Hagrid and Snape: Was Snape, Apologies, and Redemption

[leslie41]

No: HPFGUIDX 152698

> > Leslie41:
> > Oh, I don't think Snape is innocent by any means.  <snip>  My 
> > point is that people seem very willing to indict Snape for his
> > behaviors (or even *invent* nasty things he's done), when other 
> > characters do things that are just as, or far more blameworthy.  
> > But (IMHO) because those other characters are charismatic, or 
> > handsome, or well-liked, they don't seem to have to bear the 
> > responsibility or the blame for their actions the way Snape 
does.  
> > They're given a "pass".  Not fair.  Just not fair.  
> 
> 
> Lupinlore:
> Oh, absolutely other people get passes for things where Snape does 
> not.  Hagrid gets a pass for being a bad teacher.  Snape does not.  
> That's one example.  And it is perfectly appropriate that it be 
> that way.  Hagrid is nice, Snape is mean.  Hagrid therefore gets  
> a pass and Snape does not.

Leslie41:
Okay.  Hagrid, an incompetent teacher who nearly kills his students 
by willfully overexposing them to dangerous animals (whose danger he 
underestimates because of his bias towards them), gets a pass because 
Hagrid is "nice".  In CoS he throws Harry and Ron in harms way by 
encouraging them to go into the spider-ridden forest.  Those spiders 
would never do anything nasty to any of his students, would 
they? 'Course not.  

Sweet Hagrid.  Nice Hagrid.  Yes, let's give him a "pass".  

Just keep him far, far away from me, and my child.  

Snape, on the other hand, very effectively imparts enormous amounts 
of wisdom and life-saving knowledge to his students, most especially 
Harry (Carol's excellent post on the bezoar addresses this).  But 
gee, he's not very "nice" about it, is he?  In fact he's downright 
NOT nice.  

So, no "pass" for Snape.  

> Lupinlore:   
> There are rewards for being nice.  Getting passes for your faults 
> is one of them.  There are problems with being mean (leaving aside 
> abusive, which Snape is).  The problem is you don't get the same 
> pass for your faults that a nice person does.

Leslie41:
Give me a competent and wise and mean over incompetent and stupid and 
nice any day.   

> Lupinlore:      
> And all that is perfectly fair and perfectly appropriate.  

Leslie41:
Nope.  Not fair.  And highly inappropriate.  And dangerous.  And 
stupid.  And a whole lot of other things.