Sirius and Snape parallels again - Sirius' death (LONG)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 185094

> 
> Leah: Slightly different circumstances here, I think. I'm sure if 
> Snape had been one of Pettigrew's friends he would have said much 
> the same; both he and Sirius do die for their friends or their 
> friends' sons.  But when Snape hears that 'the boy must die', his 
> immediate reaction is that Dumbledore has been raising Harry 'like a
 pig for slaughter'.  

Pippin:
I think we're meant to realize eventually that Snape was being a bit
unfair with his metaphor. Harry is not a pig raised for the profit of
the farmer. 

 There's nothing in it for Dumbledore at this point. He isn't  going
to be around when his plan is fulfilled, so he can't even count on 
the pleasure of seeing it work out. 

By the time Snape delivers his message, Harry will no longer be a boy,
either. It is morally uncomfortable that Harry couldn't be told, but
that is simply the reality that all parents have to face: children
have to be prepared  during childhood not knowing what they are being
trained to bear, because there are  burdens no child could endure the
thought of without damage.   

Harry doesn't feel that he was betrayed into dying for something that
isn't worth dying for or that he was trained to die for others without
his knowledge. He knew he was choosing that when he chose to be a
Gryffindor. But  Dumbledore had given him what he thought was false
hope that it wouldn't be necessary.
 
"Sir," said Harry tentatively,"does what you're going to tell me have
anything to do with the prophecy? Will it help me...survive?"
"It has a very great deal to do with the prophecy," said Dumbledore,
as casually as if Harry had asked him about next day's weather," and I
certainly hope that it will help you to survive." -- HBP ch 10

As he journeys into the forest, Harry believes that Dumbledore never
intended to help him survive. But the gleam of triumph tells us that
even though he could not see how it was possible, Dumbledore always
cherished a hope that somehow, he would. 

Pippin