Defending Trelawney (WAS Why so many unpopular teachers at Hogwarts? )

[jenny_ravenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 32975

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "cindysphynx" <cindysphynx at h...> wrote:
 
> Wait!  Wait!  I can make you believe!  :-)>

Not me, Cindy.  I think Trelawney sucks. 
  
> 
> Also, she seemed disappointed when Harry did not see Buckbeak being 
> beheaded.  I think that was because she had done her own Seeing and 
> seen the beheading.  Buckbeak was in fact beheaded>

Nope.  The Trio heard MacNair's axe hitting a post or the ground (or 
whatever) in frustration because Buckbeak wasn't there.  No beheading 
happened, Time Turner or not.

Trelawney has a little fascination with grim (pun too obvious to 
avoid) events.  She loves making horrible predictions: everyone will 
get the flu, this one should beware of red heads, that one will 
experience what is feared, and Harry will die - several times.  She is 
also too nosy for my taste and seems far too eager to get information 
from Harry.  I believe she is as star-struck as Colin Creevey is and 
tends to focus on Harry's fame in her class more than on Harry as a 
student.  That's not good teaching. 
 
> She was on target with Lavender's rabbit, and she predicted 
> Hermione's exit.  She was right about Neville's cup breakage.  Small 
> stuff, but correct nonetheless>

Yes, small stuff indeed.  Trelawney never once mentioned anything 
about a rabbit and I'm willing to bet she knows Neville and his 
family.  Neville already has a reputation as a clumsy wizard.  He also 
wears his insecurities on his face and she guessed correctly that if 
she made him nervous or embarrassed him, he'd mess up.  What Trelawney 
is using here is a talent for reading people, not Seeing.  Any "good" 
tarot card reader in one of those storefront offices in Manhattan can 
do the same.
 
> She made the following correct prediction in GoF:  "Your worries are 
> not baseless.  I see difficult times ahead for you . . . I fear the 
> thing you dread will indeed come to pass . . . and perhaps sooner 
> than you think."  Voldemort did return, so score a big one for 
> Trelawney.>

Ah, Cindy, Cindy, Cindy!  This is where I love Hermione all the more. 
Everyone knows, as Hermione says, that Voldie is after Harry.  
Trelawney, being a staff member, probably heard about Harry's previous 
encounters with the Big V.  Of course, there is always the possibility 
that Trelawney really does know something at that point that Harry 
does not, but that may not have anything to do with Seeing either, if 
you get my drift.
  
 
> That said, I don't mean to say I completely buy Trelawney's act.  I 
> do think she is one of JKR's better bit players, though.  Even after 
> two books, she is still shrouded in mystery.  I can't wait to find 
> out what happens.  My own prediction is that Trelawney will prove to 
> be a true Seer and much more impressive than our current impression 
> of her.>

You know, it isn't the subject matter of her classes that bothers me, 
it is Trelawney herself.  She's too subjective and I hate it.  She is 
always looking for the opportunity to be dramatic and the center of 
everyone's attention.  Her appearances at the beginning of class, the 
overheated classroom...  She reminds me of a colleague who loves to 
talk at his classes.  For an hour every day, he sits at the front of 
the room and blabs on and on at the top of his voice, not really 
caring if the kids are following him or are really even interested.  
They can't stand him and come away from his classes not really 
remembering much.  He also insists on keeping the door closed, even 
though his room is stifling, because he claims there is too much noise 
out in the halls.  The kids have no escape, just as Trelawney's 
students can't get out without opening that trap door thing and 
climbing down those narrow stairs.

Like my colleague, who is a very smart and learned man, Trelawney does 
know her stuff.  It is perfectly feasible for her to teach Divination 
without being a Seer, just as it is possible to coach without playing 
the sport (just take a look and Venus and Serena Williams' father).  
However, Trelawney just can't stop herself from pretending to be more 
that what she is and that makes me question anything and everything 
she does.

Without all the bullsh**, Trelawney could be a decent teacher, but she 
needs to drop the act and teach the kids more instead of putting on a 
show.

--jenny from ravenclaw, whose mom has truly Seen (but I've never even 
had a shiver) **********