What if other teachers behaved like Snape?

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 101116

Darrin wrote :
> Snape punishes Harry for the sins of his father (while apparently 
> ignoring the kindness of Harry's mother.)
> 
> So, things that happened before Harry was born, committed by a man 
> Harry barely remembers, are somehow worthy of Harry being treated 
> like crap by this guy.
> 
> But we learn in OoP that two other Hogwarts teachers, McGonagall and 
> Hagrid, are also Order of the Phoenix members.

Del replies :
I would just like to point out that there's a major difference between
Snape and Hagrid/McG : their age. There's a whole generation
difference between them. When the first LV War broke out, Hagrid and
McG were already adults, while Snape was a kid. Snape grew up in the
War, his whole outlook on life was shaped by it.

About kids paying for their fathers' sins : in France, we are barely
starting to talk about the kids who were born during the WWII and who
had a French mother and a German father, and we're horrified by what
we're discovering. There was nothing more innocent than those kids,
and yet many of them were treated in ways that would make the
Dursleys' treatment of Harry look heavenly in comparison. I'm afraid
it's just in human nature : we need to find a culprit, someone to
blame for our hurt. And since James is dead and Harry has the bad idea
of looking just like him, well, Snape just went afer him. Not nice, I
agree, but terribly human.

Darrin wrote :
> And where do we see McGonagall and Hagrid treating Malfoy, Crabbe, 
> Goyle and Nott like that?
> 
> Hagrid obviously dislikes Malfoy, but he keeps it professional in 
> class.

Del replies :
Let's look rather for someone contemporary to Snape. Who do we know ?
Sirius and Remus.

Sirius is just as unfair as Snape most of the time. I'm not sure he
would have been a much fairer teacher than Snape if he had been given
the chance. Not as inherently vicious, granted, but fair to people
like Draco ? I think not.

Remus is another matter. He's very forgiving and tolerant. But then
he's a werewolf, a victim of discrimination, and it's in his best
interest to try and get on everyone's best side. It's the way he
lives, trying to befriend everyone. He likes peace, and he needs it too.

I don't think Snape is a nice guy. But I do think he has to be judged
against people with similar backgrounds, and neither Hagrid nor McG
are such people.

Darrin said :
> Maybe when people whine about how bad the Slyths have it, they 
> should remember how the other teachers manage to behave in ways 
> Snape is incapable of.

Del replies :
You've said it, Snape is incapable of doing better. He's been bent by
everything that happened to him or that he did, and expecting him to
be normal is unrealistic. Just like as a kid I learned that expecting
some old people to have courteous feelings towards Germans was
unrealistic. Some old people had come over their hurt and hatred and
fear, and some hadn't. And I was taught not to judge them, because *I
didn't know*.

Del