Snape's the Rescuer - Really? WAS: Justice to Snape

[lanval1015]

No: HPFGUIDX 170647

> > Carol responds:
> > 
> > Exactly. Time-Turned Harry and Hermione couldn't have saved their
> > unconscious selves (along with Ron and Black) because they had 
to have
> > been taken to the hospital wing and revived before they could
> > Time-Turn. If Snape hadn't gone after Lupin, no one would have 
known
> > they were out there on the grounds, unconscious and in the 
company of
> > a werewolf, and they would certainly have been soul-sucked or 
killed
> > because Time-Turned!Harry wouldn't exist to send the Patronus 
and save
> > them a second time. (Snape saved them first.)
> > 

Lanval:
If Snape hadn't gone after Lupin, and ended up interfering in the 
Shack, none of the events that followed might have played out the 
way they did. So I think it's pushing it a little to claim that 
Snape's presence saved the kids's lives that night. 


> 
> Renee <delurking for a moment>:
> 
> Well, er, JKR *did* write about Harry saving himself plus the 
others:
> by casting his stag patronus from across the lake to drive the
> Dementors off. And this takes place *before* Snape regains
> consciousness & conjures up the stretchers, etc. 
> 
> Due to the paradoxes of time-turning, Harry2 and Hermione2 were
> already there when the events following the Shrieking Shack scene
> unfolded. They *were always there*. (The events of that night don't
> happen twice, it's Harry and Hermione who happen twice.) So
> theoretically, they could have done what Snape did - except that 
they
> knew Snape had already done it - and they weren't supposed to
> interfere. They knew they could safely leave and get on with their
> mission.  
> 
> Carol:
> 
> Instead, like it or not, they owe their lives (and souls) to
> > Snape. And even if they *could* have saved themselves, they 
didn't.
> > Snape did. (Thanks for acknowledging that, Mike.) 
> 
> Renee:
> True, Snape took them to the safety of the Hospital Ward. The 
question
> is, what did he save them from? At the moment he woke up, there 
was no
> immediate danger that we hear of, either from the Dementors or the
> werewolf. Snape himself actually tells Fudge that the Dementors 
were
> heading back to their positions at the entrances of Hogwarts when 
he
> came round. 
> 
> Nor does Dumbledore in any way suggest that Snape saved anyone's 
life
> or soul that night. Claims that Snape saved Harry's life and soul 
are
> therefore grossly exaggerated. Harry1 was saved by Harry2, and by 
no
> one else.
> 
> Renee
>
Lanval:
Yes to all. We last hear of Lupin being anywhere near as Hermione2 
and Harry2 realize that the werewolf is going to run right toward 
their hiding spot -- not because he's attacking them, but 
because that's where they saw him *taking flight (!!!), howling, 
galloping into the forest* earlier, when Sirius chased him off Ron 
and Pettigrew.

Once Harry2 steps out of Hagrid's cabin, there's no sign that Lupin 
is close, and DD later specifically says that Lupin is *deep* in 
the FF. On a side note, if there really are other werewolves in the 
Forest, nobody would ever be safe anywhere on the grounds of 
Hogwarts, if they were in the habit of prowling outside of the 
Forest's bounds.

The mere possibility that Lupin *might* have returned from the 
Forest and *could* have attacked unconscious Ron, Harry, Hermione 
and Sirius, or that the Dementors *might* have returned, is not 
quite enough reason to pin a lifesaver badge on Snape just yet. 
Especially since they are IMO just an annoying extra burden to deal 
with for Snape; his main objective is to get Black to the 
castle. Note that he finds time to bind and gag Sirius before he 
loads him unto a stretcher. 

Also:

PoA, Am.Ed. p 381:

"Leave it to me -- RUN!"
[....]
As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the 
dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron 
and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each 
other ---
[...]
Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back...

End quote.

I'd say if anybody deserved a badge that night it's Sirius, who 
without a doubt saved the kids, Snape and Pettigrew in a true fight 
with the werewolf. 

Even Harry, who without thinking leaps toward transforming Lupin, to 
save his best friend Ron, but is held back by Sirius, IMO deserves 
more recognition for his actions than Snape.