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

[trishel2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 79962

Pip!squeak wrote:
> > Snape is a nasty son-of-a-sorceror, and he and Harry don't like 
> > each other one little bit. But when the order comes through that Snape 
> > and Harry have to work together, it's Snape who makes-sarcastic-
> > comments-and-soldiers. Harry is the one who obstructs the lessons as 
> > much as he can by the passive method of I-haven't-done-my-homework-
> > Sir and the active method of breaking into the pensieve.
> > 
> > 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.
 
 Harry is actually responding to Snape's perception of him. Consider: 
 when Harry calls Legilimency "mind-reading," Snape says he has 
 no "subtlety" (incidently, I agree with Snape), and that his mind is 
 shallow and weak. Harry responds by conforming to Snape's perception 
 of him as a stubborn, arrogant dim-bulb: "Whatever Snape said, 
 Legilimency sounded like mind reading to Harry and he did not like 
 the sound of it at all."  Harry acts the same way at Potions. It's a 
 vicious cycle: Harry uneasy, Snape insults him, Harry becomes more 
 uncomfortable and begins to believe he's stupid, Snape becomes more 
 biligerent as Harry becomes more clumsy--keep this up, and Harry 
will be melting his cauldron in class.

I'm not saying Harry tried his best during his Occlumency lessons. 
 But Snape did nothing to try to put Harry at ease or encourage him, 
 or give him any instruction over than "Clear your mind of emotion," 
(which is not what enabled Harry to throw off the Imperius curse--
 quite the opposite).  Some interview comments Rowling has made about 
 Snape make me wonder about him--perhaps he's doing something evil 
 during these lessons? Like deliberately prying open Harry's mind?
 
 --RTJ