Who is the adult (Was: Who's to blame for Occlumency?)

[Suzanne Chiles]

No: HPFGUIDX 101131

Snapes Slytherin said:
> Why does everyone underestimate teenagers?  Why does the fact that 
> Harry's 15 give him the right to act like a little berk?  (Wow...I 
> just used berk in a sentence...)  Severus is most definitely a giant 
> git.  (Wow...git...)  And everyone jumps down his throad when he does 
> something wrong.  But for some reason, every time Harry does something 
> bad, it's "Harry is 15!  Severus isn't 15!"  What does age have to do 
> with it?  Age is no excuse AT ALL.  Especially when you know what Harry 
> knows.  Severus knows too, but isn't Harry our hero?  (That be 
> sarcasm...I'm not a big Harry fan at all...)
		

Time magazine ran a cover story about the teenaged brain a couple of months ago. Apparently, the portion of the brain that governs impulse control does not mature and come online until 19 or 20 years of age. In other words, the reason that teenagers act impulsively is because that's how their brains are wired. It's a really interesting discovery, especially in light of this discussion of Harry and the penseive.
 
Suzanne/Hermione