Being Good and Evil (was:Re: Harry's arrogance (was Evil Snape)

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 154469

Betsy Hp:

> I think these sort of actions wouldn't bother me quite 
> so much if they were *seen* as bad behavior.  I *think* 
> JKR is relatively neutral when those scenes occur.

houyhnhnm:

But they *do* occur and many readers are aware of them.  
She could easily have left out morally questionable actions 
committed by the "good" characters, it seems to me, if she 
wanted to write a black and white adventure story in which 
everything the good guys do is good just because they're 
the good guys.  She could have created a Pensieve scene in 
which Harry has to confront that fact that his idealized 
father had faults, yet still made it clear that young 
Severus was the original instigator or at least that he 
gave as good as he got.  She could have put a better answer 
in James' mouth when he was asked what Snape had ever done 
to him than "It's more the fact that he exists".  She didn't.

Surely she could have come up with different plot devices 
to enable Draco to get DEs into Hogwarts and onto the tower, 
ones that didn't link directly back to Hermione, Fred and 
George.  She could have made Lupin less ambiguous if he is 
supposed to be a sympathetic character.

Why have Dumbledore say that "a certain disregard for rules" 
is a characteristic that Slytherin prized, but then *show* 
us that the Gryffindors are the rule beaking champions of 
Hogwarts and have been for generations (and proud of it)?

I think maybe she has only appeared to be neutral about 
the morally questionable actions of her "good" charqcters 
the better to surprise readers with the ending.  
I'm hoping anyway.