That's exactly it. Harry made a choice early on. And so did Snape. Apparently, Snape chose to befriend Lucius Malfoy while Harry chose to reject Draco Malfoy's offer of friendship. Harry consciously rejected Slytherin when the Sorting Hat tried to lure him into Voldemort's house. Harry chose to befriend Ron and Hermione who, at the time, were not the most popular kids, he chose to protect the philosopher's stone, instead of making a grasp for it, and so on.
Snape on the other hand, chose to befriend a gang of Slytherins who were all heavily into the dark arts, and he chose to spend his free time inventing dark spells instead of applying his obvious great intellect to a more worthy cause. Kind of reminds me of these brilliant kids who have nothing better to do than to send computer viruses all over the world because they've had a rotten day.
HBP showed me that Snape chose to become Peter Pan gone sour. He is a man approaching forty who prefers to re-enact his childhood over life as a grown man, while Harry at sixteen is already leaving his sad childhood behind.
The potion book is an interesting twist. I don't see Harry's appreciation of the person who wrote in its margins as proof for his kinship with Snape. Rather, I see the book as a lesson for Harry to understand the difference between choosing what is easy and choosing what is right. Had he known from the start that Snape had written the book, he would not have been lured by the easy choice, and instead of following the book's instructions would have sat down and brewed his potions the hard way. He would not have learned the lesson he needed to learn.
That's why I think that the book rather highlights one of the fundamental differences between Snape and Harry. Snape makes the easy choice. For fifteen years he hides behind Dumbledore and then, when his master comes back, he rushes back, because being in Voldemort's good graces and a valued member in Death Eater's circles is a whole lot easier than fighting them. Then there is Snape's utter lack of empathy which Harry has in abundance. Just look at how gently Harry treats Luna compared to Snape's treatment of Neville.
Luna and Neville (and Harry, of course) are both often bullied and publicly humiliated, either by teachers, grandmothers, other relatives or schoolmates, but none of them turns to the dark arts, as far as we know. Neville's childhood wasn't exactly sunshine and roses either. I do not see Hogwarts making Snape into anything. He is what he chose to be.
Dumbledore didn't interfere in the feud between the marauaders and Snape any more than he interfered when the entire school believed Harry to be the heir of Slytherin, when the Dursleys clearly starved the child he had placed in their care, or when Dolores Umbridge tortured students right under his nose. Apparently, Dumbledore, like many others in the Wizarding World, do not believe in interference before an unforgiveable is used. I don't like it, but I don't see that Snape has drawn the short stick or was treated differently than others in similar situations. When I look at the lack of serious repercussions for Draco and his croonies after they played at being dementors and caused an almost fatal accident for Harry, I can not see why Snape's almost encounter with Remus in werewolf mood should be so much worse that it entitles him to hatred and self-pity, even beyond his nemesis' graves.
I agree on Snape and Voldemort. They have a great deal in common but Snape is still human, even if he lives in a time loop. Snape does have some sort of conscience left. He didn't seem too happy with the Slytherin monster roaming Hogwarts and he didn't seem to be into outright murder of school kids, unlike the Death Eaters at the cemetery in GoF. This is really the best I can say for Snape at this point. Which pains me a lot because I used to think he had such potential.
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That's exactly it. Harry made a choice early on. And so did Snape. Apparently, Snape chose to befriend Lucius Malfoy while Harry chose to reject Draco Malfoy's offer of friendship. Harry consciously rejected Slytherin when the Sorting Hat tried to lure him into Voldemort's house. Harry chose to befriend Ron and Hermione who, at the time, were not the most popular kids, he chose to protect the philosopher's stone, instead of making a grasp for it, and so on.
Snape on the other hand, chose to befriend a gang of Slytherins who were all heavily into the dark arts, and he chose to spend his free time inventing dark spells instead of applying his obvious great intellect to a more worthy cause. Kind of reminds me of these brilliant kids who have nothing better to do than to send computer viruses all over the world because they've had a rotten day.
HBP showed me that Snape chose to become Peter Pan gone sour. He is a man approaching forty who prefers to re-enact his childhood over life as a grown man, while Harry at sixteen is already leaving his sad childhood behind.
The potion book is an interesting twist. I don't see Harry's appreciation of the person who wrote in its margins as proof for his kinship with Snape. Rather, I see the book as a lesson for Harry to understand the difference between choosing what is easy and choosing what is right. Had he known from the start that Snape had written the book, he would not have been lured by the easy choice, and instead of following the book's instructions would have sat down and brewed his potions the hard way. He would not have learned the lesson he needed to learn.
That's why I think that the book rather highlights one of the fundamental differences between Snape and Harry. Snape makes the easy choice. For fifteen years he hides behind Dumbledore and then, when his master comes back, he rushes back, because being in Voldemort's good graces and a valued member in Death Eater's circles is a whole lot easier than fighting them. Then there is Snape's utter lack of empathy which Harry has in abundance. Just look at how gently Harry treats Luna compared to Snape's treatment of Neville.
Luna and Neville (and Harry, of course) are both often bullied and publicly humiliated, either by teachers, grandmothers, other relatives or schoolmates, but none of them turns to the dark arts, as far as we know. Neville's childhood wasn't exactly sunshine and roses either. I do not see Hogwarts making Snape into anything. He is what he chose to be.
Dumbledore didn't interfere in the feud between the marauaders and Snape any more than he interfered when the entire school believed Harry to be the heir of Slytherin, when the Dursleys clearly starved the child he had placed in their care, or when Dolores Umbridge tortured students right under his nose. Apparently, Dumbledore, like many others in the Wizarding World, do not believe in interference before an unforgiveable is used. I don't like it, but I don't see that Snape has drawn the short stick or was treated differently than others in similar situations. When I look at the lack of serious repercussions for Draco and his croonies after they played at being dementors and caused an almost fatal accident for Harry, I can not see why Snape's almost encounter with Remus in werewolf mood should be so much worse that it entitles him to hatred and self-pity, even beyond his nemesis' graves.
I agree on Snape and Voldemort. They have a great deal in common but Snape is still human, even if he lives in a time loop. Snape does have some sort of conscience left. He didn't seem too happy with the Slytherin monster roaming Hogwarts and he didn't seem to be into outright murder of school kids, unlike the Death Eaters at the cemetery in GoF. This is really the best I can say for Snape at this point. Which pains me a lot because I used to think he had such potential.