Potter's Teacher's Edition

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 175419

Pippin:
 But she did write it!
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> No, she didn't.  She really, really didn't.  Snape vomits up his 
> memories and then dies.  There's not one scene where Harry has to 
> deal with an unpleasant man who's not evil.  The unpleasant man is 
> conveniently dead.  Harry's self-satisfaction doesn't even wobble let 
> alone fall down. 

Pippin:
"The longer they spent together, the more Harry realized he did not
like the goblin. Griphook was unexpectedly bloodthirsty, laughed at
the idea of pain in lesser creatures, and seemed to relish the possibility
that they might have to hurt other wizards to reach the Lestranges'
vault. Harry could tell that his distaste was shared by the other two,
but they did not discuss it: They needed Griphook." -DH ch 25

"We don't mind sleeping in the living room," said Harry, who knew
that Griphook would think poorly of having to sleep on the sofa;
keeping Griphook happy was essential to their plans." ibid

Then there's the trio being deeply unpleasant to each other under
the influence of the locket, to the point where Ron almost kills
Harry. Not to mention that Dumbledore's twinkly niceness turned
out to be more of a facade than Harry ever knew.

The important thing about this, IMO,  is that Harry puts up with
it as best he can, and doesn't assume that these people were hateful 
because they wouldn't be sorry if he was dead or because they're 
secretly allied with Voldemort. 

The Trio plot to deceive Griphook (not that I think he fell for
it one bit) and as in fairy tales the sword they won by valor leaves
its now unworthy owners. And despite their desperate need for it,
 they don't act as though they think they deserve to get it back,
though Ron vents a bit about double-crossing scabs. As if!

And if you don't see Harry giving up the Elder Wand in spite of
Ron and Hermione thinking he's mental as proof that his
self-satisfaction has taken a pretty deep hit, and he's not happy
about everything they did to win, then I don't know what would 
convince you. He says he's had enough trouble for a life time. Jo says
there's not going to be another HP book, meaning she doesn't
envision him doing anything thrilling, IMO. He spends nineteen
years not doing anything thrilling. What more proof do you need?

Do you need some kind of soapy scene where Harry decides
to bury Snape somewhere in Godric's Hollow near Lily and
Dumbledore's family, with the vial of memories in the grave?
(Though I think that's what happened, I don't need to read it.)

Snape belongs to the past, as others have said. His job as a
teacher was to prepare Harry to meet his future, and he more
than anyone else in the books did just that. And we see,
nineteen years later, when Harry is about the same age that
Snape was, that Harry must understand this. 

The narrative tells us Harry didn't know how to feel about what
he'd seen in the pensieve. How else could it be?
How realistic would it be for a seventeen year old, whose
emotional depth is, well, a teacup to Ron's teaspoon,  to demonstrate
deep insight into the mind of someone who's something like
twenty years older and far more complex?  

I suppose she could have had Harry dive into the pensieve again
as a thirty year old, but that'd be kind of  dull and way over the
heads of half the audience. 



> Betsy Hp:
> Harry is beautiful, athletic, rich, and a Gryffindor with the 
> strength of the almighty Dumbledore behind him.  Any suggestion that 
> Harry knows how Snape feels is laughable, IMO.

Pippin:
So...he was feeling all those things when he was out in the forest,
on the edge of starvation, believed to be a murderer, with no clear idea 
how he was going to get out of the mess he was in? Canon please?

And is he supposed to have entirely forgotten how it felt before he
knew he was any of those things, when he was living in a cupboard?
Remember, Harry knew nothing of Spinner's End till he saw the
memories. Up till then, he was probably thinking "Snape Manor"
like about 90% of the fandom.

>  
> > >>Pippin:
> > How could he go through all that and *not* feel sympathy for
> > Snape?
> > <snip>
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> He manages it for a couple of years at least. 

Pippin:
Because he was blinded by prejudice, just as Lupin said.

He was sympathetic to other people's points of view all along, 
unless they happened to be Slytherins, except for a few occasions
when anger and fear got the better of him, as they do of everyone
occasionally. The effect of the locket made me think that JKR
sees anger and fear as little Voldemorts, capable of making people
do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. (I'm planning
a post comparing the Hallows and Horcruxes to Tolkien's One Ring,
unless somebody's beaten me to it?)
 
  I just don't recognize the Harry you're talking about. Stupid with very 
little natural compassion or empathy makes him sound like Voldemort.


> Betsy Hp:
> I honestly cannot think of one thing about the Trio that I find 
> admirable.  Even within their own universe they're remarkably 
> lacking. 

Pippin:
Compared to who?

Who is it you think could have stood in front of Voldemort and
not even wished he could defend himself, knowing he must not betray
fear, knowing he was about to die? 

It's not like Harry is suicidally depressed or thinking that life's
not worth living. He does think it's worth dying to stop Voldemort.
Is that a sin?

> 
> Betsy Hp:
> Their flaws actually make me tremble for *JKR's* humanity because I 
> get the impression she doesn't see them as flaws.

Pippin:
She's said that Harry is angry and arrogant, Hermione is self-
righteous and a know it all, Ron is deeply insecure. Lupin
says Harry is prejudiced. It seems like all this comes through
for you in the books, am I wrong?

I think her interview comments are sensitive to the needs of her 
younger readers, who indeed will not see Harry as deeply flawed, or
Snape as good even when he's giving Harry a hard time, because
they aren't equipped to see things in shades of gray. But that
doesn't mean that JKR can't or that grown up readers aren't supposed to.

Pippin