Re: part 3 But the fact remains that pimples aren't half as bad as forcefully manipulating someone's mind and forcing them into actions they have no control over. Which is what Imperio does.
No, of course they are not. I do think that Edgecombe had more than just a few pimples. And JKR was sufficiently triumphantly vicious when she talked about it that it kind of turned my stomach, frankly. But I was obviously not clear in my gripe, if I led you to believe they equate.
I'll try to phrase it a little more clearly. Granger shows throughout the books a lack of willingness for self-reflection. That's understandable (at least at first) because she's a child and then a teenager. But she needs to grow up and learn. Part of learning is the wilingness to *think* through things and consider all the ramifications.
Snape has spent quite a bit of time in your story trying to teach her. By now, she should be doing more than repeating quotes from The Art of War at him. In the middle of the chapter, Snape challenges her to consider the ramifications of her actions. He also gets a dig in (quite rightly, IMO) about her self-righteousness and double-standards. She responds by demonstrating that she's not going to *think* about it.
My initial reaction was: Yea! She's keeping Granger in character (or at least as much IC as fanfic can be). But if Granger is as smart as Granger thinks she is, she will (after calming down) start to reflect and *think* about it. Instead, Granger responds by not thinking through her plan enough to realise that the plan will require *some* sort of control over Trelawney. And that the control is going to have to be heavy duty if it's going to work. So, once again, she comes up with a plan that involves serious ramifications. And, once again, she does not think it through. And, once again, her response is to self-righteously indignant about what a Slytherin is doing to make it work and get things done. Which, to me, says she is: (a) not intelligent; (b) hypocritical; (c) unwilling to put the effort into actually *learning to think* rather than being clever; or (d) some combination of the above.
IMO, Snape has had plenty of exposure to people who exhibit any or all of those character flaws. And I can't see him being willing to continue to pour his time and energy into someone who has them. That's not to say the man is perfect, or that he insists on perfection in those around him. But he's been kicked around enough by now to have learned better than to waste much of his energy on a Granger who is not willing, able, or both to learn, think about the consequences of her decisions, and take the rap for them when they hit.
Besides. If the Gryffindors useage Unforgiveables in DH is bad, why isn't Severus' use of an Unforgiveable here just as bad?
Never said it was good. That was not the point of my comments. But just for the record: it's not good. Snape is a Death Eater, and a Dark Wizard. As much as I like to whine about DH, though, I *do* cling to the passage in which Snape says he only watches the deaths of those whom he could not save. To me, that passage spoke far more than I think JKR intended of just how far Snape had traveled and how much of a hero (and yes, a big man) that he was. ;-)
But given that Imperio is unforgiveable, Granger should wonder about being proud of a plan that requires it, instead of being smug that Snape uses her plan, and then righteously indignant that Snape does what is needed to make it work.
This doesn't mean that she doesn't still trust him, but she feels free now to question
She refused to tell him about the horcruxes, despite knowing it was vital information, which she should have realized he might have helpful information on. She expressly said she was withholding information from him. She didn't trust him *before* putting into effect her plan with Trelawney.