On the trivial and the profound

[lealess]

No: HPFGUIDX 165460

> <Mostly snipped>
> People love to criticize Harry (I don't pretend to know why), if one
> reason for doing so gets shot down try another. If there had been a
> scene in one of the books of Snape in his chambers consulting a very
> rare old potions book I doubt we would have heard one word of
> criticism from anybody because Snape has that all important Free
> Pass, Harry has never even seen one.
> 
> Eggplant
>

I wish someone would define "Free Pass" for me and tell me when it 
actually applies.

Snape is needlesssly mean to his students, probably just to bolster a 
fragile self-image.  This makes him petty and pathetic.  And yet, the 
students seem unaffected by this as a whole, with the exception of 
Neville, and even he gets over it.  Therefore, why should Snape have 
to pay for his cruelty, when it has no lasting effects?  In the real 
world, teachers don't pay for Snape's behavior, except in loss of 
popularity.  They might be called to account if they inflict actual 
harm, but again, we don't see this long-term harm at Hogwarts.  We do 
hear of cruel behavior towards others by students, however, such as 
Luna Lovegood, Montague, Moaning Myrtle... and perhaps Severus 
Snape.  Why should the students get a free pass?  Because they are 
young?  That just doesn't hold up as an excuse for me, especially as 
the students get older.

Snape sneaks around.  He often jumps to the wrong conclusion, quickly 
and quite emotionally, as in the Shrieking Shack, probably both times 
he was in it.  This makes him stupid when he should be smart.  Should 
he have to pay for these quite-human errors, ones he shares with 
almost every other character in the books?

Snape is a grown-up who seems to hold to an adolescent grudge.  His 
growth as a person is stunted.  He made horrible mistakes of judgment 
in his past.  Yet who knows what Snape did as a Death Eater 
beside "see things?"  We know he revealed the Prophecy to Voldemort, 
leading to Harry's parents' death.  I grant that this was not good, 
under any circumstance, even if Dumbledore told him to do it (which I 
personally doubt).  Yet how do we know that Snape hasn't felt genuine 
remorse and tried to pay for his mistakes, that he hasn't continued 
to pay for them by working to make retribution the rest of his life, 
perhaps at great danger to himself?

Other crimes Snape might want to pay for include making an 
Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa, failing to deter Draco, and killing 
Dumbledore.  Again, I think there is more than meets the eye to all 
of these stories.  But as someone who reputedly worked to save first-
year Harry, to repay a life debt which Dumbledore found curiously 
amusing, Snape probably doesn't let's himself off the hook for 
anything.  I believe that his conscience is still troubled over his 
*big* errors (not cruel comments to a student, which is turning out 
to be a big mistake after all) and will probably always be.  So, no 
free pass there.

Snape is not someone a person would feel a lot of sympathy for, 
because he is an adult who seems to have power.  I sympathize with 
him, however, and think that, despite his tremendous flaws, he is 
working to correct the wrong he has done and help bring about the 
defeat of Voldemort.  However, his flaws prevent him from becoming 
more agreeable to other people and from finding support in other 
people, which is sad.  Dumbledore was sympathetic enough to overlook 
those flaws to see someone of greater value within.  I think 
Dumbledore felt sad for him, too, however.

I criticize Harry because I see him walking down a dangerous path, 
not even looking where he is going.  He shouldn't be trying to cast 
Cruciatus curses or Sectumsempra again, as Snape advises him.  He 
shouldn't allow himself to be filled with such hatred it blinds him 
to possibilities around him.  I let him off the hook about as much as 
I let young Severus off the hook for the same things.  Sixteen is old 
enough to know right from wrong, and yet sixteen-year-olds make 
horrendous mistakes out of emotional and social circumstances.  Some 
people never stop being sixteen, or eleven.  I hope that Harry 
will.   I hope Severus will, as well.

And, speaking as a teacher who tries to make the road for my students 
as clear as possible, with signposts and flashing lights, I am 
thrilled when students consult on old book or seek help to clarify a 
question.  This shows me they are engaged with the subject.  It's 
when they copy from that book or from their helping friend and claim 
credit for it on their own that I kick them to the curb.  It's not a 
moral question, although plagiarism is against college rules.  For 
me, it is more that they are not learning the skills they need to do 
the job they say they want to do.  That's why I'm there, to teach 
them those skills.  They only cheat themselves when they take the 
easy way out.

lealess