Snape really was a Good Guy - Canon in the House

[chuck.han]

No: HPFGUIDX 174418

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "horridporrid03"
<horridporrid03 at ...> wrote:
> ...
> > >>Chuck:
> > The one thing on which I do feel cheated is the fact that Dumbledore
> > doesn't have as much of a struggle--he truly believes that Harry    
> > will survive his encounter with Death because of Lily's blood that 
> > runs in Voldemort's veins, so JKR has given Dumbledore a convenient 
> > out. 
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> And that's because Dumbledore is a Gryffindor.  It's the flip side of 
> the coin.  Gryffindors don't have moral struggles because their moral 
> supremacy has already been determined at the Sorting.  "Convenient 
> outs" are their due for being so golden and pure. 
> ...

I respectfully disagree with this last point.  As Sirius said, the
world is not divided into Death Eaters and not.  And Dumbledore
himself has proven himself not to be infallible (As an aside, I have
much trouble with the description of the Harry Polyjuice Potion).

Are you saying that Dumbledore was entitled to not having to make a
hard decision of "sacrificing" Harry because, as a Gryffindor, he was
due this out?  It would have been much more interesting if Dumbledore
was faced with the true decision of sacrificing Harry "for the greater
good."

JKR prepares us for this out as she describes Dumbledore's look being
victorious when told of the Dark Lord's use of Harry's blood at the
end of GOF.  Conversely, at the end of OOTP, she sets up the
possibility of a dilemma when Dumbledore  confides in Harry that he
cares too much for him, and what did it matter if countless, faceless
people died other than Harry?  For me, it's too bad that we didn't see
this struggle in Dumbledore with respect to Harry's "death."  The fact
that Harry (and, for that matter, Snape) has to make a sacrifice, but
Dumbledore doesn't is uneven.

Indeed, JKR makes Dumbledore's path clear and free from decision by
condemning him to death so early.  I feel cheated that Dumbledore
never seems to struggle the way he did with the death of his sister. 
Maybe I'm just a sadist :-)

Chuck