Ambiguous Snape (was:Sadistic Teachers (was:Re: Teaching Styles)

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 148270

Betsy Hp:
> Just to clarify: I was riffing off of Nora's suggestion (see up-
> thread).  I don't really think the good in Snape (represented by
the
> boy in the potions text-book) is lost or buried or anything like
> that.  I think Snape has evolved, certainly, but he's still got
that
> core to his character that is quite similar to Harry's.

a_svirn:
What can you possibly tell about the boy in the textbook, except
that he's talented in Potions and Dark Arts? Unlike the Pensive
Episode or Riddle's Diary, it does not reveal much about his
personality. Certainly there is nothing to suggest that he's "good"
much less "like Harry".  Admmitely, there is nothing to suggest that
he's "bad" either, but still it's hardly a key to his soul.

> Betsy Hp:
It's what led
> him to the path of redemption he's been walking down for so many
> years, it's what led him to have such a deep loyalty to
Dumbledore,
> and, ironically, it's what leads him to judge himself so harshly.

a_svirn:
How do you know that he judges himself harshly? Then again, if he
does, it's not to be wondered at: the road of redemption he'd been
walking for so many years led him straight into the dead (spinner's?)
end. It's seems to me that something is not quite all right with his
brand of redemption – one that cannot be achieved without committing
a murder.