[HPforGrownups] Re: Muggle Parents/long separation... Snape and Roald Dahl Connection

[WarMaster]

No: HPFGUIDX 24967

>--- In HPforGrownups at y..., degroote at a... wrote:
>>I know that in GB
>> sending kids to boarding school is fairly common, but aren't these
>> long strtches without seeing parents (9-10 months)a bit unusual?



Then magpie 1112 wrote in response:
>I'd figure that most students go home during the winter holiday;
>since the halls are all but empty when Harry, Ron & Hermione stay at
>Hogwarts over the holiday, I'd guess that being away from home 9->10 months
IS a bit unusual, but not uncommon.


I don't believe that such a long stretch is all that unusual for GB boarding
schools and I am basing this statement on the autobiography of Roald Dahl
which is titled BOY.  As a bit of background, since I shouldn't assume that
everyone here is familiar with his works (I've been told never to ASSume
anything because it could backfire and make a donkey's end of you), Roald
Dahl (RD) wrote the deliciously funny children's books Matilda, James and
the Giant Peach, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc.

His autobiography encompasses a time in his life from 1925-1929, which is
when he went to (I'm thinking) a typical English boarding school called St.
Peters which was just across the Bristol Channel from his home.  RD goes
there at the tender age of nine and is expected to stay there from September
until Christmas break.  They then have to go back after Christmas for the
second term until the summer holiday.  I don't know if it has changed since
RD's school days, but what JKR writes is surprisingly similar to what RD
experienced.

In fact, someone wrote in an earlier post that Snape is probably just a
caricature and couldn't be a real teacher but RD has a very Snape-like
character that he made up for the book _Matilda_ (the headmistress by the
name of Trunchbull) and even experienced one in real life through a really
horrible teacher called Captain Hardcastle.

Consider this exchange between Captain Hardcastle and Roald Dahl, who was 9
1/2, after RD had broken the nib (point) on his pen and was attempting to
ask another student for a spare :

(Please excuse the length, but it really is fascinating)

"...I put a hand in front of my mouth and whispered, 'Dobson...Could you
lend me a nib?'

Suddenly there was an explosion up on the dais.  Captain Hardcastle had
leapt to his feet and was pointing at me and shouting, 'You're talking!  I
saw you talking!  Don't try to deny it!  I distinctly saw you talking behind
your hand!'

I sat there frozen with terror.

'Do you deny you were talking?' he shouted.

'No sir, b-but...'

'And do you deny you were trying to cheat?'

'N-no sir, I wasn't.  I wasn't cheating.'

'Of course you were cheating!  Why else, may I ask, would you be speaking to
Dobson?  I take it you were not inquiring after his health?'

'I have broken my nib, sir,' I whispered. 'I...I was asking Dobson if he
c-could lend me one, sir.'

'You are lying!' cried Captain Hardcastle, and there was triumph in his
voice.  'I always knew you were a liar!  AND a cheat as well!'"

Believe it or not, as a result of this nib incident, Roald Dahl was "caned"
(spanked on the bare buttocks with a cane) six times.   The reason: "Talking
in class, trying to cheat and lying."

Compare it with what Snape says to Harry when he says:

 "How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter.  He too was
exceedingly arrogant.  A small amount of talent on the Quidditch field made
him think he was a cut above the rest of us too.  Strutting around the place
with his friends and admireres...The resemblance between you is uncanny."

  Hate to say it, but Captain Hardcastle makes Snape seem very wholesome
indeed.


--Beverly (who had her own run-in with over-the-top teachers and is probably
why she so favors homeschooling)