I just finished skip=420 on my friends page, so for the time being I will just say that I agree with everything you said about Snape (I've seen the light, insert dramatic music here) and that you are really very smart.
My Snape isn't evil theory is really, when it comes down to it, a timing issue. I think the debate about whose side Snape is really on has gone on for too long (since the very beginning, really) to be resolved before the real end. Just like I felt like, for timing reasons, Dumbledore would die in this book. To me it's just about what makes sense in the grand plan, how all the little pieces fit together. There are some pieces you just can't have until the very end, and I think that's one of the questions that can't be answered before the end. And I'm not a Snape fan, so I'm not out for some big redemption act, I think the man is an ass who treated Harry awfully because James, who Harry barely knew, was mean to him in the 70s.
Right, exactly, if Snape is evil, then his killing Dumbledore means he no longer has any reason (or opportunity) to pretend to be good. Even the good guys think he's bad. So if he's evil, he's unambiguously evil now, as far as the characters are concerned. And that's not a very complicated or interesting story, particularly considering that Harry was always the one who trusted Snape the least--so there's nothing going on there but, yes, Harry was right all along.
I think that was an absolutely gorgeous and genius reading of the book. I think you're dead right. Seriously. And it makes me appreciate how this is how things have to be, which takes it out of the realm of whether it'll be a surprise or not if Snape's evil (it can't be considered ambiguous anymore the way you've laid it all out here) and back into just excitement about getting to see it all unfold...
I actually think Snape has treated Harry badly for so long, not because of James, but because of his guilt over what he did to Harry. And also - were there other prophecies that night from Trelawny, or later? Because I'm just thinking that Snape had his own - and that Dumbledore's death from Snape had been foretold long before. I think Snape has been looking to the day with horror for a long time. But it would be his atonement - destroy the only person he's ever loved (besides Lily).
were there other prophecies that night from Trelawny, or later? Because I'm just thinking that Snape had his own - and that Dumbledore's death from Snape had been foretold long before.
Oh, I don't think so. I think in GoF when Harry told Dumbledore about the prophecy he heard from Trelawney (about Voldemort rising again that night), Dumbledore said he'd known her to make a real prophecy just once before. I could be off on that, but it's easy to check.
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::falls over::
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::tucks you in::
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I actually think Snape has treated Harry badly for so long, not because of James, but because of his guilt over what he did to Harry. And also - were there other prophecies that night from Trelawny, or later? Because I'm just thinking that Snape had his own - and that Dumbledore's death from Snape had been foretold long before. I think Snape has been looking to the day with horror for a long time. But it would be his atonement - destroy the only person he's ever loved (besides Lily).
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Oh, I don't think so. I think in GoF when Harry told Dumbledore about the prophecy he heard from Trelawney (about Voldemort rising again that night), Dumbledore said he'd known her to make a real prophecy just once before. I could be off on that, but it's easy to check.
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