Drill Sargeant (with a tiny bit of ontopic talk...)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 94810

Siriusly Snapey Susan:
> if it's really THAT important for Snape to prepare these two 
> particular students for the inevitable battle(s) with Voldy, he's 
> GOT to find a way to reach them.  Being cruel, sarcastic & nasty 
> doesn't seem to be cutting it w/ the two students who most need to 
> learn, so why doesn't he STOP the drill sergeant routine w/ them 
> and find a way to help them learn?  SURELY he can *see* that it's 
> not working with them?  <snip> Why isn't he re-evaluating his 
> technique with Harry and Neville?<<

Pippin:
> Because he's not a flexible person. His way is the only way he 
> knows.  But I think you just put your finger on why Dumbledore 
> won't let Snape teach DADA. The one thing that whole crew of 
> naive (Quirrell, before he became possessed),  incompetent, 
> careless, gonzo teachers hasn't done,  except for Umbridge who 
> was not  Dumbledore's choice, is put Harry off the subject. 
> Dumbledore knows Snape would make people hate DADA and 
> he can't afford that, not with the war coming. 

Siriusly Snapey Susan:
Fascinating thought.  That sometimes it really can be something so 
simple as "he's not flexible", when I suppose the tendency is to over-
analyze.  I like how this fits w/ the DADA thing if, indeed, Snape 
really did want that job.


Pippin: 
> Harry's loathing of potions may hinder his career choices but so 
> far it hasn't made much of a difference in the battles with 
> Voldemort. <snip> But Harry and Neville are tested under pressure 
> in his class.  They do learn to handle it, Harry better than 
> Neville, but Neville learns too. 

Siriusly Snapey Susan:
All true enough.  It does seem that Snape's treatment of Harry *in 
potions class* has NOT caused him to have an overall crisis of self-
confidence, for he's gone right on taking risks and rising to the 
challenges he's encountered [or gone after].  


Pippin:
> Now if this was Dumbledore's plan, then it obviously backfired 
> when Snape had to teach Harry Occlumency, a skill which he 
> thought Harry really did need, but not one which Dumbledore 
> anticipated would have to be taught by Snape.

Siriusly Snapey Susan:
Agreed.


Pippin: 
> I also think, as I've said before, that IMO, this was a felix 
> culpa, since Occlumency only opened Harry's mind further to 
> Voldemort in a way which Dumbledore, IMO, did not expect.   I think 
> Voldemort was already finding it difficult to enter Harry's mind 
> because of the strength of Harry's positive emotions, and by 
> clearing his mind, emptying it of emotion, Harry became more 
> vulnerable. 

Siriusly Snapey Susan:
Or, alternatively, perhaps the presence of *negative* emotions & 
thoughts--anger, rage, hatred regarding Snape--made it "riper" ground 
for Voldy to enter.  I offer this because I'm not sure Harry was 
really having that much luck emptying himself of emotion.


Pippin:
> Interestingly, there was an article in this Sunday's New York 
> Times magazine about a baseball coach and his Snape-like 
> methods. The sub-title is " Was it abusive rage or tough love?" 
> and the article suggests that sometimes it's all in the eyes of the 
> parents.

Siriusly Snapey Susan:
Surely you don't think Snape is capable of [tough] loving *Harry*?! ;-
)

Siriusly Snapey Susan