Nice vs. Good, honesty, and Snape/Book 7 predictions and Harry's fate

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 152980

Potioncat:
> > The Dementors were gone. Snape conjured stretchers to deliver 
> > unconscious people to the Hospital Wing. One of them would be 
> delivered to the court system. Snape has every reason at this point
to believe Black was guilty. At any rate, he was still a fugitive.
> 
Alla again:
> 
> Snape was delivering Black to Dementors, NOT to court system, not to 
> have a trial. He knew that Black would be kissed pretty much right 
> away, unless I am really misremembering stuff, which is entirely 
> possible. <snip>

Now Carol:
The dementors are no longer on the grounds, but Snape tells Fudge that
he woke up just in time to see them heading back to their positions at
the entrances (587). At that point he conjures stretchers, not just
for Black, whom he believes to be a murderer, but for three kids who
have just hit him with simultaneous Expelliarmus spells and knocked
him out. He does not, however, deliver Black to the dementors; he
delives him to Fudge, who sends the executioner Macnair to fetch the
dementors (587).

There are apparently no more dementors on the grounds when Snape
conjures the stretchers, but there is certainly a werewolf still at
large, and it would be tantamount to murder to leave them lying there.
And Snape could have done so, claiming to have been knocked out the
whole time. Instead, he takes the kids to safety and Black to Fudge.

If Snape knew that Black was innocent, this part of his actions would
be unjustifiable. But he was unconscious for that part of the
conversation, as well as for Wormtail's return to human form and his
escape. So he does his duty to the students, getting them out of
harm's way to a place where there cuts can be treated and Ron's broken
leg can be healed, and he brings in a man he believes to be an escaped
murderer to face the WW's idea of justice.

I'm not going to take a stand on whether this action qualifies as nice
or compassionate (choose your word), but dementors or no dementors, it
would have been a lot *less* nice (or compassionate) to leave three
unconscious kids, one of them with a broken leg, on the grounds with a
werewolf on the loose.

Carol, who had to reread several chapters of PoA to write this post
and thinks that maybe we all should do so