The Take From A Small Sect Of Snapedom Asserting That Lily Shouldve Remained Friends With Snape And That

The take from a small sect of Snapedom asserting that Lily should’ve remained friends with Snape and that she “shouldn’t have abandoned her friend who was having a tough time fitting in” as well as “she should’ve inquired more into his home life” even when he showed signs of not being willing to talk about the full extent of it are ones rooted in misogyny. Women should be allowed to be supportive to an extent but also have boundaries on what they are willing to accept. We aren’t therapy centers for men. Let Snape be someone who was both a victim and had agency over making his ultimate decisions-it makes his character more compelling.

What you can criticize Lily for is turning a blind eye to the flaws of those close to her such as choosing to date James in her later years despite him being a horrendous bullying ass and Snape as mentioned previously. You can also say that her brushing off Snape with a “you should be grateful” after the werewolf incident was an extremely callous response to someone who went through a very traumatic incident.

Thanks @snapesnailtape for the idea to post this.

snape as voldemort questioned him about why the elder wand didn't work for him

Regulus Black is the highly discounted Severus Snape. In fact he’s best compared to a much braver Narcissa/Draco combo. But, some will say Snape “bullied kids and did a one off brave act, but Regulus was the kid that slipped through the cracks.”

Yeah I’ve read the books too, but people like the “brave Slytherin DE switched sides” only when it fits their cookie cutter view of them.

So good! I will also add that we truly see the roles between mentor/student change to one of equals especially during the Grimmauld Place scene in DH. Besides the instance you pointed out about Harry reminded Remus he’s a soon to be parent, it’s also the instance where Remus finally lets down his guard about what it means to be a werewolf in society and how he views himself as a dark creature (as seen by his exclamations vs his dry humor in OOTP). In text this behavior from him is only seen when he was in the company of close friends like Sirius and later Tonks (implied).

Nearly Always Right: Remus and Harry

By @thecat-isblogging-blog , me, featuring inputs from @dragonlordette

I have talked about Harry and Remus' relationship before in Resurrection Stone meta, where Harry sees Remus as a mentor. A mentor who consistently equips him with tools - his favourite subject (DADA), his strongest spell (Patronus), a connection to his father and godfather. But there are themes in their conversations in POA that sets off seeds in Harry's arc. This conversation for example:

Harry sat stunned for a moment at the idea of someone having their soul sucked out through their mouth. But then he thought of Black.

"He deserves it," he said suddenly.

"You think so?" said Lupin lightly. "Do you really think anyone deserves that?"

From the beginning of Prisoner of Azkaban, the moral theme is "do bad people deserve bad things done to them". It starts with Uncle Vernon saying Sirius deserves the death penalty:

"When will they learn," said Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his large purple fist, "that hanging's the only way to deal with these people?"

And, of course, the delightful Aunt Marge about Harry's case in "St. Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys":

"Do they use the cane at St Brutus' boy?" she barked across the table.

"Er-"

Uncle Vernon nodded curtly behind Aunt Marge's back.

"Yes," said Harry. Then, feeling he might as well do the thing properly, he added, "All the time."

"Excellent," said Aunt Marge. "I won't have this namby-pamby wishy-washy nonsense about not hitting people who deserve it. A good thrashing is what's needed in 99 cases out of hundred. Have you been beaten often?"

[ Quick note, because I can't resist pointing out more connections the book sets up between Harry and Sirius from the beginning, apart from them being in innocents in these instances:

"No need to tell us he's no good," snorted Uncle Vernon, staring over the top of his newspaper at the prisoner. "Look at the state of him, the filthy layabout! Look at his hair!"

He shot a nasty look sideways at Harry, whose untidy hair has been a source of great annoyance to Uncle Vernon]

Justice and Mercy

Harry completely rejects the Dursleys as caregivers in this book by running away and he gains a mentor figure and a godfather in this book. The mentor, asks him a moral question that sets up an arc: "Do you really believe anyone deserves that?"

The question sets up seeds of mercy that Harry grants not only Peter, but also makes him the deliverer of justice to innocents: Sirius and Buckbeak. He drives the Dementors away from Sirius with a powerful Patronus, a spell Remus taught him and frees Buckbeak, delivering the justice promised at the beginning of the book.

Another notable factor is that Remus didn't answer the question for Harry (although it's clear he has his own feelings about it, especially since he brought up the idea of Sirius getting the Dementors' Kiss unprompted - a first for him in a book). He is opening space for Harry to process what he is thinking and feeling by asking the right questions, and trusting that Harry will make the right decision.

