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Between the time that I moved out to California and the time that my classes started last fall, I re-read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and came to a surprising realization (that I'm reasonably sure must be true): Snape loved Harry's mother Lily. That idea apparently isn't news to die-hard Harry Potter fans (at least since that latest book came out), but it was a new realization to me (and I was quite proud of it at the time; I just never had time to share it after I started teaching).
I won't go into details about how neatly it makes the story fit together, but it does fit in with one of Rowling's oft-repeated themes: love is the one power that can overcome evil. The rather curious conclusion, though, is that it doesn't seem to matter what sort of love. Want to defy Voldemort's power at its worst? You can always rely on love, whether it's the unquenchable, selfless love of Harry's mother for her son, the unwilling, resentful love of Aunt Petunia for her nephew, or the creepy, stalker love of Severus Snape for Lily Potter.
Suddenly, evil doesn't seem like much to worry about.
I won't go into details about how neatly it makes the story fit together, but it does fit in with one of Rowling's oft-repeated themes: love is the one power that can overcome evil. The rather curious conclusion, though, is that it doesn't seem to matter what sort of love. Want to defy Voldemort's power at its worst? You can always rely on love, whether it's the unquenchable, selfless love of Harry's mother for her son, the unwilling, resentful love of Aunt Petunia for her nephew, or the creepy, stalker love of Severus Snape for Lily Potter.
Suddenly, evil doesn't seem like much to worry about.
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