Excusing Snape of any responsibility ( was Re: Nitwit? - Remus John Lupin)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 168184

Alla wrote:
<snip>
> There is absolutely no way I would say that Snape deserved to die if 
> the only thing he did was to sneak on Marauders trying to get them 
> expelled. NO, just no. If there is nothing else to be discovered, 
> then Snape and Sirius responsibility in Prank night just cannot be 
> compared IMO. Snape may be guilty in sneaking on them, but Sirius is 
> guilty in reckless idiocy that could have lead to Snape death. <snip>
> 
Carol responds:
Thanks for that concession, Alla. I admire your objectivity and
fairness here. (BTW, I know that the book refers to Teen!Snape as
Snape reflecting Harry's view of him, but I think the use of his last
name causes some posters to forget that he's a kid, too. So if we
excuse Sirius's rashness because of his youth, we should excuse
Severus's rashness for the same reason. And, yes, it was rash to take
up a dare from Sirius Black to enter the Whomping Willow whether or
not he guessed that he'd meet a werewolf. It sounds, actually, like
something a non-Animagus Sirius or James would do. "The risk was what
made it fun for James.")

Alla wrote:
> I mean, personally I of course believe that at least three 
> good "people" of Potterverse would have had much longer life 
> expectancy if Snape would have dropped dead in his teens, and one 
> good "kid" would have had much happier home life, but there is no 
> way I would say Snape deserved to die and of course then there would 
> had been no story, hehe.

Carol responds:
Then again, if Severus had died as a teenager and the slightly older
Snape hadn't made the double mistake of joining the Death Eaters and
revealing part of the Prophecy to Voldemort, Voldemort would not have
been vaporized and "the one with the power" wouldn't have been given
the power to defeat him. Harry's parents might have been killed
anyway, simply as members of the Order of the Phoenix, and the WW
would have had no fourteen-year respite from Voldemort and his
minions. Of course, Snape's action is not to his credit--nor, of
course, is Pettigrew's betrayal of the Potters or Voldemort's murder
of the Potters and attempted murder of Harry--but if it hadn't been
for those unfortunate events, the situation in the WW would be much
worse and possibly irremediable. 

Snape, regardless of his motives, is responsible for Harry's knowledge
of Bezoars, which saved Ron's life. He taught Harry and the others
Expelliarmus, which has proved useful on numerous occasions. He saved
Harry's life in SS/PS, conjured the stretchers in PoA, and sent the
Order to the MoM. True, Snape is partially responsible for Harry's
being an orphan and having to face Voldemort at seventeen, but if the
end result is that Voldemort is destroyed, then Snape's revelation of
the partial Prophecy will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
(Remember the witches and wizards who were celebrating "This happy,
happy day!" despite the fact that James and Lily Potter had been
murdered. I don't like that, actually, but certainly the WW is better
off after GH even if the Potters themselves are dead and Harry is
orphaned. The same will be true when Harry ultimately defeats
Voldemort thanks to the power given him by his mother's sacrifice even
if Harry himself dies, which I hope he won't.)

The point I'm trying to make is that it's a good thing young Severus
didn't die as a teenager. There would have been no Godric's Hollow, no
sacrifice, no scar, no Chosen One, if he (and Wormtail and LV) hadn't
acted as they did. And though he can't bring the Potters back to life,
Snape has since made up for that mistake numerous times, most notably
in OoP: HRH and the other Trio would have been killed or captured by
DEs at the MoM if not for Snape. (And DD would have died before HBP
began if not for "Professor Snape's timely action.")

Now granted, HBP sets up a new course of events involving Snape, a new
set of actions to be called into account, in particular the UV and the
killing of Dumbledore. But if the pattern holds, good will come out of
evil there, too.

Carol, who thinks that Sectumsempra and its complex countercurse,
whcih Snape took the trouble to invent or discover, in some ways
illustrate or symbolize the two sides of Severus Snape