myharrypotterthoughts-blog

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Opinion: Ginny was under-developed in both the books and the movies (mostly the movies) as we see she’s extremely gifted and clever, but almost never get to see her in action or watch her character fully develop. More time should have been spent on her and what she was doing, particularly as she was dating Harry for a good chunk of the later books.

[myharrypotterthoughts-blog]

Molly Weasley is one of the most powerful characters in the entire series but we mostly see her worrying over her seven hundred family members and being a Cool Mum™, what an icon

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unpopular opinion: neville could never have killed voldemort, even as the chosen one.

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Why I appreciate Dumbledore (and not Snape)

The Harry Potter fandom has come to a (relatively) unanimous conclusion that Dumbledore and Snape are two characters who are kind of unforgivable. However, I much prefer Dumbledore’s character to Snape’s and have actually (after re-reading the series) come to my own conclusion that he actually isn’t that bad. Here’s my reasons why.

First, let’s compare the pasts of the two characters - specifically, their childhood/adolescent years. We’ll start with Snape. The very first time Snape is introduced (in terms of the timeline) is in the memories Snape gives to Harry near the end of the Deathly Hallows. He is seen with Lily as children, and he reveals to her that she is a witch. At one point, he also injures Petunia because she annoyed him - strike one. Snape displays from his childhood that he believes he is better than Muggles because of his magic, an attitude which continues throughout his school years. He becomes infatuated with the Dark Arts, making friends with teenage Death Eaters such as Yaxley, and calling Lily a Mudblood in his fifth year. He’s obsessive, agressive and whiny in the majority of the memories we see of him, and he hasn’t made any effort to change by the time he is introduced in Harry’s first year, still determined that he is right and James potter is wrong - “Your father was a swine!”, and determined to make Harry’s life hell, bullying him and his friends out of spite - “Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.” He shows that he can care and love, but IMO it’s overshadowed by how spiteful and selfish he remains, disregarding where his attitude landed him in the past.

Now, Dumbledore’s past is a little more vague and is only revealed by Dumbledore himself at the very end of the series.  we receive many accounts of his past from friends and foe. However, i think the most reliable account is his brothers, and his own. Aberforth recounts how Dumbledore to became obsessed with his own superiority, but in a different way than Snape. he says that Dumbledore’s brilliance distanced him from his family, as he left his menatlly scarred sister to the care of an unstable (but well meaning?) mother and Aberforth himself, while he met Grindelwald and dreamt of taking control of the world “For the Greater Good”. However, he realized after his mother’s death that he could no longer fulfill his dreams and reluctantly stayed to assist Aberforth, however Aberforth resented his over-bearing attitude. The tension between Grindelwald and Dumbledore resulted in a duel (after Dumbledore realized the moral darkness of his scheme) that involved Aberforth, wherein a misfired shot killed their sister. After this happened, Dumbledore ended up defeating Grindelwald in the Global Wizarding War, and never mentioned the event again. I believe Dumbledore demonstrates just as many negative traits in his past as Snape does. he’s entitled, shallow, has a superiority complex and dislikes what he sees as weak. However, contrary to Snape, Dumbledore recognized that his actions led to the death of his sister and changed his attitude completely. He began to respect Muggles deeply, and burdened by guilt, declined the offer for the role of Minister for Magic, instead deciding to teach at Hogwarts, in the hope of educating younger wizards and witches in a manner that would stop them making his mistakes. This also led to the oversight he made regarding Tom Riddle - he believed he could change him for the better, but failed. Dumbledore grew up, and although he was still distant and vague throughout the series, was serious about changing himself to become a better man, despite his role in the events of his past. - “Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.”

Second, in regards to their actions towards Harry throughout the series, it’s fairly obvious that despite the guilt and love he felt for Lily, and his devotion to her, Snape did not care nearly as much about his son, protecting him purely because of her and otherwise treating him like an emotional punching bag. He was borderline abusive towards Harry, and this becomes evident during their Occlumency sessions in Harry’s sixth year, which he uses to essentially torture Harry with no remorse or apology, only stopping when Harry unknowingly invades his own privacy. He’s selfish, acts for himself and while I respect his protection of Harry, I don’t like how romanticized it is and how much we’re persuaded that he’s a good man, because he’s a mediocre man who did a good thing. Dumbledore also displays a relative lack of respect for Harry throughout his school years, yet he had good intentions. He never told Harry anything important to his life or future until his sixth year, and purposely neglected him in his fifth year without explanation. However, he was never purposely cruel to Harry and even though he was manipulative, it came from a desire to protect rather than control. It was wrong, but more understandable to me than Snape’s behaviour - “I cared about you too much. I cared more for your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for your life than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed.”

I believe the main difference between the two comes from what their own traumas did to change them. In their younger years they were very similar. the both did bad things, said bad things and displayed a lust for power and control that defined their actions and relationships. However, what came after the death of their loved ones is why I respect and admire Dumbledore and have a distaste for Snape. Dumbledore felt guilt and regret so intense he changed himself, and became determined to protect and care, no matter the cost. he used his brilliance to do good in the world for as long as he could, and sacrificed himself to ensure that Voldemort could not succeed. He was manipulative and distant, but his primary goal was to ensure that the people he loved were safe, as he explains to Harry in the Deathly Hallows. Snape, on the other hand, remained possessive of Lily after her death, and chose to resent Harry because of his father rather than respecting him because of his mother. he didn’t change because he let himself remain spiteful, determined that he was in the right during his past. While his scenes at his and Lily’s deaths made me feel for him, and pity him, I don’t think they redeem him as much as Dumbledore can be redeemed through examination of his desire to improve himself.

There’s so much more i could have said, but this is super long already so I’ll let you guys discuss this. Its my first big rant so I’m sorry if it’s a bit all over the place!