Would Harry forgiving Snape be character growth for him? Re: CHAPDISC: HBP 29,

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 164194


> Alla:
> 
> What can I say? We shall see, I suppose in book 7 whether they were 
> right to blindly trust Snape because Dumbledore said so, or whether 
> they were right to kick themselves for doing so.
> 
> Alla, who thinks that Harry seeing for himself that Draco lowered 
> his wand may just be contrasted with second hand trust in Snape, but 
> who can surely be wrong and had been wrong before many times.
>

Pippin:
But the Order's trust wasn't second hand. Snape has given them valuable
information, including the information that Harry was in danger at the 
MoM. And Harry's trust should not be second hand either; Snape has
saved his life, and put himself at risk to come to Harry's aid. They
have all seen Snape 'lower his wand', ie, not attack or allow Harry
to be attacked when he had the opportunity to do so. 

I understand that Snape's cruelty and taste for revenge make him
seem obviously unrepentant. The flaw in this argument is that we
don't know what tempted him to join the DE's. If it was indeed to
pursue cruelty and revenge, then DDM!Snape is probably headed
for the bottom of Theory Bay. But if it was a thirst for recognition,
his desire to be known as a brilliant and inventive wizard, then 
we see what appear to be a number of penitive acts. 

Snape labors as a spy, for whom recognition would be fatal, he
settles into a career in the comparitively obscure and undervalued
field of potions instead of the flashy and highly respected DADA,
he does not publish his innovations, and while he almost certainly
made the mandrake potion in CoS, he gets no credit while Sprout
and Pomfrey do. 

Snape's nastiness, then, would have very little to do with the
reasons he became a Death Eater, and so he would not have
had any great reason to repent of it. Recognizing this would be
an opportunity for Harry to grow. Finding out the opposite 
would not be growth, it would be stasis.

Pippin