Hagrid

[catherine at cator-manor.demon.co.uk]

No: HPFGUIDX 28474

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., love2write_11098 at y... wrote:
> About the dangerous creatures thing, though, I have a theory. 
Someone 
> has probably already said this, but I think that obsession can be 
> traced back to Hagrid's somewhat dangerous heritage. His mother is 
> half-giant, and Hagrid has had to deal with prejudice stemming from 
> people's fear of giants his entire life. Maybe his fascination for 
> dangerous creatures is caused by his need to prove that they AREN'T 
> as dangerous as people think they are.
> 



I'm not going to spend ages defending Hagrid, although I love him 
dearly and, although I recognise his faults, I do think he has many 
redeeming features - such as his fierce loyalty, his affection for 
people, his kindness - and I love it when we realise in PoA that 
Hermione has been crying on his shoulder.  It screams "gentle giant" 
at me.

But:  dangerous creatures?  I think that Hagrid's teaching methods 
have developed out of security.  He started off extremely well, and 
had his lesson sabotaged by Draco, which almost resulted in his 
sacking, and the death sentence of Buckbeak.  So, before he even has 
the chance to develop a teaching style, he is immediately put on the 
defensive, and resorts to being ultra careful with the flobberworms.

The only other dangerous creatures he introduces are the scroots - 
others being Snifflers, Salamanders and (continuing) Unicorns.  Not 
exactly dangerous.

He shows with these that he has the potential to be a very good 
teacher.  He shows that he knows just as much about unicorns than 
Professor Grubbly-Plank, and is informative about Hippogryffs until 
Draco ruins everything.

Therefore, my problem with the way Hagrid teaches has nothing to do 
with Hagrid, but the very laissez-faire attitude of Dumbledore.  Now, 
I know that Dumbledore has more serious concerns (such as saving the 
world from Voldemort), but I do think that thrusting Hagrid in at the 
deep end like that without any real guidance or ongoing support is 
unforgivable.

I hate saying anything negative about Dumbledore, but I do feel that 
in this case he should have at least delegated someone into helping 
Hagrid, and should have been more proactive rather than reactive.

Catherine