Snape and respect

[Tom Wall <thomasmwall@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 51013

OPPEN WROTE:
>From the first time they met, Professor Snape made
it clear that he disliked Harry. In Harry's first 
day of Potions, Professor Snape went out of his way 
to single him out for negative attention, throwing 
question after question at him and then sneering when 
he couldn't answer. This is not, to put it mildly, a 
good way to start out a professional (professoral?) relationship... I 
would have been seething inside 
had I been in that classroom, even if I wasn't the 
kid on the spot.

I REPLY:
I have to disagree with that. There's a theme 
in that first day in the classroom. Snape mentions 
it twice by different names.

(During roll call:)
"Harry Potter.  Our new - celebrity." 
(PS/SS 136)

(When Harry can't answer the question:)
"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything." 
(PS/SS 137)

Snape has issues with the idea that celebrities 
get off easy. He had issues with that quality in 
James Potter, and I believe that Snape is making 
an example of Harry in front of the class for two 
reasons: 

1) To let HARRY know, in no uncertain terms, that 
no matter how many professors pander to him and 
let him get away with whatever he wants because 
he's "famous Harry Potter," HE, for one, won't 
be doing that.

2) To let the other kids know the same thing. 
I'd bet that Snape probably wasn't a very popular 
student when he was at school. And I'll bet that 
he probably didn't get away with the stuff that 
the Marauders did. Why? Because he wasn't popular 
and on the Quidditch team.

And to be fair to Snape, he's not far off. The 
other teachers, most conspicuously Dumbledore, 
but also to a lesser extent McGonagall (who, for 
all of her heavy point-subtraction, *always* 
lets Harry off if it infringes on Gryffindor's 
quidditch prospects,) definitely, absolutely just 
beam at Harry and leave him to his own devices. 
The things Harry does would result in definite 
expulsion for students of lesser-importance, but 
because he's Harry, he gets away with it. And because
Harry's friends are HARRY'S friends, they get off too.

I mean, come ON: Dumbledore PERSONALLY overturned
the official results of the House Cup in PS/SS. Sure,
WE know why that happened, and as readers who identify
with Harry, WE'RE glad to see him win, but let's face 
it - that is concrete and indisputable favoritism. 

What would you do if you were in Slytherin
and watched it happen? What would you do if you were
Snape and had to play nice professionally? How would
you explain it to the students in your house?

That can be very demoralizing for kids, and I think
that it was probably SUPER demoralizing for Snape.

So, that's why I think he's so strict with Harry, 
and why he gives him no flexibility: because no 
matter how one looks at it, the other faculty 
just bend over backwards to accommodate him, despite
the fact that he's only a mediocre student, and that
he's not very well behaved, either. 

In other words, Harry gets enough preference. No
need to extend it to Potions class too.

And, of course, as the series progresses, Harry's 
palpable disrespect creates this self-fulfilling 
prophecy. Harry and the trio believe more and 
more that Snape is out to get them, and 
so they become more slanderous and accusatory, 
and this behavior, of course, only increases 
Snape's disgust with them.

-Tom (who just realized that in the past two days 
he's trashed Harry and Dumbledore and defended Snape 
twice, and that this is a most unforeseen turn of 
events that he never could have predicted upon his 
first completion of the books, but one that he firmly 
believes is a testament to the power of JK Rowling's 
imagination and talent.)