Why DD might not want Snape for DADA job

[Jo Ann]

No: HPFGUIDX 94552

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, bufo_viridis at i... wrote:

> It's just the effect of the words: Dark Arts practitioner teaching 
Defence Against Dark Arts. Sabotage? Fear of him "accidentally" 
jinxing a student? etc. So Dumble gives him a job he's well suited to 
and which is in less spotlight. 



That makes a lot of sense to me.  I think DD could have more than one 
reason, though, and another one occurred to me a few days ago while 
musing over the teachers who *have* gotten the DADA job...

Discounting Quirrel, who was hired before it became obvious that 
Voldemort was back on the rise, every DADA teacher--good or bad--has 
possessed either great self-confidence or the ability to fake it.  
And they've all helped pass that important trait along to the kids, 
whether intentionally or not.  Lockhart showed them that a bluff can 
save your arse, but can only be taken so far.  Umbridge taught them 
that they have the potential to be extremely dangerous.

But hasn't it been observed repeatedly that underneath all that 
posturing, Snape is an essentially insecure person?--at least when it 
comes to relating to others.  And he passes that along, too.  He 
impresses and intimidates, not by convincing the students that he 
knows what he's doing, but by convincing them that *they don't.*

Which he might be able to get away with in Potions, even if it makes 
him a rotten teacher.  It might be for the best if someone like 
Neville never develops an enthusiasm for concocting stuff that could 
blow him and others sky-high.  But it's exactly the opposite of what 
the kids need to learn in DADA--everyone has to know how to defend 
themselves, whether they're particularly good at it or not.

Imagine the fiasco if Snape had tried to teach Neville how to fight a 
boggart...

J. Spencer