Occlumency: Relax or resist?

[SongBird3411 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 117531



Hello! I am delurking for a bit, though it feels rather strange.  I 
have been catching up on a few weeks of posts, so I apologize for 
bringing up an older post.  But, as it is just from last weekend, I 
felt it wasn't too old.

The reason I love reading this list is because frequently members 
post ideas or perspectives I hadn't considered before.  Usually, I 
just think, "Wow, that is interesting", then move on.  However, I 
have some free time tonight, so I thought I would respond.  Sorry 
that it is a bit of a "me too" post.

> Carol wrote:
> I think we know a great deal about how Occlumency works, and we can
> see when and why Harry fails or gets it right. Before the first
> lesson, Snape tells him what he needs to do--*not* relax but to
> *resist*--to protect his mind from intrusion as he did with the
> Imperius Curse (534). 

Now me, Mindy:  I wanted to thank Carol for bringing up this idea.  
For around a year now, I have heard people say that Harry needed to 
relax to learn Occlumency and it always bothered me.  I too got the 
impression that Snape was telling Harry to focus on resisting.  As he 
did with the Imperius Curse.  Harry had to clear his mind to deflect 
that curse too.  Clear it in order to focus on deflecting, really.  
That does seem remarkably similar to what he was supposed to do with 
Occlumency.  Stop letting emotion get in the way and focus on 
resisting.  I thought Carol did quite a nice job in using canon 
quotes to support this idea.  

Of course, Snape is one of my favorite characters, so I admit to some 
bias.  However, I am fully willing to admit that Snape is sometimes 
quite a nasty and bitter man.  Those Occlumency lessons were not 
examples those times, IMO.

Recently here I read a post from someone claiming Snape was torturing 
Harry in those lessons.  (Sorry don't remember specific post 
number.)  I believe this is a common idea.  However, after some 
thought, I think that in many ways Snape's Occlumency lessons were 
little different than Lupin's Patronus lessons.  Gasp!  Yes, I did 
just say that.

Here are some common complaints:  "Snape didn't tell Harry how he was 
supposed to stop the Legilimency."  Well, I am not so sure Lupid did 
that bang up of a job at first either.  He has Harry practice without 
even a Boggart to start with.  Harry says the incantation a few times 
and produces something that "looked like a wisp of silver gas" (POA, 
Scholastic Hardcover pg 238).  From what we now know of the Patronus 
Charm, that certainly doesn't seem like Harry has mastered the 
defense.  Yet, Lupin then opened the case and let the Boggart out.  
When Harry inevitably fails, Lupin says he didn't expect Harry to do 
it the first time anyway.  Snape told Harry that the defense was 
similar to how he resisted the Imperius Curse.  Probably not the most 
helpful information.  Yet, is it really all that *less* helpful than 
Lupin's preparation?  Especially with Snape's follow-ups to focus, 
clear his mind, and control his emotions, etc.

"Snape subjected Harry to pain".  In Harry's first Patronus lesson he 
is subjected to the memories of the murder of his parents three 
times.  He collapses twice.  Is in tears at least once.  The only 
difference I see here is that Harry asked to continue with the 
Patronus lessons, while Snape didn't give Harry the option of 
quitting.  Surely, the memories of the murder of his parents count as 
being traumatic just as much as the memories of the awful treatment 
he received at the Dursleys as well as the other memories he 
experienced in Occlumency lessons?

I guess I could go on, but I think I made my point.  I just don't see 
how Harry was any better prepared to start learning the Patronus 
Charm than he was to learn Occlumency.  Doesn't sound like facing the 
Boggart was any less traumatic than facing Legilimens Snape.  I mean, 
unlike Neville, Harry's biggest fear is the Dementor, not Snape.  So, 
wouldn't facing the Dementor be even worse than facing Snape?

Seems to me like the only difference was that Harry didn't *want* to 
learn Occlumency.  In fact, part of Harry didn't want to learn the 
Patronus Charm either.  Several sessions into the lessons, Harry can 
only produce an "indistinct, silvery shadow" and he felt "guilty 
about his secret desire to hear his parents' voices again" (POA, 245-
246).  So, his partial desire to keep hearing the voices was 
interfering with his learning how to properly cast the charm.  
Similarly, his desire to keep seeing the visions of Voldemort's 
doings prevented him from properly learning how to perform Occlumency.

Granted, another difference between the lessons is Harry's differing 
feelings towards Snape and Lupin as people.  And Snape's and Lupin's 
feelings towards Harry.

I guess what I am saying is that I can't quite credit the idea that 
Snape was torturing Harry in those lessons, when the technique was 
essentially the same as Lupin's.  The effects of the first lessons 
were seemingly equally debilitating.  Yet, I doubt anyone would claim 
Lupin was torturing Harry.  (Well, except maybe Pippin.  Has Pippin 
put forward anything along those lines?  Can't remember, sorry.)  We 
saw Lupin teach the Patronus Charm by having Harry confront the 
Boggart/Dementor.  We saw Snape attempt to teach Harry Occlumency by 
confronting him with Legilimency.  BTW, we also saw Crouch!Moody 
teach Harry how to resist the Imperius Curse by confronting him with 
Imperio.  There didn't seem to be any outrage or shock from the 
faculty after that.  Perhaps this is common teaching practice in 
attempting to teach difficult magic or skills.  Or rather, magic or 
skills that work better when the student is directly threatened.  The 
trick is to put the threat into a controlled environment.  

My first 2 knuts on the list.

Mindy- who also wants to thank Carol for later presenting the idea 
that Harry wasn't allowed to remove memories in the Occlumency 
lessons because Dumbledore, via Snape, wanted to find out what kinds 
of visions Voldemort might be implanting in Harry's mind.  Fun idea!