An odd musing about Harry's attitude - cont dislike of Snape

[anyankavengeance]

No: HPFGUIDX 53943

This is an interesting thread, definitely a good read . . . neat to 
see people's varying perspectives on Harry's behavior. One thing I do 
take slight issue with is the recurring 'Harry should thank 
Snape' bit. While I agree that, in theory, that would be the best 
course of action, Snape has always struck me as not *wanting* Harry 
to know he was saving his life. For Harry to actually thank him, it 
might strike Snape as Harry trying to embarass him or patronize 
him, rather than as a sincere effort to make amends - not to mention 
that, as a child, it would kind of be pretty pretentious for Harry to 
do something like that. Harry making amends with Snape in such a 
fashion would be treating Snape as an equal, when Harry, as a 
student, is an inferior. So I kind of think that if Harry ever did 
something like that, it would only make Snape hate him more, not 
clear the air between them. 

Also, Snape's actions toward the trio are so consistently 
deplorable and outright childish that Harry's occasional show of 
cheek, while certainly not the most respectful way to behave, is 
really invited - it would be asinine to think that, with the way 
Snape treats him, Harry would show nothing but perfect respect. There 
would also be no real reason for it - I can't picture Snape liking 
Harry any more no matter how respectful he was. I also dislike trying 
to excuse Harry's 'bad behavior' on account of his being a teenager. 
To me, he has shown remarkable restraint in the face of very bad 
situations - I mean, how many people that you know, children or not, 
let themselves be insulted to their faces and rarely say anything in 
their own defense? I know that the American school system is deeply 
different (usually not for the better, either) from the rest of the 
world, and that Hogwarts is even more different, but if Snape were 
teaching in an American school, he would have been long since fired 
regardless of how knowledgeable he is on the subject he teaches. You 
don't treat students like that. You don't treat anyone like that. 
Somebody even mentioned it being a case of 'pearls before swine', 
which I liked a lot . . . that says mostly everything I was trying to 
say in this paragraph, but in a much more . . . concise . . . 
form. ;) 

-andry