Neville Longbottom and Snape's methods

[Indigo]

No: HPFGUIDX 22992

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., meboriqua at a... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., koinonia02 at y... wrote:
>   They are at Hogwarts 
> > to learn a variety of things.  How many schools teach DADA?  It's
a 
> > different world.  You better learn how to be tough.  Voldy is out 
> > there and Snape is going to teach them how to deal with that
whether 
> > they like it or not.>
> 
> True - Hogwarts is not your every day public school. I still wonder 
> why the students have to learn to be tough there, as opposed to
home.  
> And  why is it the job of their teachers to teach them?  Shouldn't 
> Neville's family be teaching him about behaviors, self respect and 
> being tough?  


His grandmother and at least one uncle are doing that.  His
grandmother is constantly on his back, between sending him reminders
and Howlers and generally scolding him.  That can't all be just that
she's a cranky old lady.

One of Neville's parents is her son or daughter ... I can't believe
she wouldn't want her grandson to meet with the same fate his parents
did. 

As a teacher, I don't pick on the kids I see as weak or 
> needing toughening up (even though most of my students could better 
> teach me about that).  If I was a (witch) parent, I'd be livid to
hear 
> of a teacher like Snape treating my son like dirt.  

Except most of the wizarding parents went to Hogwarts too.  So to them
this may be part of the normal course  curriculum.  Sirius knows that
Snape treats Harry miserably.  Sirius hates Snape; loathes and
despises him, yet he doesn't send a Howler to Dumbledore asking why
Snape is still on staff, allowed to treat the students that way. 

The Weasleys have to know that Snape is treating the students nastily
as well.  As protective of her brood as Molly is, if she thought
something was really wrong with that, she'd be broomsticking over to
Hogwarts faster than you can say "Bartemius Crouch!"  Even taking into
account Percy saying something like, "Well, he is a welcome source of
discipline to these young wizard children!"  would not deter Molly if
she believed a teacher was riding her kid hard for no good reason.

I'm certain that Neville's grandmother knows how nasty Snape is too. 
I doubt Neville can avoid telling her _anything_ she wants to know:
she either says, "SPILL IT, NEVILLE!" and he does, or she casts a
spell on him that has similar effects to veritaserum.   Given how meek
Neville is, I doubt she has to use the spell. 


Hermione's parents may not know, but they're Muggles. And Hermione is
too proud to let on that wizarding school is anything less than a
wonderful learning experience for her.

> I like your point about the DADA class, but its focus is still 
> academic.  Well, it's supposed to be academic, but based on some of 
> the professors, you might not know it *coughLockhartcough*.
> 
I like the point made earlier that said you have to have a strong will
to cast the more complicated spells. Most of the other students at
Hogwarts are pretty willful to begin with [with the possible exception
of Ginny, who has a very good reason to be skittish!].

JKR is balancing out Snape's profound nastiness with Lupin's and
Flitwick's kindness and encouragement.

I stick with the theory that it's Snapes [inappropriate and harsh] way
of trying to toughen Neville up because no one will look after him
when Voldemort begins to terrorize the wizarding world again. 

And I believe that if it were all that abnormal an occurrence in the
wizarding world, the unhappy parents would be storming the gates. 
Maybe Dumbledore requests permission of the parents, and they
grudgingly give it, but I doubt it.

Indigo