[HPforGrownups] Neville: was re: Authority and rule-breaking

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 16567

Morag Traynor wrote:

> However, I don't care how many issues Snape has, I still can't forgive
> him for being a rotten teacher.

I think Snape's view of what a teacher does, and yours (and mine),
probably differs. Snape probably considers the duty of a teacher to
impart information, and this he does. After all, Hermione, Ron, and
Harry managed to make a very complicated potion in their second year.

The "parental" aspect of a teacher, how they relate to their students,
probably isn't on Snape's scale at all. It's not his job to be nice. He
puts valuable information out there, and if the students are too idiotic
to be able to use it, the more fools they.

So while I also dislike the way Snape treats Neville, I don't think he
can be called a bad teacher. A very mean person, yes.

>  if Snape was any kind of a teacher, he'd realize the poor kid is
> scared out of his wits.

He probably does. He probably doesn't care. It's not his job as a
teacher to mollycoddle anyone.

His reactions to Neville actually remind me a bit of frustration--how
can *anyone* possibly be so hopeless?--with the edge of having seen the
potential. He probably knew Neville's parents, who were potent enough to
be Aurors, and Neville's grandmother is formidable as well. Whether he's
"acting out" with Neville, feeling guilty that DeathEaters he knew
perpetrated the attack, or whether he simply is so frustrated that
someone who *should* have such ability *doesn't,* there seems to be an
unusual degree of intensity to Snape's devilment where Neville's
concerned.

I think there's *way* more to Neville than we've seen so far. I still
think he's had his memory damaged by well-meaning relatives. Maybe when
they learn charm-breaking or hex-removing or something, Neville's memory
charm will accidentally be broken? Hmmmm.

But on the whole teacher thing, I think it's a current thing to view
schools and teachers as sort of extensions of the family, teachers as
mentors, teachers as developers of the "whole child," that sort of
thing. I think Snape probably is a very good teacher, in the narrow
definition of one who imparts knowledge of a subject. For the rest, as I
said, I don't think it's even crossed his mind that that's part of his
job.

--Amanda


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