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

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 152906

Lanval:

> Or from a simple, basic feeling of goodwill towards 
> others -- and likewise a reluctance to hurt others. 
> Anything wrong with that?

houyhnhnm:

I would certainly agree that anyone fitting that description is a good
person.  Who would you say fits that description in the Potterverse? 
Among the children, the only character who comes to my mind is Luna.

There are others who are inoffensive, such as Ernie McMillan.  But I
wouldn't agree that mere inoffensiveness, while it may be nice, can be
elevated to the level of good.  Ernie may be good.  We don't see
enough of him to really know for sure.

Among the adults, who qualifies for your definition of nice=good?  

On the other hand, the "nicest" person in the six books, and it is the
kind of "nice" that causes people to recoil from the word, is Dolores
Umbridge.  She speaks with a "fluttery, girlish, high-pitched voice".
 She gives "silvery" laughs. She never barges into the conversation,
but rather coughs delicately to signal her intention to speak ("/Hem,
hem/")  She is unfailingly polite and pleasant.  She smiles and speaks
sweetly, even when she is forcing Harry to carve sentences into the
back of his own hand. (Was anyone else reminded of Kafka's "In the
Penal Colony"?) I have no doubt she considers herself "nice".

Lupin is also nice.  His many sins of omission have been catalogued
elsewhere so I won't go into them here.  While he may turn out to be
on the side of good, I have difficulty seeing him as an exemplar of
goodness.

So I guess I am trying to say that I agree that nice can equal good
the way you define it, but I don't see too many characters in the
Potterverse who meet the criteria.  Maybe the argument could be made
for Arthur Weasley.

(Actually I think Harry manifests "a simple, basic feeling of goodwill
towards others" fairly frequently, but I wouldn't describe him as "nice".)