Is it just me...
Or did anyone else think Lily Evans was kind of a jerk?
No, this in no way means to underplay the horribleness of Snape calling her that name. But the person who's been your best friend for years, while under a humiliating attack in front of a crowd of spectators, says something horrible for which he is immediately and desperately sorry and... you just dust him off?
There's no way his remorse wasn't coming off as real. And while the context doesn't excuse what he did, it's not like it wasn't a factor. And she got her own public humiliation back at him which he seemed, when apologizing, to completely accept as his own fault for having called her that (which I infer from the fact he didn't even mention it to guilt her back or claim they were equal).
On rereading that scene, I'm starting to think she'd been waiting for a chance to blow him off. She could've used his guilt to possibly win him back from the DEs (or at least tried to) but instead it was that's it, thanks for playing. Years of loyal friendship and truly genuine remorse (neither of which are overly abundant in the world) just aren't worth forgiving one heat-of-the-moment insult.
And years later, when she was willing to overlook James' and Sirius' behavior that day, did she also look him up and offer her old best friend the same fresh start? You know, the one person who actually apologized for what he did that day and didn't need years to realize it deserved an apology?
'It was a long time ago. Let's start over.' One moment of that from her might've brought him to spy for Dumbledore before hearing the prophecy.
The thing that really bothers me is I don't think Ms. Rolwing intended us to walk away with this impression. After all, the Mauraders sins were noble Gryffindor sins, and Snape's was an evil Slytherin one. And while all the houses are equal, some will always be more equal than others.
No, this in no way means to underplay the horribleness of Snape calling her that name. But the person who's been your best friend for years, while under a humiliating attack in front of a crowd of spectators, says something horrible for which he is immediately and desperately sorry and... you just dust him off?
There's no way his remorse wasn't coming off as real. And while the context doesn't excuse what he did, it's not like it wasn't a factor. And she got her own public humiliation back at him which he seemed, when apologizing, to completely accept as his own fault for having called her that (which I infer from the fact he didn't even mention it to guilt her back or claim they were equal).
On rereading that scene, I'm starting to think she'd been waiting for a chance to blow him off. She could've used his guilt to possibly win him back from the DEs (or at least tried to) but instead it was that's it, thanks for playing. Years of loyal friendship and truly genuine remorse (neither of which are overly abundant in the world) just aren't worth forgiving one heat-of-the-moment insult.
And years later, when she was willing to overlook James' and Sirius' behavior that day, did she also look him up and offer her old best friend the same fresh start? You know, the one person who actually apologized for what he did that day and didn't need years to realize it deserved an apology?
'It was a long time ago. Let's start over.' One moment of that from her might've brought him to spy for Dumbledore before hearing the prophecy.
The thing that really bothers me is I don't think Ms. Rolwing intended us to walk away with this impression. After all, the Mauraders sins were noble Gryffindor sins, and Snape's was an evil Slytherin one. And while all the houses are equal, some will always be more equal than others.