Snape and Harry WAS Re: Pensieves objectivity AND: Dumbledore's integrity

[mochajava13]

No: HPFGUIDX 79695

> Pip!Squeak
> It is Snape who tries as much as he can to be adult about the 
> Occlumency lessons. It is Harry who behaves like the 15 year old 
he 
> is, shuffling his feet, doing as little as he can, and finally 
> breaking the rules so badly that Snape chucks him out. But Harry's 
> reaction to this is 'I don't care'. When he's asked to talk to 
Snape 
> and ask to be taken back, he doesn't.

Now me (Sarah):
I have to respectfully disagree that Snape is the one trying to by 
an adult while Harry is breaking every rule he can.  First off, 
Harry does practice emptying his mind of emotion.  Not as much as he 
should, true, but he does do it.  However, he doesn't have the 
answer as to how he's supposed to empty his mind of all emotion.  
Especially since he's a hormonal teenager: all emotions are so much 
more extreme to a teen.  He even mentions that he doesn't know what 
to do, and that he feels Snape hasn't told him exactly what to do.  
Yes, Harry could have asked Snape more, but Snape has a tendancy to 
snap at Harry whenever Harry asks a question, and it even nastier 
when Snape feels the answer is obvious.

And Harry does begin to see Snape in a new light after seeing his 
memories for the first time after using the protego spell.  Seeing 
Snape get teased as a child, cowering while his parents fight, etc.  
He's uncomfortably aware that he's been through similar situations, 
and doesn't particularly like it.

Snape is unnecessarily harsh to Harry during the lessons.  He 
demands to be called sir or professor.  Not to mention his reaction 
to seeing Harry in the pensieve.  Snape physically abused Harry 
here.  Snape grabbed Harry's arm so hard that Harry notices the 
pain.  Snape pushes Harry away from him so hard that Harry is 
knocked over.  Then Snape throws stuff at Harry while Harry's 
leaving his office.  All the while, Harry is trying to answer 
Snape's questions, but Snape won't let Harry explain.  

Harry leaves this encounter shaken, and refuses to go back to 
Snape's office.  I don't blame him; Snape just hurt Harry 
physically.  Also, Harry's not the adult here; Snape is.  Snape 
should have taken Harry back for lessons; he did not.  Harry was 
wrong to go into Snape's penseive without permission, but the last 
time he did this (with Dumbledore), he wasn't punished for it, only 
got a stern talking-to.  Also, it never once enters Snape's mind 
that Harry might just want to see any image of the parents he's 
never seen and doesn't remember.  It never enters the realm of 
Snape's thoughts that Harry is anything but a spoiled brat/bully 
like James was.  Snape doesn't think like an adult in this 
situation. 
Sarah