Occlumency Lessons

[dzeytoun]

No: HPFGUIDX 108636

SSSusan wrote: 
> What Harry needs, I would argue, is a teacher good with a BEGINNING 
> student.  Someone who will interact with him in a calm, gentle & 
> dare I say respectful manner, who'll teach him the BASICS of 
> Occlumency, help him to understand the whys and wherefores, help 
> him to figure out HOW to clear his mind, to let go of emotion, and 
> who'll let him practice where he feels SAFE--if nothing else, from 
> cruel sarcasm.  I would argue that someone other than Snape--
> Dumbledore, in this case--would be perfect for this.  Then, once 
> Harry has a decent grasp of the skills, *then* he could graduate to 
> the tougher task of working with Snape, which would, as you two 
> have noted, help him prepare for the even more difficult prospect 
> of facing Voldy himself.


I think SSS has hit this square on the head.  To invoke the martial 
arts analogy, you don't learn a martial art by beginning with a 
highly aggressive black belt who attacks you all out on the first 
day.  You start going slow, with a relatively patient instructor.  
Once you have the basic skills, then you go on to more advanced 
combat.

I am probably one of the few who is inclined to take Dumbledore at 
his word almost all the time.  I think he is generally a sincere 
individual who has made a LOT of mistakes, largely based on the 
reasons we all make mistakes: lack of information, lack of foresight, 
misleading chains of logic, time-pressures, emotion clouding reason, 
and personal quirks.  In Dumbledore's case, his most severe 
weaknesses, other than his feelings for Harry, are probably his 
tendancy to think the best of people and situations and the fact that 
having largely conquered negative emotion within himself years ago, 
he does not have an appropriate appreciation for how other people 
feel in some circumstances.  He has sincere respect for both Harry 
and Snape and thought they could overcome their personal feelings to 
work together.  Like a lot of people who don't themselves experience 
strong reactions in a given situation, he thought that Harry and 
Snape could overcome their emotions if they would *just decide to.*  
After all, the situation is pressing and it seems perfectly logical 
for Snape and Harry to get over their petty squabbles and work 
together, does it not?

I think Dumbledore did see secondary benefits in Harry working with 
Snape, but I think these were a far second to his desire that Harry 
learn Occlumency.  He may well have thought that Snape would provide 
a more "realistic" training partner than he would.  I think he 
probably hoped even more, however, that in the intense experience of 
Occlumency training Snape and Harry could come to understand one 
another somewhat better and build some sort of foundation for a 
lasting trust, if not a fondness.

Dzeytoun