Harry (Was: What if other teachers behaved like Snape?)

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 101244

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote :
> I still can't excuse Snape, though, for holding onto a grudge for a 
> dead man to the point where he takes it out on the son.

Del replies :
As I said in a previous post, this is unfortunately a very common
thing. People do that all the time, all over the world. It's not nice,
it's not fair, but it's very human. And since I've been taught not to
judge real-life people when they do that, I won't judge Snape either.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote :
> I also must agree with Darrin when he points out that Snape is the 
> adult.  As a teacher, there have been times when I would have loved 
> nothing more than to let a student have it, but I don't.  I can't.  
> There are students I don't like very much, but I give them the 
> grades they earn (no one says I'm unfair at my school).  In fact, 
> students think I have no favorites (I've heard them say it), but I 
> do.  Why can't Snape do that?

Del replies :
Because he wasn't trained the way you were. In fact, he wasn't trained
at all. You live in a society that has immense expectations of its
teachers, and that trains and monitors them accordingly. Snape lives
in a society where pretty much anyone can be a teacher. All that is
required of them is that they know more or less what they are talking
about, and as far as this is concerned, Snape fits the bill perfectly.
Other than that, and especially concerning teaching methods, there
doesn't seem to be any guidelines of any sorts. Snape seems to have
good OWLs results and that seems to be enough for everyone.

I mean, let's be honest : the way Snape treats Harry bothers *us*, but
we've never seen that it bothers any adult in the WW. After all,
Hogwarts is a school where students keep hexing each other, where
teachers can confront the students to dangerous beasts and curses,
where various monsters can roam around, and so on. It's most
definitely nowhere close to one of our schools, so we must not expect
the teachers to be the same either.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote :
> Well, in a way Snape was right.  James *was* pretty awful there, but
> he was also a kid behaving like one (certainly one I'd stay away 
> from, but a kid nonetheless).  Snape was no innocent victim either. 
>  I can't blame Harry for not believing Snape; it is clear Snape has 
> personal issues with James and isn't too objective there.  Harry 
> needed to learn on his own that his father was a real person with 
> real faults, not through someone else's words.  We also know that 
> James changed, or Lily wouldn't have given him a chance.

Del replies :
I completely agree. I was just pointing out that Harry had some kind
of relationship with the memory of his father, which didn't help in
his relationship with Snape.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote :
> I love that he realized Cho was not the girl for him, not because he
> found her annoying, or petty, or superficial, but because she 
> defended someone who should not have been defended.  She made 
> excuses in a situation that caused a hell of a lot of problems and 
> Harry couldn't tolerate that.

Del replies :
We're different all right :-) I personally supported Cho on that one :
the girl showed loyalty to her friend. Yes, Marrietta made a huge
mistake, but I don't think she truly realised what was at stake. She
had been dragged into something that she didn't understand. And we
don't know what means Umbridge used to get the truth out of her.
So when Cho tried to explain to Harry that Marrietta was a good person
who'd made a mistake and Harry refused to see her point, I was mad at
Harry, not Cho.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote :
> I love Harry for standing up to Umbridge, even though he knew he'd 
> get in trouble.  I love that he chose punishment over keeping his 
> mouth shut and simply going along.

Del replies :
I understand that he would do it once. But once he saw the
consequences, I found it completely stupid to keep provoking Umbridge.
I'm not such a coward, but I can recognise when it's useless and
fruitless to fight.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote : 
> I love him for teaching DADA to his peers and taking such risks to 
> do so.

Del replies :
I actually love Hermione for putting this up and supporting Harry
through it all. I'm glad Harry could use his experience to train other
kids, but I don't see what's so admirable about it. It brought
benefits to everyone involved, and everyone took risks.

Jenny from Ravenclaw wrote : 
> I can see why some people don't like Harry and that's fine.  It's 
> good even, because then I can have Harry all to myself.  :-)

Del replies :
Exactly :-) !!

Del