How should Harry deal with Snape? (was: Why Snape doesn't have to be human)

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 107596

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman" 
<susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:
> Neri:
> > > But what should Harry do, how 
> > > should he behave, in order to get from Snape a reasonable 
> > > treatment?  What can Harry do that would actually work?
> 
>  
> Alla:
> > That is one of the problems. I am convinced that no matter what 
> > Harry will do, Snape will not change his treatment of him. > > 
> 
> 
> SSSusan:
>  Is it *possible* for a 16-year-old, filled with anger and 
frustration, convinced this man truly loathes him, to set all that 
aside and say, "NO. I will not feed the cycle by being a berk to 
him.  I will not give him reason any more to fail me, to sneer at 
me, to belittle me. I will show him that I understand we MUST work 
together."  Is that possible?  I don't know.  But I do have an 
inkling that if Harry were truly able to *state* that he wants to 
call a ceasefire, if he were truly able to convince Snape he was 
willing to listen to him & work hard & learn from him, it just 
*might* get through to Snape.
> 
> Or am I crazy to even think this? :-)
> SSSusan

Valky:
No! _I_ certainly don't think you are crazy!

A practical commonsense solution to a complex issue, sounds a bit DD-
ish and I am pretty sure Snape would _at least_ scratch his chin and 
wonder if that could make a difference for him, as you suggested.

As for Harry being able to do it... Yes, I think he could.
It may take some doing after losing Sirius', but I do think that 
Harry is one you could call beyond _getting stuck on a step of the 
grieving process_ for very long. Once he's moved on, he may well see 
Snapes loathing as an unecessary diversion rather than a grievance, 
and the natural successor to that condition is that Harry would 
approach Snape with much the same as Susan has suggested.

The only real obstacle left to that is that Harry must be able to, 
at this point, regard himself as somewhat an equal to Snape, as it 
is by nature a nuance that they are equals.

......and supposing so, could Snape accept such a nuance. How would 
Snape percieve Harry implying equivalency of their kinds, as an 
insult: he is Harrys teacher and therefore superior; or as a 
compliment: Harry is James' son and this recognition would be above 
and beyond what James' afforded Snape, himself.