[HPforGrownups] Hermione, Snape and all that jazz

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 70116

On 13 Jul 2003 at 21:11, Irene Mikhlin wrote:

> 
> 
> jdr0918 wrote:
> 
> > Now Snape: back in the day, all a teacher had to do to be a 'good' 
> > teacher was know his/her stuff, which Snape clearly does.
> 
> Well said. It seems that people project modern standards to Hogwarts, 
> which seems to be modelled on the classic British schools of about 100 
> years ago. (Minus corporal punishment, no way JKR would be able to get 
> this past publishers, so she found a loophole). One book that deals with 
> it matter of factly, without having an agenda in either direction, would 
> be Christopher Lee's autobiography. Very recommended reading anyway.
> That's why I think Harry was right refusing to see McGonagall or 
> Dumbledore about those detentions, Umbridge would be able to override 
> their objections. :-( Unless it was a piece of dark magic, but surely 
> even Umbridge was not that stupid?

Here's the thing.

I went to a school modelled on the classic British tradition - one of a 
number of schools set up in Australia in the 19th Century to try and 
replicate what the great British Public Schools did. They are still very 
close to that model. I happen to believe the type of educational 
practices used in those schools are very good ones. I experienced severe 
corporal punishment, and I support it. I went through cold showers, bad 
food, all the classic stuff - and I think I benefitted from it. I had 
sadistic teachers. In fact, one of the reasons Harry Potter so appealed 
to me so much when I first read it, was because I could see parallels 
with my own life. I went to the school I did at 13, as a refugee from 
the touchy-feely modern school systems that were totally incapable of 
given me what I needed, into an environment that I found so much better.

My point - that I'm *NOT* the type of person to project modern standards 
onto Hogwarts - because I think most of those modern standards are 
basically garbage (-8
 
The thing is, though, if Snape was a typical Hogwarts teacher, I'd be 
happily prepared to accept his behaviour. If what he did was nothing 
unusual, I'd be prepared to accept such cruelty as part of the basic 
tapestry of a Hogwarts education.

But he isn't, and it isn't. At least not in modern times. Filch's desire 
to return to the old days suggests that in the fairly recent past, 
things might have been quite different. But the school we see today is 
one where the majority of the staff seem to be nice enough people who 
don't vent their spleens on their students.

Snape is different. And I think those differences illustrate that these 
problems can't just be explained away easily. Not that most people seem 
to want to. (-8



Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia