[HPforGrownups] Re: Who's more out of line? (WAS: Snape and respect)

[heiditandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 51129



> -----Original Message-----
> From: serenadust <jmmears at comcast.net> [mailto:jmmears at comcast.net] 

> And, like Eileen, I was both horrified and greatly amused by Draco's 
> ferret-bouncing (particularly in light of the fact that he gets off 
> scot-free for hitting Hermione with that curse in the hall).  The 
> first incident is totally unlike the second.

But he wasn't aiming at Hermione. He was aiming at Harry, who was aiming
at Malfoy, and as Harry said...

'We attacked each other at the same time!' Harry shouted. 
'-and he hit Goyle - look -' 
Snape examined Goyle, whose face resembled something that would have
been at home in a book on poisonous fungi. 

So in your mind, Draco should've been punished, although Harry shouldn't
have, even though they were dueling in the hallway? 

The first incident is totally unlike the second, because in the first,
he was probably trying to curse Harry from behind (although to miss at
that distance gives me the impression that he was either really shaken
up by what Harry said, or he was trying to get his attention rather than
actually hurt him) and in the second, he and Harry were actually
battling each other - neither was going to be caught by surprise, and in
fact, they both acted at the same instant. 

It's clear that Crouch's transfiguration and subsequent physical assault
on Draco were out of line - Prof. McGonnagall says so in that very
scene. And it's also clear that even later in the year, he's still
rattled by Moody, as evidenced by how jumpy he gets when Hermione
pretends to see Moody passing nearby later in the book. 

But moreso than that, his  words are enough to rattle Snape on occasion.
He hates Death Eaters who walked free - he says as much while under the
Veritasserum. Following this line of reasoning in a logical progression,
he hates Lucius Malfoy, who, we know at the end of the book, is a Death
Eater who walked free. 

Crouch likely knows this - and knew this on that first day of classes
when he transfigured Draco and smashed him from floor up to the high
ceiling. I'd bet that Crouch's treatment of Draco (and possibly of other
Slytherins) in DaDA is as bad if not worse than Snape's treatment of
Harry, et al, in potions, because Crouch has many opportunities, such as
during the teaching of the Imperio curse, to be physically cruel to his
students. I wrote about this extensively in my fanfic, Surfeit of Curses
(WIP on Schnoogle at http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Heidi, Chapter
six if you're just looking for my take on Crouch's teaching style from a
Slytherin perspective). 

I find it a bit odd, actually, to hear people praise Crouch's treatment
of Draco. I mean, the man killed his father and was preparing to kill
Harry - and we're supposed to continue to feel praiseworthy about his
actions towards a student? This is about 180 degrees away from
PickleJimmy's post of late last night, where he posted that people who
don't feel X, Y or Z are reading the wrong book. 

Are those who think Crouch did the right thing reading the same book as
I am? Do you really think his motives were pure and completely focused
on helping/being kind to Harry? 

Why?


Heidi
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