Snape-Harry Detente & Dumbledore (was: Worst is yet to come, etc.)

[Karen]

No: HPFGUIDX 80970

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" <msbeadsley at y...> 
wrote:
> Me then:
> <snip>
> > > "I'm trying to decide what curse to use on Malfoy, 
> > > sir."
<snip>
> Matt:
> > The whole idea of "trying to decide" what curse to deploy in 
such a 
> > situation is, if I may essentialize for a moment, not very 
> > Gryffindor. <snip>
> 
> Me now, snarkily:
> (Essentialize? Whuzzat? One o' dem verbs by committee? <ducking>)
> 
> Matt:
> > Gryffindors react; Slytherins plan.
> > So, why is Snape's reaction subdued? <snip> Perhaps, in hearing 
> > this, Snape has an inkling, conscious or subconscious, of the 
idea 
> > that Harry *has* learned something from him.
> 
> Me now:
> And Snape is trying to encourage, to nurture, Harry's inner 
> Slytherin. Lovely.

Considering how close Harry came to being put in Slytherin, this 
might be a valid observation! Harry has had plenty of reason to want 
to let Draco have the benefit of his developing knowledge of hexes 
and jinxes!

> 
> Matt:
> > I think that this scene is the first, hopeful little hint that 
Harry
> > and Snape are beginning, despite their mutual animosity, to 
> > understand one another, or at least to think that they do. Not a 
> > reconciliation, but perhaps detente.
> 
> Me now:
> You know...I actually saw Harry's response as less respectful than 
a 
> hot-headed answer would have been; he just looked Snape right in 
the 
> eye and said, in effect, very deliberately: yeah, I was, what are 
you 
> gonna do about it? He was just out-there defiant.

I had the same take on this scene... I thought Harry was really 
being openly defiant and daring Snape to do anything about it.

<snipping petard ramble... ;-)> 

> Me then:
> > > I ... think Dumbledore ... knows that Harry went into 
> > > the Pensieve and he knows what Harry saw there. How 
> > > else would he chalk up the end of Occlumency lessons to 
> > > Snape's feelings about James ... ?
>  
> Matt:
> > Not an impossible reading, but isn't it just as likely that 
> > Dumbledore already attributes most of Snape's nastiness toward 
> > Harry to Snape's feelings about James? <snip>
> 
> Me now:
> This Occlumency stuff was *so* crucial to the cause that 
Dumbledore 
> gave the task of teaching it to Harry to the teacher well known 
for 
> liking him least (an understatement) and never bothered to check 
in 
> on its progress? Never addressed Snape's feelings about Harry at 
all? 
> (So much for MAGIC DISHWASHER! It's back to paper plates!)

The problem is that anytime a teacher leaves something out on a desk 
with a student still in the room, there should be little expectation 
of privacy! I taught for several years, and I guarantee that 
anything that wasn't under lock and key had to be considered public 
property. Grade books, tests, etc., all had to be kept out of view 
and inaccessible. 

Still, for Snape to get so angry over Harry seeing a piece of his 
ancient history begs another question... why was he so embarrassed 
by that? I understand needing to remove the memory to help him 
control his anger, but if the memory was removed, why was Snape 
still angry about it? If the memory is gone, wouldn't the emotions 
connected with it also be gone? I expect that Dumbledore gave Snape 
the penseive to allow him to do just that... rid himself of the 
thoughts that caused him so much anger so he could teach Harry 
without his past interfering. So, why didn't it work? Why was Snape 
still angry?

If Snape told Dumbledore about the pensieve incident, I would expect 
Dumbledore to remind him that something like that shouldn't be left 
out, that regardless of Harry's indiscretion, Snape is still the 
adult, still the person charged with instructing Harry, and still 
the one that Dumbledore had trusted to prevent Voldemort from 
getting into Harry's mind. Under other circumstances, Dumbledore 
might have explained to Harry how peeking into someone else's 
private thoughts is a rude intrusion, but I can't imagine him 
getting more than a detention at best for being nosey. 

I can't help but believe that Snape has got a lot longer way to go 
to acting like an adult than Harry has. Harry is not able to control 
his emotions well, right now, but he is learning. Snape has had many 
more decades to learn and still hasn't mastered the skill.

Karen