Of Sorting and Snape

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 175784

> Magpie:
> Yes, but the fact remains Kreacher is a House-Elf (he could have
> been a Hufflepuff House-Elf just as easily, actually). He's a House-
> Elf.  He's not a Slytherin. Saying that we see how great Slytherins 
> can be by showing us a house and an elf once owned by Slytherins
> pleasing Harry is still avoiding Slytherins. 

Jen: That's not the point, that Kreacher is somehow Slytherin.  It's 
that he's healing and preserving the memory of the Black family since 
they can't.  Without the piece about Kreacher telling the story of 
Regulus and how he wasn't able to fulfill his master's dying request, 
kindness from Harry might have helped Kreacher's disposition but the 
secret of Kreacher's failure and Regulus's last act remained hidden.  
What was important was that the kindness involved helping Kreacher 
give meaning to Regulus's death, not the kindness itself.

Families like the Crouches and Blacks read as examples of how secrets 
and unresolved emotions can damage a family from the inside out - the 
water aspect out of balance.  Yes, pureblood ideaology was the reason 
for Mrs. Black zapping family members off the family tree, but that 
action was covering unresolved anger and hurt from rejection.  
Kreacher releasing his all-important secret about how he couldn't 
fulfill Regulus's order, how he watched Mrs. Black 'mad with grief' 
and couldn't help her misery, offered a way for him to set right some 
of the Black family history that had been damaged.

Magpie:
> And of course, avoiding anything where Harry has to seriously 
> reconsider his own behavior or ideas in the ways people have 
> described--that goes without saying. Even if this is some clue that 
> Harry's treating his Slytherin enemies with kindness and respect 
> would turn them into fluffy bunnies, he still never has to do that.
> He just has to treat the talking pet better and makes a servant for
> life. 

Jen: He did realize from Regulus's example that he was wrong about 
Sirius, that Sirius had paid for not treating Kreacher as a being 
with feelings.  Regulus's empathy toward Kreacher was not in name 
only: he chose to drink the deadly potion instead of making Kreacher 
do it and went to his watery grave, protecting the family he loved by 
ordering Kreacher not to tell.