Was the eavesdropper unimportant to Harry? WAS: Re: Snape again

[quick_silver71]

No: HPFGUIDX 146997

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:
(snip>
> Obviously Harry hates Snape (not because he's a "child abuser" but
> because he favors Slytherin, deducts points unfairly, and hates 
dear,
> dead Sirius). But I'm trying to point out how Harry's emotions 
shape
> his perception of the events at Godric's Hollow, how the blame for
> what happened keeps shifting away from Voldemort, and how Harry's
> hatred of Black in PoA parallels his hatred of Snape in HBP, with 
no
> such feelings attached to Wormtail. I see a parallel here between
> Black and Snape, and I'm trying to determine its significance. Can 
it
> be because Voldemort is insufficiently human to be an object of 
real
> hatred? Or do his parents' deaths become more real and painful to
> Harry when they're linked to people who knew them at Hogwarts 
rather
> than to the snake-faced monster for whom they had no human 
identity?
> But if that's so, why not hate Wormtail, too?
> 
> Carol, who hopes that Harry will learn to see clearly (and stop
> hating) in Book 7
>

Excellent post Carol...too bad I had to snip most of it. If I may 
add a little tiny something...the Shrieking Shack incident of PoA 
and it aftermath included several interesting scenes with Snape. To 
a certain extent the ending of PoA is maybe the only part of the 
novels where Snape is clearly wrong about something...and when Snape 
gets it wrong boy does he get's it wrong. (Now forgive me...it's 
been a while since I read PoA) Snape basically functions as 
the...villian...or perhaps misguided, dangerous fool, with a 
grudge...in a way that Peter simply does not. Snape threatens 
people, he screams and carries on, he refuses to listen or see the 
truth, etc. and in the end the Trio have to attack the man to shut 
him up. He then proceeds to question Dumbledore's judgement, in 
front of other people, and generally make an a** of himself ending 
when he causes Lupin to lose his job. Harry himself seems to note 
that Snape's dislike of increases after the events of PoA. 

So part of the reason that Harry doesn't sit around hating Peter is 
because he was too busy that night dealing with Snape.

Quick_Silver