Draught of Peace (Was: CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 12, "Professor Umbridge"

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 91289

Jen wrote: 
Harry doesn't yet know about 
LegilimencyOcclumency, but McGonagall does, and she knows that an 
out-of-control Harry is a threat to the entire Order if his high 
emotions offer a way for LV to get into his brain. So, maybe those 
Ginger Newts did have a little Draught of Peace in them, eh?

Sue wrote:
> Why didn't the POTIONS MASTER suggest a Draught of Peace to Harry 
> when he was having trouble clearing his mind.  He *knew* Harry was 
> having dreams, he knew Harry was angry and having a hard time coping 
> with everything that was happening at school.  It just seems like 
> another example of how as much as Snape could help, he doesn't.
> 
> Sue, who knows Harry et. all could have thought of that too, but is 
> it so much for the teacher to teach?

Carol:
I think that the Draught of Peace would have interfered with Harry's
ability to concentrate during the occlumency lessons. He has to learn
to control his emotions on his own, without what amounts to a drug to
help him (not to mention that the Draught of Peace is very dangerous
and can lead to a comalike trance if taken in excess--and that Harry
would not have access to it in a dangerous situation).

I've already argued (I know you don't agree) that Snape presents Harry
with all of the information he needs (he defines occlumency and
legilimency and indicates that Harry is endanger of having LV enter
his mind) and that the only way to learn occlumency is through
practice, just as the only way (unfortunately!) to learn to defend
yourself from an Imperius Curse is to be Imperio'd and struggle to
fight it off. Snape *must* use the methods he uses. There is no other
way. And Harry must control his own emotions, not come to lessons
angry with Cho and deflect that anger onto Snape. When Snape says "You
are giving me weapons!" Harry ought to listen. (If Snape really wanted
to hurt Harry, he would say nothing and *use* the weapons.)

I really believe that Harry must learn these lessons the hard way and
that Snape explained as much of the process and the reason for
learning the lessons as he could without disobeying Dumbledore's
orders. Snape's cold manner was really controlled antipathy and
pretended indifference to the contents of Harry's mind. Notice that he
showed surprise, not anger when Harry hit him with a stinging hex, and
actually praised him (coldly) for protecting himself. Harry, OTOH,
made a great show of disrespect, hesitating before saying "sir" and
emphasizing it to show that he didn't mean it. He made no attempt to
control his emotions in any of the lessons and always had some excuse
not to practice closing his mind--as he admitted himself in DD's
office in the final chapter of OoP.

Notice, though, that angry as Harry is at Snape for supposedly being
responsible for Sirius's death, in their last scene together in OoP,
he answers him calmly and truthfully and calls him "sir" without the
nasty emphasis when Snape asks him what he's doing with his wand out:
"I'm trying to decide what curse to use on Malfoy, sir." Snape reacts
as any teacher would seeing one student about to curse (not hex or
jinx) another: "Put that wand away at once! Ten points from Gryff-."
He breaks off as he discovers that there are no points to deduct.
Enter McGonagall, who suggests adding 250 points for Gryffindor (and
50 for Ravenclaw as a second thought) for the confrontation with You
Know Who. She ends with, "What say you, Professor Snape?" and Snape 
responds, "What? Oh--well--I suppose. . . ."--in other words, he's not
at all opposed to the idea and is making only a token fuss (OoP Am.
ed. 852-53).

I see some hope in all of this that, despite Harry's belief that he
will "never forgive Snape. Never!" he will realize, first, that Snape
is not responsible for Sirius's death and, second, that despite their
mutual dislike, Snape has already taught him a great deal, and it
might be worth his while to listen to him and accord him the respect
that his knowledge and his work for the Order (if not his teaching
methods) deserve. If Harry listens to Snape and follows directions,
Snape will have no grounds for criticism and no reason to give him
zeroes. And BTW, I do expect (hope) to see Harry in Snape's NEWTs
Potions class because McGonagall and presumably DD want him to take it
and will "Fudge" the OWL results if necessary to get him there.

Carol