Petunia

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 41155

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote:

> 
> I very much agree with you here, Darrin (although I vehemently 
> disagree with you about Hagrid, but we all know how I feel about 
him).  


Gawrsh, I love it when Jenny agrees with me --- makes me feel like 
Hermione when Lockhart smiles at her -- so it breaks my heart to take 
her on later in this...

Jenny writes: 

> As far as the comparison of Snape and Petunia, I can't go there at 
> all.  Snape may not be a nice person, but he is brave, self-
searching 
> (enough to stop being a DE), and a very capable teacher.   


Brave? Absolutely. Double-crossing V-Man is a serious matter. Self-
searching? I guess he would have had to be.

Very capable teacher??? When???

Sorry, not when I read his treatment of Neville and Hermione.

Teaching is about encouraging those that do well to do even better.

He continually knocks Hermione down even though she is one of the top 
students in class. I cover education issues for a newspaper, and I've 
never seen any of the award-winning teachers I've interviewed call a 
student "an insufferable know-it-all" in class.

And if I was a parent and a teacher refused to help my child who had 
been hurt through no fault of her own and indeed INSULTS that child 
in front of his or her peers -- EXACTLY what happens when Hermione 
gets hit with the teeth-enlarging curse -- then not only would I 
demand that teacher's firing, but I'd have myself at least a six-
figure settlement from the school district for endangering my child.

Now look at Neville. Teaching is also about, perhaps mostly about, 
helping people learn. I don't consider standing up there, reciting it 
and expecting everyone to know it -- and then yelling when they 
don't -- teaching.

He threatens Neville's pet with death. A zero grade or failing marks 
isn't good enough for Neville. No, Trevor is on the chopping block if 
Neville doesn't mix the potion right. And then, when Neville gets it 
done right, Snape bullies him for accepting help. All in all, a 
disgusting show.

And even though Snape favors Draco, we have no evidence that Draco is 
above-average in Potions and Crabbe and Goyle are probably dullards.

Big concession on my part. I am looking at this through an entirely 
American lens. Perhaps the British private school method is 
different. If so, I concede he might be a first-rate teacher in this 
system. 

Snape is an excellent Potions brewer, but there are plenty of people 
who are excellent in their field, yet can't teach it because they are 
not temperamentally suited. Snape fits that profile.

In fact, as I've said before, I don't think Snape wants to be 
teaching at all. I think he owes Dumbledore some kind of parole or 
probation time and this is his way of serving it. As soon as V-Mort 
is gone, I bet Snape -- if he's still with us --gets as far away as 
he can from the little brats.

Am I a Snape hater? Not at all. Enigmas are always cool and I think 
Snape is an excellently drawn character. I certainly want to know 
more about his past than any other teacher's.

But I certainly don't want him teaching my class. :)

Darrin
-- Still writes little hearts around Jenny's posts ;)