Snape and moral courage WAS: Re: The Houses, Finally

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 184677

 
> Leah: Just looking, after a night's sleep, at what Dumbledore 
> actually asks of Snape in 'The Prince's Tale':
> <SNIP of the quote, go UPTHREAD to read it>
> You say that Snape 
> did not make the promises Pippin is implying he made, but actually 
> neither did he make the actual promise that you (and he) think he 
> made.  

Alla:

However, we do agree that Snape's understanding of the promise had 
been to protect Harry's life, right?

Leah:
> I suspect, Alla, that you will say, 'So what? Whatever he actually 
> promised Dumbledore, Snape still breaches the promise that he has 
> made in his heart, he is horrified that Harry is being raised 'like 
> a pig for slaughter, but he still obeys Dumbledore'.  I don't 
> dispute this, but I don't condemn Snape for re-examining his 
> interpretation of the promise.

Alla:

Sorry to sound like a parrot. It is totally fine by me, what I am 
disputing is that if he made this reexamination of the promise, we 
can call him Harry's protector at the end, that's all.

Leah:
>As Snape says slightly before 
> the '"You have used me"' speech, he has lately allowed to die "only 
> those whom I could not save".  Once Snape knows that Harry is a 
> horcrux, Snape may eventually accept that, despite all his 
> endeavours, Harry is one whom he can not save, but that he can try 
> to save many others through Harry's death. 

Alla:

Absolutely, I totally accept as valid argument that we can call Snape 
protector of other people through Harry's death. I just do not call 
him **Harry's protector**.


Leah:
<SNIP>
If Lily died to make 
> Harry the 'Chosen One;', Snape can not let that not be fulfilled.  

Alla:

We do not know that Lily died to do that. For all we know Lily died 
to keep her baby alive, nothing more than that and again, Snape did 
not make a promise to fulfil her baby's destiny to be the Chosen one, 
right?

Leah:
> He may conclude that he would not be protecting Harry to let him 
> live on as a horcrux in a world where Voldemort rules. As I have 
> said in another post, what shows more moral courage, to say, "I am 
> so obsessively in love with Lily that I will continue my narrow 
> interpretation of the word I gave to Dumbledore, I will continue to 
> keep her son alive whatever the cost", or, "I will do what I am 
> asked in the hope that the world will be saved from a great evil"?

Alla:

Yes, I understand all that, but that to me means that Snape cannot be 
called Harry's protector, but faithful follower of Dumbledore's plans 
to do to the boy whatever he decides and it also means to me that 
Snape really does not give a d*mn whether he is dead or alive, Harry 
I mean.

He thought they were keeping him alive, as in his boss' plan was to 
keep him alive, now he is surprised that plan is different and now 
they proceed that road.

Believe it or not, I was actually  very pleasantly surprised when 
Snape expressed his disagreement with Dumbledore but now I believe 
that it was not disagreement at all. After all, if Dumbledore says 
Harry needs to die for the greater good or whatever reason Snape does 
his best to follow the plan.

On my good days I do think that Dumbledore thought that there may be 
a hope for Harry's survival, but I absolutely do not see that Snape 
could have somehow learned about it.

Therefore I conclude that besides treating Harry unfairly all his 
life, Snape did not care whether he is dead or alive had it been for 
Dumbledore.

The funny thing is that for some time after DH I actually thought 
that Snape indeed did not want Harry dead. This debate helped me 
realize that he did not care about that part either and if Lily's son 
dropped dead, he would be quite fine with that whether for the 
greater good or not IMO. I certainly did not see him fighting with 
Dumbledore and saying oh no you need to come up with another plan.

Oh well, I like to imagine that Lily would give him a well deserved 
kick or many in the afterlife.

JMO,

Alla.