Yet another defense of Snape's Occlumency lessons (long)

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 120100


Right, I absolutely promise you all that this will be my last post 
on the subject – unless someone manages to come up with a
convincing counter to it, in which case I'll post briefly to say 
that I'm converted.

Alla wrote in post 119990:

I think I am going back again to speculation that something VITAL
was missing in Snape's instructions.

Dungrollin:
The quote above is what originally provoked me.
  
Because we can't know what Occlumency or Legilimency is like, we
try to find parallels in the real world – and frankly, there
aren't any.  Nobody knows what it is like to have one's mind 
attacked in this way.  What we do know is that in the Potterverse it 
has parallels with resisting the Imperius curse, and that takes 
*willpower*, not relaxation, or meditation.  On the very first 
attempt at resisting Snape's attack, Harry threw it off, because he 
was stubbornly refusing to let Snape see his memory of Cho under the 
mistletoe.

Interestingly enough, nobody responded to the part of my post 
(120052) about there being no evidence at all that Harry had any 
difficulty in following what Snape meant when he said 'clear your 
mind'.    

Why postulate that Harry *can't* do it, when there's no evidence for 
it at all?  There's plenty of evidence that he wasn't trying, and 
most seem to accept that he's partly to blame – but there seems
to be a need to blame Snape too, and to blame him more than Harry. 

What I'm arguing against is the supposition that Snape didn't give 
Harry enough information to learn Occlumency properly.

SSSusan wrote in post 120083:
<snipping quotes>
WHERE in these two scenes does Snape help him out? Harry wants to
know something vital – he's asking questions for once!!! –
and Snape just yells at him for saying Voldemort's name and ignores 
the question. Then, when Harry admits he's having a hard time, Snape
yells at him *savagely*. This is hardly going to engender in Harry
a feeling that it's okay or good or wise to tell Snape he's
struggling or to ask further questions.

Dungrollin:
Snape doesn't ignore that question – he does answer it
afterwards, after making it clear that saying Voldemort's name 
disturbs him profoundly.  He snarls "You seem to have visited the 
snake's mind because that was where the Dark Lord was at that 
particular moment."

Yes, he *snarls*.  Well, he would, wouldn't he?  He's Snape.  But
he *does* answer the question.  This is an excellent example of what 
I'm arguing against.  

I'll explain:
Snape's not nice, I'm not saying he is, and I'm not defending his 
snide comments and insults, nor his snarling, shouting, glaring, 
hissing or spitting throughout the Occlumency lessons.  Everyone 
knows that he's a nasty piece of work, he can't change it,
and he can't hide it.  Harry knows full well what Snape's like -
he wasn't *expecting* tea and sympathy in the lessons he was 
*expecting* Snape to be nasty.  Suggesting that Snape's attitude was 
such a nasty shock to Harry that Harry lost the will to learn 
Occlumency just doesn't ring true to me - it never stopped Harry 
trying in potions lessons.

While I think Snape's manner can be faulted almost every time he 
opens his mouth, I'm not sure that the same is true of (the
majority of*) his actions, nor of what he's actually saying
behind the snarls.  He *has* to couch it in supercilious language, 
peppered with insults; he *has* to take every opportunity he can get 
to make Harry feel small, because he wouldn't be Snape otherwise.
 
But he *does* explain why Harry should study Occlumency, he *does* 
(at least to Harry's apparent satisfaction if not to the
satisfaction of the members of this list) explain what Harry has to 
practise at night, and he *does* answer a hell of a lot more 
questions than any other adult throughout OotP.  

There are only four instances that I can find of Snape *not* 
answering Harry's questions:

1. In 12GP, when Harry asks why he has to study Occlu-thing, and 
Snape evades the question with "Because the Headmaster thinks it a 
good idea."  (But he *does* explain more in the first lesson).

2. Harry asks how they know that Voldy knows Harry was in his head 
during the snake vs Weasley incident, and Snape says "It is enough 
that we know." (This presumably hinges either on Snape's secret 
activities for the Order, or on what DD saw behind Harry's eyes
just before he portkeyed to GP - and Snape *can't* tell Harry that).

3. "What's in the department of Mysteries?" Well – obviously
Snape's not going to answer that, is he?

4. "Why do you call Voldemort the Dark Lord? I've only ever heard 
Death Eaters call him that." – Frankly I wouldn't answer that 
either, but they're interrupted by Trelawney in the entrance
hall anyway, .

Blaming Snape's *manner* (i.e. the hissing and spitting and 
snarling and insults) for why Harry didn't learn Occlumency, I
can understand (if I don't completely agree).  What I'm finding 
difficult to comprehend is the desperation to find instances where 
Snape *didn't teach Harry properly*.

Seems to be a case of Ron-itis.  Things didn't go well.  Someone 
must be to blame.  *Can't* be Hero Harry – let's blame
Snape...

Dungrollin

And my profound apologies for dragging this all up again – must
have bored some of you silly.


* - I'm talking strictly about the Occlumency lessons, here;
I'm not approving of his smashing Harry's potion sample, nor
of him delaying Harry from telling DD about Crouch... etc.