Tyranny (WAS Harry learning from Snape)

[dzeytoun]

No: HPFGUIDX 114480


> Hannah now: When has Snape's behaviour resulted in an utter and 
> absolute disaster? If you mean the occlumency failure, I don't 
think 
> it can be entirely blamed on Snape; Harry doesn't try, he is very 
> stupid when he looks in the pensieve, he never even tries to resume 
> lessons.  
> 
> I would also say that Snape does a lot of things he doesn't really 
> want to solely because Dumbledore wants him to.  Such as teaching 
> Harry occlumency in the first place, making the polyjuice potion 
for 
> Lupin, shaking Black's hand, keeping quiet about Lupin being a 
> werewolf when he found out as a teenager...  We don't know what 
goes 
> on between DD and Snape behind closed doors, but when we see them 
> together, Snape always ultimately does what DD says, even when he's 
> plainly not happy about it.
> 
> People follow DD because they love him and believe in what he is 
> fighting for.  I don't think that DD is particularly lenient on his 
> followers either; he makes Sirius stay in Grimmauld Place for 
> example.  But one of the strengths of the Order is its diversity.  
> The members are very diverse, having one thing in common - wanting 
> to defeat LV.  I don't see any evidence of DD trying to force them 
> all into his own mold, but they are still a force to be reckoned 
> with.  With the DA, we see people beginning to behave in the same 
> way towards Harry, particularly the five loyal but wildly different 
> friends who risk their lives to help him in the DoM.  
> 
> Hannah

Very good points.  Yes, I do mean Occlumency, which I lay almost 
solely at the door of Severus and his utterly idiotic 
teaching "methods" and his attitude.  But that is a different 
argument.

I agree that perhaps much of the tension here come from restricted 
viewpoint.  We don't know, by and large, what happens when Harry 
isn't around.  DD might very well chew Snape up one side and down the 
other for his attitude toward Harry (or, I think more likely, wearily 
remonstrate that Snape is overstepping his bounds YET AGAIN in any 
particular instance).  It would make sense that Harry doesn't know 
that, since no school administrator can let students know about his 
disciplinary actions toward teachers.  We certainly have one 
incident, Harry's Potions grade in third year, where Harry at least 
believed that he stepped in an flatly over-ruled Snape.  

It is important to remember that Snape's behavior toward Harry is not 
typical of his behavior toward other students.  With most other 
students (Neville being the only other exception we know of) he is 
cold and sharp-tongued but seems restrained and at least tolerably 
just.  Looking at his behavior toward students in general, one can 
see that Dumbledore might have the attitude that "Severus isn't easy 
to get along with, but he knows Potions and the students need to 
learn how to get by with people who aren't cheerful or pleasant."

However, we can't help but form our opinions and objections from the 
evidence we have at hand.  Yes, if we saw Snape and Dumbledore from 
several different angles, and particularly if we saw them when Harry 
isn't around, we might have different attitudes and opinions might 
not be so strong and deeply divided.  But that is not the way JKR has 
chosen to show us these characters, and so we have to go with what we 
see.

Dzeytoun