See Hermione and the Firebolt - anyone with half a brain should be able to see that it was a sensible thing to have the broom checked out, but to Harry and Ron it's something that needs to be *forgiven*,
Unfortunately, the books have a bad tendency to emphasize courage and loyalty over brains and not being a sheep.
Heck, Dumbledore tells Harry in CoS that Fawkes came to Harry because he was loyal to *Dumbledore*. Not because Harry was doing the right thing.
Being Dumbledore's side is rather like being a member of the Bush administration. Loyalty gets rewarded, speaking up and telling the boss that you can't balance the budget while giving everyone tax breaks gets you thrown off the team -- we don't need no reality-based people here!
I just had the thought that he'd probably prefer to think he was set up to be killed, because the alternative would be that he was set up to be humiliated
I'm not sure. Snape hates being humiliated with a fiery vengeance, but after so much of it, I think he's quite able to tell the difference between something that would have been mortifying and something that would have been mortal.
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Re: I continue to obsess over the prank...
Date: 2004-11-18 08:03 am (UTC)Unfortunately, the books have a bad tendency to emphasize courage and loyalty over brains and not being a sheep.
Heck, Dumbledore tells Harry in CoS that Fawkes came to Harry because he was loyal to *Dumbledore*. Not because Harry was doing the right thing.
Being Dumbledore's side is rather like being a member of the Bush administration. Loyalty gets rewarded, speaking up and telling the boss that you can't balance the budget while giving everyone tax breaks gets you thrown off the team -- we don't need no reality-based people here!
I just had the thought that he'd probably prefer to think he was set up to be killed, because the alternative would be that he was set up to be humiliated
I'm not sure. Snape hates being humiliated with a fiery vengeance, but after so much of it, I think he's quite able to tell the difference between something that would have been mortifying and something that would have been mortal.