Snape & DADA: hearsay, or a true slight?

[Elizabeth Dalton]

No: HPFGUIDX 32083

I don't believe Snape particularly wants the DADA job more than the Potions job
he already has, but I also think it would be an exaggeration to say he's not at
all interested in it, or would merely be "good" at it. I base this primarily on
Sirius telling the kids in GoF, "Snape was always fascinated by the Dark Arts,
he was famous for it at school." "He knew more curses coming in than most
seventh-year students." (What curses are there besides the three, anyway? I
thought the others were jinxes and hexes.)

I think he'd be good at the DADA subject, and it drives him nuts to see someone
doing it incompetently (Quirrell and Lockhart), but the rest is probably just
student legend. Remember, we get our first mention of this from Percy, who
thinks cauldron bottom thickness is a major issue. (He may have loads of O.W.L.s
and N.E.W.T.s, but our Perce hasn't got a lot of common sense. ;)

As far as whether he's a good teacher, of Potions or anything else, I'm inclined
to say no, based on the evidence presented in the books. Hermione seems to be
learning, but we never see anyone else even trying to make a potion on their
own, so I'd say his brand of intimidation and harassment of some and favoritism
of others isn't working especially well to teach Potions. But I'd need to know
more about what goes on in his Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw class to be sure. I'd
hate to think he's mistreating an entire class just because Harry happens to be
in it.

OTOH, he may be there to teach the kids something else entirely; Dumbledore may
want the Gryffindors to learn to stand up to vicious men in power, and the
Slytherins to learn to trust someone Dumbledore feels is more trustworthy than
many of their parents.

Elizabeth
(who really is inclined to be sympathetic to Snape, but professionally can't
recommend him as a teacher.)