Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The End (Why I still love Severus and Dumbledore)


Ah, how do I feel about the end of the series?  Well, I absolutely love it.  The only thing I did not like was that it had to end, and of course WHYYY oh WHYY did Fred have to die, the other deaths were awful too but I took that one the hardest.  I am, yes even several class discussions later, left a little confused as to why Harry didn’t really die when Voldemort killed him and wondering what the baby thing of Voldemort was in King’s Cross, when Harry is not dead or alive but talking to Dumbledore.  But, on the whole, there isn’t a thing I would change, and I can live with just accepting those two things for what they were.  The series had a clear and final end.  I loved that nearly all of my questions, excluding the two I previously mentioned, were answered.  The final book was jam packed with so much information.  The two characters that were most revealed in the last book were Severus Snape and Dumbledore. 
Let me start with Dumbledore.  Through the entire series he is sort of an all-knowing, mysterious, strong, intelligent and amazing wizard.  He always seems to know what to do, even if we don’t know how he knows.  In book three he tells Hermione to use the time turner and that she will be able to save more than one innocent life, but how does he know this?  I love that about him.  In book seven it is insinuated that by Rita Skeeter that a lot of people felt how I felt about him.  He is perfect, my “beloved” Dumbledore, capable of no wrong.  He made me feel safe.  If any one was worthy of my trust, it was Dumbledore.  It was almost like he wasn’t human.  But, he was.  You find out that he struggled with wanting/having power.  He felt guilty about the death of his sister.  He felt guilty that when he the one left to care for her, that though he loved her dearly, he felt more burdened.  In my opinion the things we learned of Dumbledore in the seventh book didn’t make him evil or awful, they simply made him human.  He didn’t trust people enough to divulge all of his secrets into one person.  He became relatable when some of his flaws were brought to light.  My heart went out to him when he and Harry had a conversation at King’s Cross, when Voldemort just killed Harry, and he questioned Harry f he himself was like Voldemort.  He needed reassured that he was a good person.  I believe he is flaws and all.  He may be complicated, with some struggles of his own, but he was still loving, powerful, determined and just amazing.
Then there is Snape.  In the last book we learn that he is not a traitor after all.   I was one of the people who never wanted to believe that he was bad, even when it first started being insinuated through the books.  I found that I adored and still adore Snape.  Even when he killed Dumbledore I just kept thinking that he couldn’t be bad.  I was relieved when his story was revealed.  Snape seemed to me to be a tortured soul, not an evil one.  He was abused in his home, made fun of at school, struggled eternally with being on Dumbledore’ or Voldemort’s side, lost Lily, his best friend and someone that he loved beyond words, first to James Potter who tortured him and then to Voldemort, when he murdered her.  Then he joined the Dumbledore’s side for good, he vowed to protect Harry Potter.  He was this double agent; his life was in constant peril.  Though we often witnessed him bully Harry and have this sort of ere about him, I believe he was good to his core.  He was brave, loyal and selfless.  Though some argued that the only reason he worked so hard to save Harry was because of his love for Lily and guilt, I think he also cared deeply for Harry.  He could have abandoned his life as a double agent at any time, after all Lily was already dead.  (I also must argue that even if he was doing it all for Lily, he still isn’t selfish, and can what he did, all he sacrificed really be outweighed if he was.  No matter why he did what he did, what he did was still amazing.)  His love for Lily proves that he is not cold hearted.  He is capable of love.  I also believe that Dumbledore was his friend and that even though Dumbledore was facing death already Snape hated to kill him.  These two characters are amazing.  I am glad that Harry named his child after them; their legacy deserves to live on.  When Snape died I cried like a baby.  I think the scene of Snape’s death portrayed perfectly what I pictured when I read, despite a few dialogue differences.  I felt sad that he lived a portion of his life doing so much good, but being looked at by all as being so horrible because no one knew the truth.  I can only imagine how lonely he felt.  Then, as his life was ending, he still made sure he did as much as he could to save Harry.  I have attached a video of the scene in from the movie.  I wonder how many feel the way I do, and I hope this doesn’t make you cry as hard as I did. 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cL527bg0II

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