Father Figures (Karkaroff as Headmaster (WAS: Snape&Lucius)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 164817

> >>zgirnius:
> > <snip>
> > I would agree that Lupin has more importance to the story 
> > than McG because of the emotional conection he has to James (and 
> > Lily?), who are a part of the story, true, but not to Harry.

> >>Magpie:
> <snip>
> His emotional connection to James and Lily gives him more emotional 
> connection to Harry--certainly more than McGonagall. Harry knows a 
> lot more about Lupin's emotional life and mistakes etc. than he    
> does with McGonagall--and so do we.

Betsy Hp:
Exactly.  Lupin has a greater emotional impact on Harry than 
McGonagall.  There's a connection there, a personal connection, that 
is missing with Harry's interactions with McGonagall.

But I think (reading through various comments) that I've been unclear 
about what I mean with the term "father-figure".  I'm not trying to 
say that Lupin is the most important adult male in Harry's life.  Nor 
am I, by labeling Lupin a father-figure, trying to say that Lupin has 
a perfectly positive impact on Harry's life.  Harry has many father-
figures; every single one of those men are flawed, often in great and 
fatal ways. 

If I were to map it out I'd put James at the head of a triangle: he 
is Father, both biologically and as Harry's ideal.  And for a long 
time he stayed that ideal for Harry.  The two branches off of James 
are Lupin and Sirius.  They both represented James to Harry.

And (and I find this fascinating, myself <g>) Sirius and Lupin 
mirrored two different responses at being father-figures or James's 
stand-ins for Harry.  Sirius was so gung-ho Harry actually pulled 
away from him (in an effort to keep Sirius safe).  And Lupin was 
remarkably reticent, forcing Harry to seek him out, as Debbie points 
out here:

> >>Debbie:
> <snip>
> Overall, though, I think we don't see Lupin take on more of
> a father-figure role because Lupin himself is reluctant to assume   
> that role. 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
So there's three possible fathers: James, Sirius, Lupin.  And for 
various reasons (death, danger, reluctance) Harry is unable to fully 
lean on any of them.  But, even with their weaknesses, Harry does 
gain something from all three of them.  And both Sirius and Lupin 
provide forms of proof of James's love for Harry.  Sirius by being a 
god-father (James cared enough to appoint a guardian), Lupin by 
giving Harry the Patronus spell (James as Prongs, a tireless 
protector).

Standing opposite from James is Snape.  He's the negative to James's 
positive, and he provides the adversary for Harry to test himself 
against.  Snape is the opposite of an ideal.  Snape's weaknesses are 
out there on display and he's everything Harry *doesn't* want to be.  
Snape is the one who sets limits (possibly to protect Harry's life, 
possibly to be an ass, depending on your favorite form of Snape <g>) 
and doles out punishment.  Snape challenges the "ideal James" that 
Harry has set up in his head.  Snape challenges James's stand-ins, 
Lupin and Sirius.  And Snape reveals to Harry James's very human 
flaws. 

Looming over the James (Sirius, Lupin) <--> Snape diagram is the 
great patriarchal dichotomy of Dumbledore <--> Voldemort.  Everything 
falls onto one side or another on this issue.  And while Harry is 
very strongly (and I believe, without question) on the Dumbledore 
side of the issue, he has been shaped by Voldemort.  There's the 
surface parsletongue, but also the deeper issue of Harry's life and 
sense of self being defined by his battle against Voldemort.

But the tension between Dumbledore and Voldemort also effects the 
tension between James (with Lupin and Sirius) and Snape.  Especially 
for Harry.  As he picks and chooses among the various traits and 
philosophies he wants to gain from James (and therefore also Lupin 
and Sirius), and the stuff he wants to reject from Snape, it all 
seems very simple if James is "good" and Snape is "bad".

It's what made Harry's hero-worship of the half-blood Prince so 
painful for him after the big reveal; it's what will make a DDM!Snape 
so interesting, IMO; and it's the reason I'm still intrigued by the 
possibility of an ESE!Lupin.  (Is that sort of trade-off necessary, I 
wonder?  Or has Peter Pettigrew provided enough shadow?)

Down below James and Snape, but still linked to Dumbledore and 
Voldemort are the other more minor father-figures Harry has 
interacted with from PS to HBP.  We've got Hagrid and Arthur on 
Dumbledore's side (both providing steady and solid support).  And 
we've got Barty Jr. on Voldemort's side (giving Harry some important 
skills while also wanting Harry dead).

All of these men have helped Harry figure out who he is and who he 
wants to be.   And as the only major players still around, I strongly 
suspect both Lupin and Snape will have some sort of impact on Harry 
before Harry faces off against his "bad father", Voldemort.

But what I don't see occuring is a strong effect from various mother-
figures on Harry.  Lily is mysterious and perfect and removed.  She 
gave Harry life (twice) but she's still an untouched ideal for him.  
McGonagall is the remote "teacher".  Yes, Harry learns from 
McGonagall, but nothing about his mother (as Lupin and Sirius link 
Harry back to his father) and nothing, IMO, that McGongall wouldn't 
teach any student under her care. 

There's not a real matriarchal dichotomy at play anywhere. I suppose 
the closest we get to that is McGonagall <--> Umbridge, but it's a 
much weaker story than the Dumbledore <--> Voldemort one, and in the 
end, it's D vs. V that prevails.  The showdown at the MoM trumps the 
showdown in McGonagall's office.  And Lily plays no part in either.

So, in the end I don't think we'll get a complex adult female 
character in DH.  I'm betting that what we learn about Lily will do 
more to effect Harry's view of some of his father-figures, not 
introduce him to a new mother-figure.  (By DH Harry should be moving 
out beyond a need for either a mother or a father, anyway.)

Betsy Hp