Occlumency was RE: Sirius vs. Snape

[suehpfan]

No: HPFGUIDX 99551

Snip > 
> But we do get a hint that an attempt which is not working may be 
> abandoned. It could be that Dumbledore  realized the lessons 
> weren't working and instructed Snape to find a way to abandon 
> them without causing Harry to ruminate on why they had 
> failed--lest Voldemort dwell on this too. Why reveal a weakness 
> to the enemy?
> 
> Of course Snape does seem really angry with Harry when he 
> finds him in his memories. But you don't have to be a devotee of 
> MAGIC DISHWASHER to notice that Snape goes on the warpath 
> in situations where it would be very inconvenient for him to 
> answer questions. 
> 
> IMO, he doesn't want to tell Harry *why* he's stopping 
> Occlumency, so he arranges to  fly into a towering rage instead. 
> Of course he couldn't have planned for Montague to turn up when 
> he did, but  Snape could have taken advantage of it to do 
> something he was planning to do already. Let Potter see what 
> his sainted father was really like, and at the same time, end the 
> lessons in such a way that Harry will not wonder if  his failure to 
> learn is what caused it. 
> 
> Of course Dumbledore couldn't tell Harry all this without 
> admitting how closely he and Snape are working together. It's 
> not time for that yet.
> 
> Pippin

Excellent post Pippin, very astute observations.  I have felt since I 
read OotP the first time that Harry *did* learn what he needed to 
learn about Occlumency but that it was completely ineffective in 
blocking Voldemort from his mind because the connection is 
different.  I believe Snape knew this fairly early on (no canon of 
course, just my opinion).  What makes me believe Snape had stopped 
being able to "get anywhere" in Harry's mind was that he was 
continually reliving the same memories over and over again.  On 
*occasion* Snape found something new but it was rare.  What was 
important for Snape to know and what Harry was most interested in 
hiding were two different things (he never did see what happened 
between Harry and Cho, did he.)

Snape has a flair for drama and ending lessons this way, with Harry 
ravaged by confusion and disappointment about who his father was, 
plays right into Snape's rather vindictive hands. The job was done 
and as an added bonus the kid feels like garbage.  Not a bad day's 
work.

Sue(hpfan)