In the Shrieking Shack scene, both Remus and Sirius defer to Harry's judgement on what must be done with Peter. Harry also similarly rejects Remus' stance in Deathly Hallows about using Expelliarmus on Stan Shunpike - "I won't blast people out of the way. That's Voldemort's job."

In the final book of the series, Harry will come to a position where he will grant mercy to many: Draco, Snape, and even Voldemort. Have a look at how he reacts to Voldemort's mutilated soul:

He was afraid of it. Small and fragile and wounded though it was, he did not want to approach it. Nevertheless, he drew slowly nearer, ready to jump back at any moment. Soon he stood near enough to touch it, yet he could not bring himself to do it.

And Harry does not believe that Voldemort deserves it, a mutilated soul, stuck helplessly in a limbo and unable to go on. He offers Voldemort a chance to heal his soul:

"But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done... think, and try for some remorse, Riddle..."

"What is this?"

Of all the things Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. Harry saw his pupils contract to thin slits, saw the skin around his eyes whiten.

"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left...I've seen what you'll be otherwise...be a man.. try...try for some remorse..."

[Another note: a soul is sacrosanct in the series. That specifically Voldemort's mutilated soul being stuck and unable to move on, and the question of whether Sirius "deserves" to be rendered soulless - it is a strong thread in the series, and as @artemisia-black pointed out to me, in keeping with ideas of annihilationism: "hell is not existing"]

The Idea of Shame

Another theme that comes up prominently in conversation between Remus and Harry are the ideas of shame (and self loathing).

"Why? Why do they affect me like that? Am I just-?"

"It has nothing to do with weakness," said Professor Lupin sharply, as though he had read Harry's mind. "The Dementors affect you worse than the others because there are horrors in your past that the others don't have. (...) The worst that has happened to you Harry is enough to make anyone fall off their broom. You have nothing to feel ashamed of. " - POA

Remus picks up on Harry's feelings of embarrassment and insecurity and just like how Remus plants the seed of justice and mercy in Harry's mind, he also starts it with getting Harry to be kind to himself. Harry feels really vulnerable and insecure about "weakness", and Remus gets him to forgive himself for it before he even fully articulates that he shouldn't feel that way.

The roles reverse in Deathly Hallows, and Remus runs to Harry with his deep rooted shame and self-loathing:

"How can I forgive myself, when I knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!"

(...)

"If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad," Harry said, "what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father's in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he'd tell you to abandon your kid to go an adventure with us?"

Harry, of course, can't solve Remus' problems or his own internalised shame and self-loathing due to the stigma he faces as a werewolf in the wizarding society. But Harry can remind him what's important - the feelings of the child that will be left behind ("Parents shouldn't leave their kids unless they've got to").

And Remus gets the message, and is grateful for it - and he names Harry godfather to Teddy in honour of it.

Like many mentor figures and fathers Harry surpasses in the series as part of his arc (James, Sirius, Dumbledore), Harry surpasses Remus as well and Remus chooses to display trust in Harry's moral compass and instincts:

"I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right," - Remus Lupin, Deathly Hallows

The HP reddit is a place where there’s only one channel and it shows a perpetual boxing fight between Snape fans and Marauder fans.

Classic Sirius-he’d be the one to tell Dumbledore in GOF “served her right”

Listening to the GoF audiobook, for the umpteenth time, and I’ve had a thought …

Bertha Jorkins in the pensieve telling Dumbledore -

‘He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the greenhouses last Thursday...’

Surely has to be about Sirius, it tallys too well will Sirius’s (somewhat irritable) remarks about her -

‘Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins. She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains, none at all.’

‘Maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble, she never knew when to keep her mouth shut.’

And the fact that Dumbledore so readily bought this particular memory of her up 😂 … all I can think of now is Sirius, in his GoF state, having an intense discussion with Dumbledore about the strange things going on, the disappearances, what could have happened to Bertha Jorkins … and Dumbledore just whips this old memory out

@thecat-isblogging-blog validated this new hc with her excellent insights -

Sirius + never forgetting a grudge = 🤝

And then the beginnings of a missing moment crackfic were born…

Sirius, feeling slightly nauseas after having succumbed to eating rats out of near starvation, stood staring in utter bewilderment at the memory of a sixteen year old Bertha Jorkins before looking back at his old Headmaster, the tiniest of smirks upon his face, his long silver beard twitched.

‘You do recall, Sirius? Your hex hit not only poor Bertha but also Professor Sprout's Devils Snare.’

… Sirius: