[HPforGrownups] Re: THEORY: Unifying Occlumency Theory

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 116341

--- Nora Renka <nrenka at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Teaching relaxation requires (in my experience) a truly
> co-operative 
> model, where the amount of force starts very small, and is really 
> primarily an agent of feedback to both the teacher and student.  
> Student learns what force feels like in small amounts that can be 
> dealt with at first, and then you start to crank it up, over time. 


All very true.  However, as I understand the book, there were some
mitigating circumstances:

1.  Dumbledore's determination to protect Harry from the knowledge of
the prophesy and the implications of Harry's new connection to
VOldemort prevents him (or any other adult) from sitting down and
actually telling Harry what Voldemort is trying to do and why he has
to resist;

2.  The Arthur/snake Christmas vision has shown that the mind
connection is stronger and farther advanced than anyone knew, even
though nobody - including DUmbledore - really understands what's
exactly going on since this is all new territory for everyone,
including Voldemort;

3.  (This is not canon but I think it's a good assumption) Senior
members of the Order kick around some ideas about how to deal with
this and although telling Harry would be best, Dumbledore won't hear
of it.  So the idea of occlumency is brought forward - not because
it's the best solution but because teaching it will impart the
necessary relax-the-mind techniques that Harry has to learn. 
Normally the teacher-student relationship should be supportive (see
Nora's posting above) but having Harry hate Snape might work too -
the right lessons for the wrong reasons.  Everybody - especially
Snape - has concerns with this but no one has a better idea and time
is running out so occlumency it is.  Sirius isn't told because he'd
go berserk at the whole thing, assumption and solution.

4.  The teacher has to be Snape because a) Dumbledore won't do it
(for whatever reasons); b) Snape knows occlumency; c) it has to be
someone that Harry can have access to on a weekly basis without
arousing comment about his disappearance from school or tower on a
regular basis (so Remus/Sirius/Moody hiding out in Hogsmeade is out
of the question); and d) it has to be someone that Umbridge won't
regard as a Harry sympathizer and thus insist on supervising the
"remedial" lessons.  With all of those constraints, Snape was the
only choice.

Much of the plot twists involving occlumency only make sense if the
goal was for Harry to practice technique rather than to actually
learn occlumency.  

Magda


		
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