MadEye & Malfoy - James & Snape - Everyone & Umbridge

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 68119

> You say Snape abuses his authority? Okay, you're right, he does. 
Now  let's think of all of the teachers Harry *likes* who abuse their 
> authority to help him out. McGonagall *rewards* Harry for breaking 
> the rules in PS/SS, for starters.

And considering that Draco also broke the same rule in front of the 
same number of witnesses, perhaps she cut both students a break. Is 
it still "rewarding" Harry? Absolutely. 

But let's not forget Draco got off scot-free as well, for breaking 
both the flying rule AND stealing Neville's property.

>Oh, and I can't wait to get going  on this one again (especially now 
that there's canon to support his obvious bias) – what about 
Dumbledore rewarding Harry with ridiculous amounts of points in the 
first two books, thereby overturning the results of the entire House 
Competition and undermining the entire process? Is *that* okay? What 
if Dumbledore had rewarded Slytherin with absurd amounts of points, 
enabling them to steal the cup from Gryffindor? Would that be okay?

If three Slytherin had risked their lives going to get the 
Philosopher's Stone and one other Slyth had tried to stop them, 
risking his safety in the process, perhaps D-Dore would have given 
them the same number of points.

And considering that the recorded contributions the Slytherins made 
toward the Chamber of Secrets was taunting every Muggle-born student 
with promised death, I think D-Dore can be forgiven for not giving 
them points for it. Just a thought.

Undermining the entire process? Sheesh, you make it sound like the 
very foundation of Hogwarts sunk a foot into to ground over it.

As I've argued many times, Dumbledore was making a conscious value 
judgement to show that not all points are equal and that it is better 
to EARN points through courage and cleverness than it is through 
skulking about, trying to COST the other houses points. 

In other words, the right way is better than the easy way.

And, since you're so on about McGonagall's favoring rule-breaking and 
awarding points to her own house, it should be noted for the record 
that McGonagall took away 150 points, which, as it turns out, was 
around one-third a year's total, from her own house, while only 
taking 20 points away from Slytherin.

> Who has poor teaching skills? Seems like plenty of people do 
alright  in Potions... maybe Harry is bad at Potions – after all, 
it's not looking too good for him and his O.W.L.'s. I suppose you'll 
suggest that Snape's unfair to not take Harry into the NEWT class 
when he  doesn't qualify? And how come Hermione's the only one who 
can master Transfiguration? Is McGonagall a good teacher? You might 
think so cause Harry mostly likes her. I'd argue that if most of the 
> students can't do well in a subject, then that might be the 
teacher's fault, not theirs.

Yes, Crabbe and Goyle somehow manage to pass Potions, despite having 
the combined IQs of cork. And we are clearly told that many other 
potions besides Harry's are poor, yet Harry is singled out.

> Snape belittles students? Okay, he does. What about Hagrid mocking 
> Malfoy? You're okay with that `cause Malfoy's a git, right? You 
> already said that you were okay with Crouch!Moody transfiguring 
> Malfoy into a ferret? Does that mean that Hagrid's mocking is okay, 
> but Snape's isn't?

Malfoy has attempted to sabotage Hagrid's classes from the very first 
day and insults him to his face. I'd stack Malfoy's rudeness to 
Hagrid up against Harry's rudeness to Snape any day.

> Bad tempered? I dunno about you, but I've only seen Snape lose his 
> temper when Harry gets super rude (and when Sirius escapes in PoA,) 
> but let's face it – Harry is frequently, unreasonably rude and 
> disrespectful to Snape. 

Snape let Harry know from the very first day that he didn't care for 
him, singling him out for not reading the book, when it was clear 
that no one but Hermione HAD read the book.

It is canon that Snape dislikes Harry because of James, and what 
James and company did. You can't get much more unprofessional as a 
teacher, than to hold a student responsible for something his father 
did before the child was even born.


>So much, in fact, that he is reminded over and over again by various 
>authority figures (from Mrs. Weasley to Dumbledore) to call the man 
>by his proper title, and yet still he doesn't. Look at Harry at the 
>end of OoP – he'll never forgive Snape, ever? That's fairly bad 
>tempered, I'd say. Snape isn't bad tempered – actually, IMO he's 
>quite the opposite: he's *incredibly* restrained.

The screaming at Harry to thank him on bended knee (PoA); insulting 
the appearance of a student who happens to be a friend of Harry's in 
front of her peers (GoF); the physical assault in OoP; the completely 
unprofessional bushwhacking of a fellow teacher by revealing his 
secret (PoA); teaching a student to use a snake-spell, with the 
apparent intent of giving that student an unfair advantage (CoS).

And again, canon tells us that Snape dislikes Harry, and ultimately, 
is unable to teach Harry a crucial skill, because of his hatred for 
James over acts that took place 20-some years prior.

Now, compare that to a 15-year-old boy who has just watched the 
closest thing he has to a parent die and blames himself for a lot of 
it. Is Harry wrong to blame Snape? Yes, I think he is.

But I refuse to hold up Harry's wrong in the same light as Snape's. 
It is a double standard, and I don't care.

You know why? Because Snape is an adult, allegedly. He SHOULD be held 
to a different standard. And scars that are 25 years old have more 
time to heal than wounds just days old. 

I am tired of a teenager's behavior being compared to an adult's 
behavior as if they are supposed to be equal.

And he, as an Occlumens, KNOWS how important it is for Harry to learn 
the lesson. I would have had no problem with him demanding an apology 
from Harry, demanding a detention, demanding absolute proof that 
Harry was practicing.

But to stop teaching? Unacceptable for a TEACHER.



> Hostile humiliated him? It's not okay for Snape, the unpopular 
runt, to be angry about the fact that the two most popular, good-
looking,  intelligent and successful students in the school bullied 
him? I  mean, honestly: *scourgify-in-the-mouth-while-impedimented?* 
You're  going to defend that? Yes, I understand that people grow out 
of their ridiculousness in time, but this is unnecessarily cruel. And 
it's not even fair; it's not even an *attempt* to be fair. At least 
Harry's  battles with Malfoy involve both of them cursing each other, 
not  Harry cursing Malfoy behind his back. As Crouch!Moody points out 
in  GoF, that is called cowardice. James Potter was a coward for 
> attacking Snape the way he did. Hardly quality Gryffindor material.

Should he be angry? Sure. I have no problem believing it still hurts 
him.

But how is that Harry's problem?

Especially when you consider that Harry's mother tried to defend 
Snape. Does her action count for nothing in Snape's head?

And Snape has seen Harry enough to know that he doesn't, in general, 
attack unless provoked, and isn't a bully. And I refuse to believe 
that Snape didn't know from Dumbledore that Harry's living situation 
with the Dursleys was abusive.

Snape is biased because he prejudged a kid before he set foot on 
Hogwarts soil, simply because of who he looks like and whose blood 
runs in his veins. 

How very Draco of him.

Darrin