Snape's the Rescuer - Really?/Justice to Snape

[lanval1015]

No: HPFGUIDX 170743

lizzyben04:
> 
> Snape did the right thing when he transported everybody to the 
Castle,
> and I think this moment is very telling. It's the only time we see 
how
> Snape acts when he thinks nobody is around, when he doesn't have to
> put on an act.
And in this moment, he is calm, efficient &
> responsible. Snape is good in a crisis. In this moment, we get a
> glimpse of "healer" Snape, an aspect of Snape's character that 
usually
> remains hidden. 
> 

> What is even more significant, IMO, is the way that he chooses to
> transports everyone. Snape treats all his "patients" with dignity. 
He
> conjures stretchers to carry everyone in a comfortable way, and he
> moves all the unconscious people w/equal care. This is a big 
contrast
> from the way Sirius & Remus treated Snape when he was unconscious.


Lanval:
Oh, where to start...

Of course Snape is calm, efficient, and responsible here. He usually 
is, no? How placing people on stretchers makes anyone a healer, that 
I don't understand. 

As I said before, to me it's about being practical. Do tell me what 
other options Snape had that would *not* have made him look like a 
complete ass when walking into the castle?

Drag them by their hair? Bring them in one by one? It seems to me 
that floating someone requires some concentration, and that it would 
be hard to keep the required spell active on more than one person. 
The stretchers Snape conjures are IMO from the Hospital Wing, and 
have been pre-treated with a floating charm, meaning all one has to 
do is make them move along. But that's just my theory, so feel free 
to ignore that. :)

Remus and Sirius had IMO no way to transport Snape any other way, 
because of the narrow tunnel. About Snape's head scraping against 
the ceiling.. . as I wrote in another post, not very nice, but 
remember Snape's actions just prior to that scene.  

lizzyben04:
> After Snape was knocked out, Sirius treated Snape like a puppet - 
he
> levitated him in a careless & undignified way, bumping Snape's 
head on
> purpose as he went. Harry thinks that Snape resembles a grotesque
> puppet. This scene is reminiscent of how the Death Eaters treated 
the
> Muggles during the QWC - levitating them like marionettes, 
depriving
> them of their dignity & self-determination. Similarly, James'
> Levicorpus spell also treats Snape like a puppet, humiliating and
> controlling him. All of these actions are reminiscent of the 
Imperius
> curse - a curse that transforms a person into a puppet to do the
> spellcaster's will. I think that JKR considers "slavery", forcing
> another to do your own will, as a real evil. By effectively making
> people into marionettes, the Death Eaters, Remus, James, & Sirius 
all
> partake in this evil to varying degrees.
> 

Lanval:
Funny that it was *Snape* who invented that particular humiliating 
hex, eh?

As to this being reminiscent of the Imperius curse (an 
Unforgivable!), how do you arrive at that? Imperio is about mind 
control, Levicorpus is about physical control. Dangling someone 
upside down has nothing whatsoever to do with controlling someone's 
mind.


lizzyben04:
> But Snape, when confronted w/unconscious enemies, does not. He 
doesn't
> use Imperius or Levicorpus against Sirius & the kids.He doesn't 
treat
> them like puppets or deprive them of their dignity. He treats them
> like human beings, not puppets. And he saves both enemy and friend,
> without distinction. 

Lanval:
Ok, I'll bite. What does he save Sirius from?

Mmm. Binding and gagging. Always a sign of treating someone with 
dignity. 

He doesn't use Imperius against the kids and Sirius? Are we supposed 
to admire him for refraining from using an Unforgivable??

lizzyben04:
This is a small moment, but I do think it
> reflects a positive aspect of Snape's character. Snape sees all of
> them as "real people," Slytherin & Gryfindor, Malfoys & Weasleys.
> He saves both Harry & Draco, 

Lanval:
Harry? When? At the end, from the DE? According to Snape, that was 
on the Dark Lord's orders, no? *eg* We'll find out soon enough, I 
guess, but for now I'll agree that that he saved Harry from being 
tortured a while longer.

Draco? Indeed. He saved Draco from the effects of a Dark Curse that 
SNAPE HIMSELF invented. I will never understand how peforming the 
proper countercurse to a nasty, potentially fatal Dark Curse Snape 
himself invented somehow elevates him to Healer-hood.


lizzyben04:
he brews potions for someone he hates
> (Lupin) and someone he loves (Dumbledore), with equal care. 


Lanval:
May I just point out that at this point, while it seems pretty clear 
that he does hate Lupin, we have nothing in canon to prove that 
Snape *loves* DD. 

lizzyben04:
In this,
> Snape is almost unique in the Potterverse.
That's my view of him -
> Humanist!Snape. LOL. He doesn't save people because he likes them, 
but
> because they are human beings in need of care. 


Lanval:
"Almost unique", yes. The Healers (real Healers, not DADA 
specialists), at St Mungo's. Madam Pomfrey. Surely they don't apply 
their skills according to how much they may love or hate a patient?

lizzyben04:
We don't see this side
> of Snape often in the books, but IMO it is there in the 
background. In
> HBP, Harry finally got a chance to see this side of Snape.
>
Lanval:
You mean when he killed DD?