Snape vs. RW (was: Harry) (was: What if other teachers behaved like Snape?)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 101430

Pippin:
> Asking Snape to get over  his grudge against Harry was like 
asking a recovering alcoholic  to demonstrate drinking 
responsibly.

> 
> Alla: 
> That I strongly disagree, of course. I think it is hard but 
> reasonable to ask Snape for that.
> 
> Do you think he should not even try?

Pippin:

I think he *did* try. At least, he agreed to teach Harry. But just as 
there was no one to tell Harry what he needed to do to master 
Occlumency, other than sink or swim, Snape had no one to help 
him master his feelings about Harry. Dumbledore couldn't 
manage it either, remember. 

As long as we're all bringing our professional expertise to bear, I 
will say that from a  RW management perspective, 
Dumbledore's failure was classic.  He  failed to communicate 
his objectives clearly, and because of that, no one in the chain of 
responsibility deserves more blame than him for the failure to 
achieve them. 

He failed to communicate his objectives clearly because he was 
muddled about them, and he was muddled because, as often 
happens in a family business, his business and personal roles 
were in conflict. It was his job, as headmaster and head of the 
Order, to prepare Harry to meet his future. But it was a future that, 
as Harry's father substitute, he could not harden himself to face. 

Dumbledore let the competition--ie Voldemort--get ahead of him. 
If Dumbledore had told Harry everything at the end of the third 
year, then there would have been ample time before Voldemort's 
return for Harry to learn Occlumency from Dumbledore. 

But  Dumbledore's organizations did achieve most of their 
objectives. The Ministry and the Daily Prophet were forced to 
recognize Voldemort's return. Harry 's  mind was secured from 
possession.  There may even have been a  baby step toward 
improving relations between Snape and Harry--they may hate 
each other more, but they understand one another better now. 
That is progress of a sort.

 Sirius is dead and that (sorry, SAD DENIAL) can't be mended. 
Still, I suppose if you asked Sirius whether he would sacrifice his 
life so that Harry could have a few terms at Hogwarts without the 
shadow of the prophecy hanging over him, he would have 
agreed. It's clear from the way Lupin cuts off the conversation in 
OOP and from the fleeting glance he exchanges with Sirius, that 
Sirius could have told Harry more than he did.

Pippin