Thoughts on how "love" is portrayed in Harry Potter
Not too long ago I had some major brainwaves about love, which I thought would be relevant to our discussion about Harry Potter. Rowling in her books loves (no pun intended) to portray love as this all-powerful force for good (except when it’s not). The thing is, though, she seems to have a pretty messed-up idea about what “love” really means.
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... Again, I do not think Harry would be allowed to live at all.
You're right; Snape would not have asked VOLDEMORT to spare Harry; since the whole objective of the dark lord was to kill the child of prophecy.
But he could have asked for James to be spared ... but did not. (And yes, I don't think any of that went through Snape's mind either.)
But the quality of Snape's 'love' for Lily is measured *twice*; firstly, in what he asked of Voldemort.
But then again, in what he asks of *Dumbledore*:
“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little, “You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”
And with Dumbledore there was absolutely nothing stopping Snape from asking for all three Potters to be saved.Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
“Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her - them - safe. Please.”
He just didn't think of it.
Because he was obsessed with Lily ... but not her happiness, what *she* wanted.
He failed the 'true love' test.
B) Harry was the Last Hope for that;
C) Narcissa decided to gamble and give Harry a second chance in the hopes that he could kill Voldemort successfully this time.
I don't think Narcissa thought that far. I'm more inclined to hold with Harry's opinion:
Still feigning death on the ground, he understood. Narcissa knew that the only way she would be permitted to enter Hogwarts, and find her son, was as part of the onquering army. She no longer cared whether Voldemort won.
Not caring whether Voldemort won means you don't care if he loses either. :-) So Narcissa just didn't care what happened; her thinking was more short-term; as you say:she hoped that, in a new battle after Harry reappeared, the Malfoy parents could find Draco and flee the country with him (perhaps moving to Australia ;) )
Yeah. She just wanted to enter the castle, grab her son and try and leave.
(We're all agreed that Australia is a wonderful place with no dark lords. :-))
But the scene still doesn't make sense to me. In the real world - or a *good* story - the villains would have a few goes at killing Achilles before his invulnerability is acknowledged as a fact. Cut off his head. Drown him. Etcetera.
And then they'd still advance as the 'conquering army' into Hogwarts.
The mere fact that Harry was playing dead meant that he was no real obstacle to the dark lord and his army.
It's a small point, maybe, in comparison with Rowling's numerous other errors. Does anyone else here, though, think that the whole 'Narcissa giving Harry a pass' isn't an error, a lazy writer's shortcut? As a Slytherin who was only concerned with her son, wouldn't the best path to Draco, with the highest probability of success, be as I've suggested?
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I presume Voldy has already peered onto Snape's mind, at the very least once, to determine why a half-blood, whom other slytherins knew had once been very close to a muggleborn, would want to join up. I cannot believe the Marauders didn't feature heavily in that peek -- altho' I admit that IF his father physically abused him then he also probably played a large role.
But even if James wasn't seen in Snape's memories (and can you believe that the aftermath of the Werewolf incident didn't come up?) there are those other DEs in his age range that know about the bullying. Unless every other slytherin IN HIS YEAR did not become a DE, they at least witnessed SWM at the Lake. Since none came to his rescue, we cannot be positive that his so-called friends were actually in his year and present.
Sev has no possible way to spin a request to spare James into something believable to Voldy. All he has is that James is a pureblood, but to ask to spare him for that reason alone is to ask Voldy to spare all blood traitors because they are purebloods. Not to mention that James is a known fighting member of the Order. With Lily, even tho' she was a known enemy, he was able to spin it as 'desire' and revenge on James. To ask to save James would make his spin on Lily unbelievable. The only way it would work would be to have James watch Snape rape her. Something, Sev not only doesn't want to set up, but would still means James' death after the rape. Lily would be kept alive as Voldy's hostage over Sev's behavior.
As for not asking Albus to save James -- I cannot personally believe that Snape ever thought that by asking Albus to save Lily, he wasn't asking him to save James as well. In Snape's mind, James is highly favored by Albus. I cannot see how Sev would ever think, for even a second, that Albus might protect Lily and not protect James.
Just by going to Albus at all, he is accepting that James and Harry are to be protected. And even tho' Albus mentions his disgust, it is still Snape who suggests hiding them all. At that point, Albus is still playing as if he won't do anything to protect them -- not until he has wrung out a promise from Snape that he would do 'anything' to have them protected.
No -- if Snape didn't love Lily, he wouldn't have gone to Albus at all. He wouldn't have risked his life (he thought Albus would kill him and just asking Voldy to spare her was a great risk as well) to save hers and he couldn't possibly believe that by asking Albus to protect her that James (and Harry) wouldn't be bundled in.
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Sure. But it's Snape's request of Dumbledore which is key in analysing Snape's feelings for Lily, as I commented earlier above.
I cannot personally believe that Snape ever thought that by asking Albus to save Lily, he wasn't asking him to save James as well.
Regardless of what you personally believe, the text shows that the men most important to Lily were an afterthought; and one made only under pressure:
“Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her - them - safe. Please.”
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