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

[lanval1015]

No: HPFGUIDX 152960

> Betsy Hp:
> Actually, Snape does more than bat an eyelash.  He conjures a 
number 
> of stretchers and carries Harry (and Sirius and Hermione and Ron) 
> back to Hogwarts and up to the hospital wing. [PoA hardback, 
> scholastic p.412]
> 
> And while I'm quite sure you'll be able to come up with some 
reason 
> to casually dismiss Snape's actions here (duty is a popular one 
> <g>), it especially interesting when compared to Sirius's 
treatment 
> of the unconsious Snape.
>
Lanval:
I shall try not to disappoint, Betsy! *g*

Will get to Sirius later, probably in a separate post. Same for 
Draco and the Sectumsepra spell.

About Snape and the stretchers. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we only 
hear of this from Snape himself, right?
Not saying he didn't do it, of course. We'll just have to take his 
word for it.

If anyone else, say, Lupin, had brought the Unconscious Four up to 
the castle, would you still classify the stretchers as kindness -- 
or perhaps as a practical decision (because I would imagine 
stretchers from a magical hospital already to be equipped with a 
levitating spell of some sort, hence making it much easier to move 
along, instead of walking while having to maintain a spell on four 
different people.)? Just a thought.

Maybe Snape was being kind and practical at the same time; who 
knows. Besides, it must have looked pretty impressive, arriving with 
the stretchers. :)

> Betsy Hp:
> We've also got the kind and compassionate Snape in "Spinner's End" 
> when he's doing his best to comfort Narcissa.  And there's the 
> touching (IMO) moment when he saves Draco's life in the girls 
> bathroom in "Sectumsepra" by singing Draco's wounds shut.  

Lanval:
Spinner's End is indeed interesting. Why, Snape's almost .. cool? As 
you will have noticed, I tend to think of him more along the lines 
of Pathetic Meanie, rather than Byronic Hero, but here he has a 
certain je-ne-sais-quoi... he's a polite host, he serves wine, he's 
clearly in control (and who can find fault with a man whose home 
consists mostly of books?)

But this chapter also confuses the heck out of me. When I first read 
it, I thought, right, this is it. Snape is DDM. She'd never reveal 
this much so early in the book. Then, on my second read, I wasn't so 
sure. What if she's hiding the truth in plain sight, as it were?

He really does seem to care for Narcissa, that's true. However, as 
long as I can't tell if, how, why, or how much he's lying in this 
scene -- I can't decide on whether we see a Kind!Snape here.

Do get back to me after Book 7 comes out, all right? :)



> Betsy Hp: 
> Because, yes obviously there's a goodness in being kind, 
> compassionate, polite, etc.  For thinking of what others need 
before 
> oneself.  But we don't have the means to judge any of the 
characters 
> on the above (except Harry) because we don't get a peek at their 
> motivations.  (e.g. Is Ron truly being nice when he points Fleur 
to 
> the bouillabaisse, or was something else prompting him at that 
> moment?)

Lanval:
What do you think? I'd say it was 50% testosterone, 45% desire to 
impress Fleur, and 5% tender feelings for a girl who likely hasn't 
eaten all day.

Not much kindness here either.
 
> 
> We *do* see our good guys act in ways that could never be defined 
as 
> nice.  Hagrid attacking a frightened muggle child because the 
> child's father has angered him is by no means nice.  Hermione 
> branding a fellow classmate on the face is not a nice act either.  
> Sirius knocking the unconscious Snape in the head wasn't nice, nor 
> was he nice when he told Harry he didn't measure up to James.


Lanval:
But that's why I wrote that not one of the good characters is 100% 
kind. They ALL do bad things at times. It's the frequency of it that 
counts for me. Snape's meanness, on the other hand, seems to be his 
default setting.





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