Nice vs. Good, honesty, and Snape: Was Snape, Apologies, and Redemption

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 153274

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, IreneMikhlin <irene_mikhlin at ...> wrote:
>
> lupinlore wrote:
> 
> > 
> > DID he take the first tack?  I would say DD actually came down 
> > somewhere between your first and second examples, largely by using 
> > the Harry/Draco relationship as an illustration.

Irene:
> But the thing is, the whole Harry/Draco parallel is misleading. Even if 
> we accept that there was more to Snape/James&Co dynamics than popular 
> bullies vs. asocial victim, then the only "noble" explanation I've seen 
> offered is Snape's political views. But it's impossible for a half-blood 
> boy to cross two pure-bloods from prominent families on this basis.
> I wonder whether it was JKR being careless, or Dumbledore being 
> intentionally misleading, or just blind, or all of the above.

Pippin:
Dumbledore was misled himself. We must be wary of movie contamination
here. In the book, the Hogwarts authorities never find out that there
really was a dragon. McGonagall accused Harry and Hermione of
plotting to make Draco think there was a dragon so that
he'd get in trouble. From Dumbledore's PoV,  it *would* look like Harry
had been the aggressor, and he would be comparing the relationship
between Harry and Draco and the one between James and Snape on
that basis.


Lupinlore:
> Now, I grant you that doing so did nothing whatsoever to help with 
> > the Harry/Snape problem.  One way of helping with that, in this 
> > particular conversation, would have been for DD to say to 
> > Harry "Look, Professor Snape really isn't the monster you think, 
> > look how he worked so hard to help you," (which would have only 
> > worked in the long term if DD had followed this be telling Snape 
> > very firmly to KNOCK IT OFF).

Pippin:
Er, Dumbledore tried to do that. He tried to explain that Snape had
worked very hard to protect Harry (and Harry should feel grateful,
because Snape had done this despite having very good reasons to
hate James's guts) but it made Harry's head ache, first because Harry
is too young to understand that adults have conflicting motives, 
and secondly because of the double misunderstanding. 

Dumbledore thinks that Harry is the aggressor in the Draco/Harry
relationship and thinks that Harry will understand that when
James saved Snape it was the aggressor who saved his
accustomed victim, not the other way around.  

Hmmm...I need to think about this in connection with the events
in HBP as well. How would Harry's insistence on pursuing Draco
look to someone who thought Harry was picking on Draco all the
time?  

Pippin