Snape & Harry

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 101538

Dzeytoun wrote:
> It may turn out that Snape is playing a part.  I personally deeply 
> doubt it.  I think all the evidence points to the fact that he 
> genuinely hates and despises Harry, and Dumbledore, as the 
> Headmaster himself says, underestimated the depths of Snape's 
> feeling.  I may, however, be proved wrong.

Del replies :
All right, let's say Snape hates Harry, which I think is probably the
case. My question is then : so what ? It's unfortunate, it's painful,
yes. There's nothing Harry can do to change that. But there are most
definitely things he can do to make matters even worse.

Dzeytoun wrote:
> It may turn out that some students react well to Snape's methods.  
> We don't know.  The idea that he is an excellent Potions master and 
> his students do well is pure speculation.

Del replies :
I can't give you canon for this, but I'm pretty sure both ideas are
actually true. The fact that Snape is a good Potions master is certain
for sure, and I seem to remember reading about Snape's students' good
results at their OWLs. And in fact, both Harry and Neville are proof
to that, since Harry notices that they both seem to have done well
during their OWL practice paper.

Dzeytoun wrote:
> My own experience as a teacher is that very few students react well 
> to such methods, and the result is almost always poor learning and 
> deep emotional pain.  But it may turn out that Snape is an 
> exception.

Del replies :
As I said in another post, I had a Maths teacher very much like Snape
in my last year if high school. I spent a horrible year because of
her, failed all my exams throughout the year, and did remarkably well
at the Finals. Learning was hard and painful with her, but it was
effective. I sure worked harder with her breathing down my neck, than
with my Biology teacher who was the nicest man around but who never
pushed us, and my final results reflected that. And not just mine either.
Oh, by the way, do you know why that teacher hated me ? Because I
hadn't been in her class the previous year, but in a better one. So
she hated all of us who came from that better class, and favoured
anyone who had been in her class. Talk about unjustified hatred :-)

Dzeytoun wrote:
> Snape certainly gives the students experience in dealing with nasty,
> unkind people, who make up a distressingly large percentage of the 
> population.

Del replies :
Yep. And also that being nice and being on the good side don't go
together. Though Harry doesn't seem to have truly learned that lesson
yet :-)

Del