Why DD lets Snape be a bastard (WAS Teachers and fairness)

[rane_ab]

No: HPFGUIDX 56710

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "theultimatesen" 
<ultimatesen at a...> wrote:
> <snip text> I believe JKR 
> is going to have Ron, Harry & ESPECIALLY Hermione get past this 
sort 
> of Snape inflicted abuse triumphantly. What I don't understand is, 
if 
> nothing ever gets past Dumbledore, and he knows all, then WHY is he 
> allowing this to continue?
> 


It seems DD steps back and lets a lot of things happen. Like, say, 
Lockhart. Who is, quite possibly, a danger to the children. (Thank 
god for Hermione's knowledge of spells when it came to capturing the 
pixies. Of course, they're not *really* dangerous creatures, but they 
were obviously quite capable of wreacking havoc. And what if Lockart 
had let lose more dangerous creatures? After all, he seems to have 
quite a high opinion of himself (see also the Duelling Club)). It has 
been suggested before that Hagrid may well be a danger to the 
students (even if it's not his intention).

I think that DD is trying to let the children get used to the real 
world. Now that doesn't sound very clear. Let me try to explain that 
better. What I mean is, in real life (I mean life outside of Hogwarts 
by in the WW), there people like Lockhart and Snape exist, too. And 
the students are going to have to learn to deal with them. What would 
happen if they all got wrapped in only fair, good, and/or nice 
teachers, and then were to step out of school into the real world to 
find all people really aren't like that? They'd be far too trusting 
of people, wouldn't expect any nastiness or cunning from others, and 
get hit by it when they least expect it.

Of course, they can learn this kind of thing from the other - less 
kind - students. However, having less than perfect teachers is still 
a good lesson in not necessarily trusting or depending on people who 
are older or more experienced. Experiencing Snape makes the students 
quite aware some people are willing to abuse of their power. People 
in a trusting position don't necessarily do the right things - nor 
are they necessarily concerned with another's well-being.

So, IMO, DD is just trying to 'prepare' (if passively) the students 
for the real world - in all its goodness and evilness, fairness and 
unfairness. Letting Snape act the way he does is like warning the 
students: well, life really isn't always fair. 
And I'm sure he'd stop Snape from doing anything *too* nasty, like 
say flunking someone or physically harming them (Snape did threaten 
to poison the students at some point, but we're really not clear on 
whether he would actually have done so - I don't he would have unless 
he'd have a correct antidote of his own on hand to give it to them if 
necessary - I think he was just enjoying scaring everyone). He may 
have stopped Snape from failing Harry at some point (though it has 
already been discussed we cannot be sure of that). And I think he 
would stop Snape from doing any other harm of that kind.

I'm not arguing here whether I think DD's right to let Snape insult 
the students (it's already been discussed at great length that some 
people think Snape's kind of behaviour would be an incentive for 
children to learn better, whilst others think it will merely result 
in emotional damage), I'm just saying I think this is why he lets 
them.

Cheerful greetings,
Rane, 
who is typing all this very fast and without much thinking, and hopes 
it is even remotely logical and understandable.