On being Lucky (was On lying and cheating)/ Snape and his importance.

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 165912

> > Alla:
> > 
> > Right and I am questioning that Snape ever protected Harry to 
> protect 
> > Harry ( except of course saving his life in PoA). I am saying 
that 
> it 
> > is possible that Snape first and foremost did things  to save 
> himself 
> > or to further his goals and if it is protected Harry by 
extension, 
> it 
> > is not really protection IMO.
> 
> Magpie:
> But that fits my point as well, which is that Snape is in the 
> position of power over Harry--James is not. Because James is dead 
> and Snape is alive and free and in the position that he is in. 
> Whether Snape is protecting Harry for Harry's sake doesn't matter 
to 
> the point I'm making. I'm just talking about Snape's position and 
> power as opposed to James'.

Alla:

Sure, I have no objection to that at all. Snape **is** in the 
position of power to Harry, while James is not. It is just not the 
same to me as Snape set up as protecting Harry.

 
 
> Magpie:
> I'm regretting making the throwaway comparison (even though I know 
I 
> put in some kind of qualifier I don't remember like "in some ways" 
> or "sometimes"--thinking that would make it clear I wasn't saying 
> what I'm taken to be saying). My point was *not* to start a 
> competition between Snape and every other character because 
*they're 
> all necessary for the story.* Or to make Snape the number one hero 
> or character. It just seemed obvious to me that Snape's personal 
> story is hugely important in the series, and the series comes back 
> to it even more as it gets towards the climax because of where 
Snape 
> is positioned. The Snape/Harry dynamic is so central to the plot it 
> just didn't occur to me that saying Snape's actions were important 
> (or that Snape's actions as a character sometimes had more effect 
on 
> the greater story than Harry) would be taken as forgetting about 
> what Lily or James or the DA or what anyone else did. 
> <SNIP>

Alla:

As I said I have no argument at all to Snape's actions being very 
important to the story, **at all**. Their dynamic are important, but 
to me it does not follow that Snape's actions are more important than 
Harry's, that's all.

Besides, I still think that it is possible that Snape is a plot 
device for Harry to get to certain point of his development, you know?

Why would you regret making that comparison? Because I attempted to 
chalenge it? Blinks.


Magpie:
 Snape isn't involved in the interactions between 
> the students, or the R/Hr romance, or Harry's romances with Cho or 
> Ginny, or the saving of Buckbeak etc. I'm just saying that when it 
> comes to the Voldemort/Harry story, Snape's pretty important and 
was 
> before Harry arrived at Hogwarts. At the risk of starting the whole 
> thing up again, Harry's getting people to follow him with the DA 
> really isn't affecting things on the level I'm saying Snape's 
> actions have, even if it's obviously important in its own way. 
> Snape's actions have at times set up the story of which *Harry* is 
> the protagonist. Snape is one hard-working *antagonist* who acts as 
> an opposing force to Harry and causes him to generate action back

Alla:

We don't know, whether Harry getting people to follow him would 
affect the story more than Snape's actions had?

After all, Sirius and Lupin listening to Harry plea to free Peter 
already arguably affected the story a lot and probably more than any 
of Snape's actions did. IMO of course.

And if at the end Harry would make all four houses stand together, I 
would think it would matter much more than any of Snape's actions so 
far.

And yes, Snape's actions **are** important in their own way, just as 
Dumbledore's were, I am just not agreeing with more important than 
Harry's, that's all.

JMO,

Alla