Never again

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 172357

-Inge wrote:
>
> So, it's over.
> 
> My feelings right now are, that I will probably never open and read
a Potter-book again.
><snip> 
> Snape's death was so cruel. I had rather seen Harry die than Severus.


Carol responds:
Yes, Snape's death was cruel, but it wasn't meaningless, and it
probably could not have been done any other way. (And I think the very
shock of it and the reason behind it prompted Harry to look at those
memories in a way that Snape in his normal state could never have
done.) I'm going to repost something I posted at Hog's Head in hopes
of providing comfort to Snape fans who are feeling bereaved and
devastated. (I've made slight, unacknowledged alterations to the
original post.)

Poor Snape! What I liked (though I was never a Lily/Snape shipper) was
the Doe Patronus as (apparently) Dumbledore's "ironclad reason" for
trusting Snape. I liked the way Snape used it and that whole Ron/Harry
reconciliation scene (more or less engineered by Snape). I liked that
Severus didn't earn the nickname Snivellus; James and Sirius gave it
to him for no reason except his desire to be in Slytherin like his
mother--or so I assume.

Snape's death was truly horrible, and evidently upsetting to a lot of
Snape fans including me; I'm sure the neighbors must have hear my
anugished sobs. (I *hate* Nagini and am so glad that Neville killed
her so valiantly.) But I don't think the storyline could have been
resolved in any other way. (And at least he wasn't fed to the snake!)

Obviously, Snape and Harry duelling again would be pointless as we
already show that Harry isn't Snape's match, not to mention that Snape
is DDM. . . . And if Snape had succeeded in convincing Voldemort to
him go to the boy, as he kept begging to do, Harry would never have
listened to him. Snape *had* to give him the information about the
soul bit in his scar and let Harry know that he had to sacrifice
himself--thank goodness for the Hallows, which poor Severus didn't
know about), and in order for Harry to believe him, Snape had to let
him know the rest of his story, at least the parts that involved Lily,
which could only be done through the Pensieve. I liked that they had a
last moment to look into each other's eyes, which, again, could not
have happened if Snape had been AK'd. Snape's death scene (though I
hated it) really shows the cruelty and indifference of LV, who's
willing to murder the man he wrongly thinks is his most loyal follower.

I liked having Harry vindicate Snape in front of so many people. I
loved having him name his second son Albus Severus (though it ought to
have been the other way around) and tell little Albus how brave Snape
was (and that Slytherin isn't all bad).

But for those who can't get past Snape's horrible death, I suggest
thinking about his terrible life, especially the last year posing as a
loyal Death Eater, unable to save Charity Burbage or tell anyone that
he was still Dumbledore's man, and consider the picture we've glimpsed
of death as the next great journey.


Voldemort, with his mangled soul, has to spend eternity as a
whimpering misshapen fetus wrapped in dirty rags. Dumbledore, in
contrast, has his blackened hand healed and the twinkle in his eye
restored. Snape's soul will not be damaged because he's not committing
murder: he's fulfilling Dumbledore's last request, to die with dignity
on his own terms (foreshadowed by Krum's losing the QWC on his own
terms, I wonder?). Snape is now beyond pain and suffering and lies and
having to witness the deaths of helpless people whom he cannot save
and to whose plight he has to feign indifference. JKR believes in the
immortality of the soul, and if we believe in her story, we have to
believe in her afterlife, too (at least within the context of the
books; I don't mean in the RW, where we're free to hold our own views
and accept or reject the concept of an afterlife).

Carol, who hated the way Snape had to die, but believes that his death
was not in vain, nor is death the end of everything in JKR's world