[HPforGrownups] Re: Snape's greatest fear; Our Man Snape

[Denise]

No: HPFGUIDX 1135


The fact that Dumbledore likes and trusts Snape may appear to be a 
contradiction, but only if we assume that Dumbledore is a complete 
force for good - I'm not convinced that he is so benign.  

We know that Snape knows his subject very well.  That doesn't always translate to a nice teacher, but let me give this example, please bear with me.

In school these last two years two teachers shared an office.  I (and my fellow classmates) had both teachers.  Among the majority, Mr. B was considered a horrible teacher, and Mr. T, a sweetheart.  Mr. T was very easy going, and his coursework was very professional (RPG), but he didn't make the class challenging (It was like being handed the answers).  Don't get me wrong, I love Mr. T!  He's a wonderful, Gilderoy without the egotisticalness person!  Mr. B made things very tough for the class.  He wasn't a grumpy person, like Snape on occasion, but just like Snape he didn't stand for any goofing off in his class (unlike Mr. T).  You HAD to attend each class, or give account of your whereabouts.  The assignment was due on time, or you got points off (He gave extra points for being earlier, though).  If you sat programming (COBOL, btw, grins!) and ran into problems, don't go to him.  His answer?  It's in your books and notes.  Go find it.  Everyone hated him.  Most of the class got horrible grades (I did B & C, COBOL I & II), and over half the class dropped.  For a further example, we started COBOL one with 30 + people.  By the end of COBOL 2, we had 3.  (We also had him for SQL/ORACLE 7)

Where am I heading with this?  If today, I was to get a job with the programming language of my choice guess which one it would be?  COBOL.  I can still recall what I learned.  He made it over the top hard, and I learned via that.  His methods might not have been popular, but the end-result is that those of us (the 3) who survived learned a hell of alot about the language, and will be able to survive in the real world programming it need be.  I barely recall RPG (AS400), and am hoping if I get a job, they'll help me alot the first few weeks!  Which was the better teacher, Mr. T or Mr. B?

We learned a lesson about Snape (and about JK Rowling) in '...the 
Philosopher's Stone'.  All the way through the story, Snape was being 
signalled as the baddie and at the eleventh hour it was revealed that 
he had been trying to stop the real villain of the piece. My 
conclusion (today, at least) is that Dumbledore is portrayed as being 
so good that he must be bad (or at least have an evil streak). 
Theoretically, he's the last person we'd expect to be the baddie, but 
his story arcs over all seven books, rather than just the one.  JKR 
might this very minute be soaking in her bath, thinking: 'HA! How 
about that for a surprise denouement?!'  

Neil

How about this idea for Dumbledore' s dark side?  You know all those socks that the "washing machine ate?"  Dumbledore's out there, hoarding them, because you can never have enough socks.  When the student's clothes come back from the elves (that is assuming that they are the laundress/ers), at least one sock disappears, and makes its way into Dumbledore's dresser door.  How's that for evil?  (If you have ever searched for a missing sock to your favorite pair, you will understand just how evil this can be!)

;D
Dee



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