This is four years later, but I just was reading this now as part of my coming-to-terms with JKR and DH, especially after seeing the last movie. I went back and re-read closely the Prince's Tale and will say that there is a difference in POV and that Harry is an unreliable narrator. Just imagine if you were seeing the Spinners End chapter through Harry's eyes. But in this chapter, the clue is that Harry is referring to Snape as Snape because his watching presence is always there - he hasn't yet come to terms with Snape yet, so it's Harry's distancing - at the point where he realizes he has to die, he almost faints in the pensieve. And immediately upon exiting, he feels betrayed by Dumbledore. I also looked again at Minerva's response to Harry's crucio - it was distinctly uncomfortable. She was searching for a word and weakly came up with - er - gallant. She did not approve. She used imperio the same reason as Harry did at Gringott's, expediency and necessity, but she wasn't relishing it. I'm not going to argue point #2, because if Harry did any learning/growing, it was in that 19 years we didn't see. It is a flaw in the book, but the septology is a near masterpiece.
Re: magic, christianity and show vs tell
I went back and re-read closely the Prince's Tale and will say that there is a difference in POV and that Harry is an unreliable narrator. Just imagine if you were seeing the Spinners End chapter through Harry's eyes. But in this chapter, the clue is that Harry is referring to Snape as Snape because his watching presence is always there - he hasn't yet come to terms with Snape yet, so it's Harry's distancing - at the point where he realizes he has to die, he almost faints in the pensieve. And immediately upon exiting, he feels betrayed by Dumbledore. I also looked again at Minerva's response to Harry's crucio - it was distinctly uncomfortable. She was searching for a word and weakly came up with - er - gallant. She did not approve. She used imperio the same reason as Harry did at Gringott's, expediency and necessity, but she wasn't relishing it.
I'm not going to argue point #2, because if Harry did any learning/growing, it was in that 19 years we didn't see. It is a flaw in the book, but the septology is a near masterpiece.