Hermione and 'Evil is a strong word' (WAS Re: CHAPDISC: HBP30, The White Tomb)

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 165969


> a_svirn:
> Afraid not. Dumbledore's judgement proved to be unsound. The man he 
> trusted so completely just killed him. And now everything he ever 
> said about Snape is suspect. Hermione can only trust the 
information 
> that came from the sources other than Dumbledore.

zgirnius:
The reliability of Dumbledore's judgments of people are suspect on 
these grounds, but not his statements of fact. 

Let's review my proposed list of reasons Hermione might have for 
trusting Snape, just to see how many of them are independent of 
Dumbledore's judgment of Snape's character:

> zgirnius, earlier:
> 1) Saving Harry from Quirrell in PS/SS

zgirnius now:
Not tainted by possibility Dumbledore is bad judge of character. She 
saw Snape doing something with her own eyes, and Quirrell confirmed 
that *he* was hexing the broom. Not to mention that Harry can confirm 
it was Quirrell, and not Snape, who was after the Stone for 
Voldemort, so why would Snape be hexing Harry? So this fact remains 
one she can trust.

> zgirnius:
> 2) End of PoA - I think she would believe him sincere in his 
comments to her and Harry in the Shack - in other words, he was after 
Sirius because he was the traitor.

zgirnius:
Would rely on Hermione's own judgment. She was there and formed her 
own opinion, which she has not shared. It *could*, therefore, be 
favorable. At any rate, it has nothing to do with Dumbledore, who did 
not discuss his view of Snape's actions with Harry at all in PoA.

> zgirnius:
> 3) Revealing his Dark Mark to Fudge

zgirnius:
A fact witnessed by Harry, not subject to an error of interpretation 
by Dumbledore. 

> zgirnius:
> 4) Teaching Harry Occlumency (I think she did read up on it, and has
reason to believe Harry's reaction is typical in the early stages)

zgirnius:
Again, a fact. 

> zgirnius:
> 5) Not providing Umbridge with Veritaserum in OotP

zgirnius:
She was in the office when he claimed to have none. If Hermione 
judged that he was lying to Umbridge, that would be a judgment based 
on her own impressions and logic. 

> zgirnius:
> 6) Sending the Order to the MoM (and checking on Sirius)

zgirnius:
She knows someone sent the Order - she was there. Dumbledore is the 
source of the information that it was Snape, but who else could it 
have been? He was the only Order member at Hogwarts. For this to be 
false, Dumbledore would need to have lied AND there would have to be 
something complicated going on.

> zgirnius:
7) Saving Dumbledore's life

zgirnius:
Dumbledore is quite possibly the most powerful, skilled, and 
knowledgeable wizard in the Potterverse. If he states that a powerful 
curse was killing him, I think that he is to be believed. If he 
states he was not able to save himself alone, that, too, must be 
believed. These are statements of fact in his area of expertise. 
Nothing we have seen suggests he was losing his touch as a 
wizard/expert on magic, even if he did misjudge the character and 
loyalties of one Severus Snape. That he still lived to tell the tale 
is a simple fact Hermione has verified for herself - she has seen and 
heard the Headmaster since he sustained the injury. 

Finally, that only Snape and Dumbledore treated the injury is a 
simple statement of fact about which Dumbledore could not be 
mistaken. I suppose he could lie about it, but I do not see to what 
end. (Nor do I believe he lies to Harry, or that Hermione would 
believe it of him.)

It follows logically that Snape saved Dumbledore's life. You can say 
it doesn't matter (evil Snape reasons for doing this doubtless exist, 
even if I find them less than convincing), but it happened.

> zgirnius:
8) Saving Katie Bell's life

zgirnius:
This is something Dumbledore tells Harry. I don;t see why he would 
lie about who treated Katie Bell, and Hermione could ask Madam 
Pomfrey about it if she had any doubts. It aslo seems likely in light 
of the fact (which Hermione knows) that McGonagall instructed the 
necklace be taken to Snape.

I reiterate that none of these proves Snape is DDM!. Nor have I 
established that any of these other than 1) form a basis for 
Hermione's trust of Snape prior to the killing of Dumbledore. 

However, we do have her reluctance to call Snape evil, and her 
hesitation before agreeing to call Snape a murderer. I find the idea 
that she may have considered some or all of these and is experiencing 
some nagging doubt about the 'Snape is evil, he always planned to do 
it for Voldemort' explanation more convincing than suggesting she is 
reverting to a childish refusal to think for herself at all.