Harry Potter in general - Above and Below - SNAPE

[bboyminn]

No: HPFGUIDX 190601



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff" <geoffbannister123 at ...> wrote:
>
> Geoff:
> ...
> 
> In message 190571, Steve wrote:
> 
> "Notice one thing about all the people who died, they all stood
> above Harry. They were all people Harry looked up to. The people
> who remained are all people who looked up to Harry. They stood 
> as his equals or, from a certain perspective, his subordinates."
> 
> I'm sorry but I disagree with this conclusion. .... There are 
> some whom Harry would certainly look on as equals or friends ...
> 
> ...

Steve:

Yes, but we have to look at the larger context of the discussion and the question. The central question is about Harry and Snape not having their moment of mutual understanding before Snape died.

So, the discussion is not about every person who ever died ever. It is about the death of key characters, those who had an important and significant relationship with Harry. And about the moments and opportunities lost, and how JKR is weaving that into the larger story. 

Sirius and Harry never really got to know each other. Harry imagined they would have years together to talk about his father and mother, and so those moments of understanding never came between them.

The same with Dumbledore, after Dumbledore's death Harry realize all the lost moments when he could have learned more about Dumbledore as a person. The same with Tonks and Lupin, these are moments lost. 

The presents or absents of Colin Creevy doesn't matter. He was never going to be able to help Harry, or advise him, or step in at the last moment and save Harry. His death is not the death of a significant character, a sympathetic character yes, but not a significant one. 

The key characters who died were all people who stood above Harry. They were all people to whom Harry could turn in time of trouble. But, everyone who stood above Harry to which he could have turned is gone, and that is exactly how JKR planned it.

When the final battle came, Harry had to stand alone at the top of the heap, with no one above him to come to his aid. All the weight had to fall on Harry, as it certainly did.

Relative to Snape, I think it played out just as JKR planned it. She did not want Harry and Snape to have that moment of mutual understanding. She did not really want Harry to know the extent to which Snape was on the good side. If he had know, he would have acted differently, he would have tried to appeal to Snape for help, and that was help that just could not be given. 

Steve/bboyminn