Could Harry have saved Snape? (was Reacting to DH...)
pippin_999
foxmoth at qnet.com
Fri Oct 19 15:55:15 UTC 2007
No: HPFGUIDX 178094
Alla:
> I do not remember social services knocking on Dursleys' door and
> announcing that they are guilty of abuse or at least of neglect. I
> did not **need** to read about social services to determine that. I
> saw what they did to Harry, in my mind, they are guilty, guilty,
> guilty.
Pippin:
This actually supports my point. They were neither punished nor left to
Voldemort. Dumbledore arranged for their protection. Harry wondering
whether he would intervene to rescue Vernon foreshadows his failure to
intervene to rescue Snape.
Alla:
> I believe that the rules of determining who is guilty or innocent in
> story are a bit relaxed in comparison to RL, meaning that as a reader
> if I see the character commiting something horrible, I do not need a
> jury to tell me that.
Pippin:
They are not relaxed as far as the characters go, or Crouch would
have done nothing wrong in failing to try Sirius. None of the eye
witnesses doubted for a moment that they had seen Sirius commit
murder. Crouch would surely be wrong to dismiss their testimony
just because they weren't magical! Imagine if Fudge had had that
option with Mrs. Figg!
> > > Alla:
> > > I guess Voldemort is then technically an innocent man
> > > too? I doubt JKR planned to put him in front of the jury,
> Voldemort I mean.
Pippin:
Obviously JKR did not want to have a trial for Voldemort, but
he was given the opportunity to try for some remorse, and we
do not know what Harry would have done if Voldemort had
surrendered. We do know that Grindelwald was not executed.
To me, there has to be something in the story to account for
the way Harry changed after The Prince's Tale. He does a lot
of things that seem nobler than I would have expected from
the old Harry. He extends the protection he gained by dying
over the whole WW, not just those he loves. He offers Voldemort
a chance to repent that Voldemort himself recognizes as genuine.
He takes time to tell Ron and Hermione exactly what happened
in the pensieve and in the forest. He sets aside the Elder
Wand. He forgives Snape for everything. He gets a Muggle driver's
license. He sees good in Slytherin House.
It seems to me that Snape is Harry's Ariana, the death he
would have tried to prevent if he had been as decent
a person as he thought he was. After that realization, IMO,
it's no longer enough for him to feel that he's a decent person
in his heart and do what his heart tells him. He has to
consciously try to be good.
> Alla:
>
> I think what Harry did for Peter was entirely different. He knew that
> Sirius and Lupin will not attack him and Peter has no chance to
> attack him either and he was supposedly already captured.
Pippin:
Actually, Harry did not know that Sirius and Lupin would not
attack him. Sirius had already attacked both him and Ron to
get at Peter. They did not lower their wands when Harry
stepped in front -- he stood facing them.
Pippin
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