Being Good and Evil ( Draco and a bit of Ron)/Harry as DD man

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 154708

Phoenixgod wrote:
I get second chances. <snip> Nowhere in the dumbledore scene did I 
hear that Dumbledore wanted Draco to be punished for what he had 
already done. What right does he have to give draco that absolution?
Or Snape for that matter?  Isn't giving freedom to the man who helped
get harry's parents killed rubbing salt in Harry's wounds? Or
Nevilles?  Do you think the victims of death eater attacks would like
one of the black garbbed KKK wannabe's out free instead of in azkaban?
<snip>

Carol responds:
I agree with you that Draco committed crimes. He's very lucky that
Katie Bell (the girl whose name you can't think of) and Ron didn't
die, and even though he claims that he didn't know Fenrir Greyback
would be joining the party of DEs, he still let him into the castle
and led him along with the others toward the tower, so, yes, he's
partly to blame for what happened to Bill and he was deliberately
trying to engineer Dumbledore's death. Whether a stint in Azkaban
would do him more good than forgiveness is another matter; I think
what he must do is stop making excuses ("I didn't know *he* was
coming!" "He [Voldemort] was going to kill my family!") and
acknowledge that he did wrong. *That's* the first step toward redemption.

What the young Snape (age twenty) did is different. He reported a
partially overheard Prophecy to his master. He didn't know who was
involved. He didn't know that Voldemort would try to thwart the
Prophecy rather than waiting to see who appeared to be "the one" and
dealing with him as an adult. (Maybe he should have figured that out,
but even Harry saw Voldemort's action as illogical and Snape has a
logical mind.)

In any case, once he realized what Voldemort planned and who was
involved, Snape went to Dumbledore, confessed what he had done, and
began spying for Dumbledore "at great personal risk." It was probably
as a result of his information that Dumbledore proposed the Fidelius
Charm idea and offered to be the Potters' Secret Keeper. It's not
Snape's fault that James Potter wanted to make Sirius Black the SK
instead, or that no one told Dumbledore, much less Snape, that the SK
was changed to Peter Pettigrew.

So "giving freedom to the man who helped get Harry's parents killed"
is an inaccurate assessment (if Snape's remorse is real). Having him
spy on Voldemort made far more sense than sending him to Azkaban. It
proved his willingness to risk his life to provide useful information
to Dumbledore, whereas sending him to Azkaban would have had no useful
consequences. Azkaban, especially in the days of Dementor guards,
doesn't reform people. It robs them of their health and sanity and
sometimes their life. 

Snape's second chance confirmed his loyalty to DD, at least in DD's
mind. It showed his courage and resourcefulness. And DD, knowing that
Snape was valuable for his knowledge and his connections, and
believing (IMO rightly) that he was "now no more a Death Eater than I
am," kept him at his side even after Godric's Hollow, never giving him
the cursed DADA position until he had no alternative.

I'm not sure what will happen to Draco now that he's seen Voldemort's
treatment of his Death Eaters and witnessed death at first hand. I
would hope that he understands and acknowledges his own role in
Dumbledore's death. Without question, Dumbledore would not be dead if
it weren't for him. Nor do I think that Snape would have killed him in
any other circumstances. The presence of the Death Eaters forced his
hand as nothing else could have done.

But I don't think Azkaban, even without the Dementors, is the answer
for either of them. When has it ever reformed anyone? Even Sirius
Black, who had committed no crime (though perhaps he had intended to
take justice into his own hands by murdering Pettigrew) nearly became
the homicidal maniac he was thought to be. It won't help Draco, who
may already have learned a painful but valuable lesson. (Does he also
realize that his father is a "scum bag," as Harry puts it? That may be
the next obstacle he has to face.) 

And Snape has been risking his life working for the good guys and
protecting Harry all along, snide comments and unfair point deductions
aside. If he had no choice but to kill Dumbledore to save Harry, what
he needs is vindication, not imprisonment. He has been trying to pay
for his mistake (or crime, if you prefer) for sixteen years. Now he
has the additional burden of having been forced to kill the man he has
loyally served, with little recognition of his efforts, for sixteen
years. Is the mental anguish that entails not sufficient punishment?

Carol, who's voting for redemption in both cases but is less sure of
Draco's than snape's