[HPforGrownups] Snape as A-hole Drill Sargeant [was: Re: Harry, Snape,Occlumency]

[Silverthorne]

No: HPFGUIDX 94433

{Siriusly Snapey Susan:}
Anne, you have done an *excellent* job of explaining this, and I have
no doubt that you are right about why Asshole Drill Sergeants behave
as they do.


{Silverthorne}
Thanks, I was trying my best to explain the technique, as I said...^^


{Siriusly Snapey Susan:}
The *only* potential quibbles I have with this are:
1) Those who are in RW military training/school most often *know*
that they are heading into training specifically for the potentiality
OF WAR.  They are also legally adults.  [Or in the case of military
academies for teens, know it's a *military* setting.]  The Hogwarts
kids are **eleven** when they arrive and believe they are going to
boarding school to learn basic WW subjects.  I would think that NOT
being up front with the students about the war and also not taking
into account their ages could potentially **undo** the good of
Snape's giving them practice dealing w/ nasty people.  Do you know
what I mean?



{Silverthorne}
I know exactly what you mean, and I don't disagree with you...then again, I
think that that's one of the underlying tragedies that Rowling tries to hint
at (and there's a paralelle in our own RL outlook as a society
nowadays...think back to the shock of 9/11 and I think you'll get what I
mean)

These kids really *are* unprepared for something like Snape. No argument
there either...

To argue the point for the average WW resident, and why their kids aren't
ready, why *should* they  expect someone like Snape to have access to their
children?

Supposedly, the major 'evil' of the WW has been dead and gone for over 11
years. Life *should* be easy now, peaceful (or as peaceful as the WW
gets...^^;),  and expectations are that you should be allowed to live your
life without some nasty ass coming and making it miserable. Certainly, the
Snapes of the world are not considered something to prepare against. Why
should we prepare? They're gone, right? ('They're' meaning Voldemort, the DE
and people like Snape). And those neanderthal dinosaours that still hang
around with that 'tude will soon be a thing of the past, right? We can get
rid of them easy now...sheer numbers of 'good guys' alone should do it...

It's a nice thought, but like in RL...people living in peace forget one
thing.

There's folks out there that don't share the outlook. A lot of them. They
havent all died, and they haven't gone for good. They're out there...waiting
for their chance. And even worse, in the WW one of those people is
Voldemort...you got rid of him once..and he's supposedly gone...but before
him was Grimwauld(?), who Dumbledore had to deal with. No doubt before
*that* there were other wizards that were the 'greatest evil of their time'.
So even if Vodly didn;t come back....someone will take his place. Nature, as
they say, abhors a void. And the world, life, reality runs in cycles and
checks and balances...

It's peaceful now...but  things cycle around. History proves that out time
and again. And unfortunately, in Harry's story, they have...to the worst
possible scenario....:(. Fudge is the ultimate expression of not realizing
this,  and the shock that follows when you *do* realize that your world is
not as safe as you thought it was, usually by a violent upheaval. The wolves
never left--they just circled around to the back door instead of waiting for
you at the front one....



{Siriusly Snapey Susan}
It'sSnape has been cruel & nasty since the beginning.  Are 11- or
12-year-olds who see themselves as boarding school students able to *learn*
under the Asshole Drill Sergeant methods the way an 18-year-old army recruit
is?  [Don't jump down my throat anyone, please, it's just a question!]  *I*
think that kids that age would have to know *something* of why they're being
treated this way in order for them to not "pull a Neville" [be so frightened
he can't learn] or "pull a Harry" [be so angry he won't/can't learn].

{
Silverthorne}
Yes, Snape has been that way since the beginning (incidently, I'm one of the
ones that thinks he's an equal opportunity bastard...but, as has been said
before, since Harry doesn't follow him around all the time, we're only going
to know about the kids that get picked on where Harry happens to be). The
kids, thanks to their upbringing *won't* be prepared...because their parents
aren't prepared. No one thinks a war is imminent--they think they're all
safe. No wonder the kids have no inkling of what they're walking
into...their parents didn't...and probably would not have believed it if
they had been told it was. Voldy's dead...why think about training your kids
for war (in which case, Snape being painted as a total monster would be
accurate). About the only folks that really *do* believe it are Dumble and
what remains of the former OotP members. Not exactly good odds for this
generation of kids to get a clue.

My former Navy lifemate pointed out and re-inforced something to me last
night.(She's had to listen to me bemoan not being able to get my point
across clearly enough in these discussions...I think she might shoot me soon
because of it...lol!). I think we can all agree Snape isn't *really*
civillian-class teacher material. His manner, well suited in a military
school or armed forces basic training, is a disaster here. I won't even
argue that, because it *is* true. The kids are civilian, their parents are,
and the mindset just is not there. I think we can also agree that his
technique, whether its due to his nature, DD's requests, his own
experinences as a child and a DE growing up in the Voldemort Years, or a
combination of these factors, is not likely to change.

First of all, having been a DE, Snape knows what the DE can do...every last
little horrible detail, no doubt whether he did it himself or not. Second,
he knows Voldemort is coming back, either because of inside information, or
because he trusts DD's judgement in the matter. Third...by the time he gets
Harry...it has already started. The Hogwarts teachers are already making
preparations to keep Voldemort, or at least his faith DE, from getting
something valuble (The Philospher/Sorcerer's stone). So, in essence, there
is no more time.

Snape is a survivor of a war--one we could probably draw parallels to in
Vietnam and the like. He knows what's about to happen...worse yet, he not
only knows what it means in a general way for his chosen side, but he has an
excellent idea what his former allies are capable of. He is already in 'war'
mode...and since he knows there's no more time, that Harry MUST survive and
do certain things, he's not going to have a whole hell of a lot of patience
for the kid...and he'll have even less for a reluctant, combative one.
Ther's no time to indulge Harry in that, even at age eleven--Voldemort has
already found him...has already dragged Harry onto the battlefield, in
fact...and anyone associated with him as well.

And of course, since no one else but a select few *see* the war is not only
coming, but is already here, Snape is twice hogtied...somehow he has to
teach thise kids, almost instantly, things that even their parents don't
think need to be taught (and will certinaly hang HIM for if they find out
about it!).

Even a steady person, under those conditions, would take quite a few chunks
out of the hero...Right or wrong. It's called misdirected stress....:(


{Siriusly Snapey Susan}
2) I would think if Snape were acting as Asshold Drill Sergeant at Hogwarts,
because the WW is at war, then he'd treat all students the same way.  Or
does he go soft on the Slytherins because he doesn't *want* them to war
war-ready???


{Silverthorne}
I really think he *does* treat all the non-DE students the same--we just
don't see it...and I also think you're dead on on the Slyths getting it
easy...it's the reverse of what he's doing to Harry and co. He chews on
Harry and Co. to get them stronger (even if its not working as it should),
meanwhile, he coddles the DE Slyths...who, having been coddled all this
time, will be less prepared when push finally comes to shove (or so he
hopes).

Glad you liked the post!

Anne