco; he's never been privy to why Dumbledore trusts Snape and in 
the last 10 hours, he's discovered Snape was indirectly responsible 
for his parent's deaths but DD accepted him back in the fold.

Do I think Harry has interpreted this scene wrong? Yes, I do. Do I 
think someone will attempt to help him work out what happened on the 
tower? Yes again. But for gosh sakes, Dumbledore is hardly in the 
tomb! Harry is reeling not only from his death, but from his night 
in the cave, and the huge task ahead of him searching for the 
Horcruxes. 

Pippin:
> How do you think Harry is going to feel if he manages to get
> Snape killed or punished, (or thinks he has) and then finds out
> that events on the tower were not what they seemed to be. Do you
> think he's *not* going to ask himself why he didn't notice the
> conflicting evidence before? Do you think he'd be proud of himself
> if he realized he had let his hatred run away with him?

Jen: I think he'll feel guilty and like a total schmuck, just as he 
did after Sirius' death. But he'll move on, and keep his eye on the 
brass ring--defeating Voldemort.

Jen, shining up her DoH badge and thinking Harry did the best he 
could in the moment.