More on Snape

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 102669

probonoprobono <probono at r...> wrote:
>>Now, on to Snape. I just finished reading the passage in OOTP after
Harry sees into Snape's memories. (Sorry, I don't have the book with
me for page numbers). Snape ignores Harry during class. Harry finds
that without all of Snape's harping, potions comes quite easily to
him (something we should remember, methinks). Harry proudly turns in
his potions, but the second his back is turned, his beaker
mysteriously falls off Snape's desk onto the floor, utterly
destroyed. Another zero for Harry, says Snape.

No, I personally don't see this as encouraging to any student. Any
student, period. Faced with the same situation, I probably would
have finally given up at that point, and quit trying. I certainly
could not see me trying harder, what's the point?<<

HunterGreen:
But that's not really Snape failing as a teacher, but failing as a 
person. Clearly, he'd never be in this situation with another student 
(the Harry/Snape relationship AND what had just happened between them 
was too extreme and specific), so Harry is not really an example of 
his teaching skills. There's no way that he thought giving Harry a 
zero for something he had no control over was going to encourage him 
as a student (BUT his previous nastiness to Harry/Neville *could* be 
intrepreted as a teaching style), it was just him failing to control 
his emotions. 
As for Snape's harping making it hard to do potions, maybe its just 
the other way around: Snape's constant pushing (and 
criticizing) "toughened" Harry up, making doing potions in Snape's 
absense comparatively easier. As in, if he'd had a kindhearted 
potions teacher, doing potions on his own could be harder without the 
encouragement(of course, the kindhearted teacher might have been 
better at building confidence--but the end result is the same).