What if other teachers behaved like Snape?

[darrin_burnett]

No: HPFGUIDX 101145


> Harry hates  Snape right enough; Snape's to blame for everything. 
Snape was planning to steal the Stone, remember? Snape was going to 
make sure they lost the Quidditch match, Snape was going to poison 
him, Snape, Snape, Snape. It's a paranoid fixation with that boy; so 
much so that Voldy agents swan about right under his nose without him 
noticing. Snape probably treats him better than Vernon does. 
Certainly I haven't yet seen Vernon save Harry's life.
> 

Funny, I have yet to see Snape save Harry's life, at least on his 
own. He held off Quirrell's curse for Hermione, but Snape did nothing 
to save Harry in PoA. Harry was in no danger.


> Snape *punishes* 
Harry? Some scathing comments, usually, (though not
> always) when Harry has done something particularly brainless, or 
marks docked; marks, by the way that don't matter. How many exams has 
Harry  failed? Zero. None. And the OWLS (which do  matter) are marked 
by external examiners and everybody knows it. How many detentions has
> Snape given Harry in 5 years? Care to guess? Wow! That really is 
some expression of hate! Snape is much more complex than a seething
> cauldron of Potter-ophobia. He's not nice (thank God) but he is
> interesting.

I'm glad you thank God for not nice people. Gives me a pretty good 
perspective on what I'm dealing with here.

 
> And just what have the Slyths done that's so terrible? They sneer, 
they strut, they name-call. How awful! They usually admire their 
fathers -> how un-natural! Flint cheats at Quidditch - throw him in 
Azkaban at once! Malfoy changes Hermione's dentition and gets changed 
into a > ferret, he makes a snide comment and gets his face slapped, 
he docks> points when authorised by Umbridge (which immediately get 
replaced).> He always loses. But it seems that isn't enough for you.
> Meantime  he and his buddies are regularly hexed on the Hogwarts 
> Express before they can even get their wands out. James's bullying 
> revisited. Er, tell me -  who're the Slytherins here? 

Ohmygod. Where to begin.

* Attempted murder of Harry with the Dementor prank in PoA.

* Repeated attempts to get Hagrid fired.

* Attempts to maim Harry before Quidditch matches

And those poor "bullied" Slyths you were yapping about? They drew 
first. Malfoy and his gang were going to outnumber Harry at the end 
of OoP and Harry's friends stopped him.

Who are the Slytherins, you ask?

They are the ones who start the fight and lose it. Just because they 
are useless in a fight doesn't mean they aren't vile. 

> Slytherins are not DEs; though most DEs are Slytherins. There is a 
> difference. There'd better be; Harry is prime Slytherin material
> according  to the Hat. Just because he didn't want to join doesn't
> change what the Hat saw. The potential is still there.

And what did the Hat see? Could it be Essence of Voldemort? Harry is 
carrying around part of Voldermort with him, remember? 


> Conflict is part of the plot dynamic. It's necessary, and since 
Voldy is little more than a back-ground figure, conflict and 
opposition must> be shown elsewhere in the story. Harry/Snape/Malfoy 
makes for an> entertaining alternative.
> 

Sure, we need villains. It just seems more useful to consider them 
villains, rather than picked on ickle wittle good boys and girls who 
are just trying to survive the nasty Gryffs.


> that's what most of the posts are about after all - different views,
> differently expressed. All  opinions on canon are acceptable, but 
when> posters resort to using words like 'whining' as a description 
of posters> alternative views, I get very irritated indeed. It shows 
a lack of manners> and of proportion.

Lack of proportion? Hmmm, you took the words right out of my mouth 
when you posted about how bullied the Slyths are. And stick around on 
the list. You'll see plenty of whining.

Darrin