Snape and Harry again.

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 113227

> Alla:

> It seemed to me that you were arguing that what Snape does 
to Harry  is just that ... No big deal. And Harry was supposed to 
shrug it off  and to submit to Snape's treatment of him to give him 
more enjoyment  than he already has.<

Pippin:
How would Harry laughing off Snape's treatment of him give 
Snape more enjoyment? If Harry cheerfully said, "I can see I'll 
have to study more if I want to do well in this class, sir" would 
Snape derive some twisted pleasure from it? If Harry said, "I was 
sorry to learn that my father treated you so badly when you were 
at school, and I wish there was something I could do about it" 
would you think less of him? 

See, as long as Harry defies Snape, Snape is getting what he 
wants, which is an excuse to punish Harry. So Snape will keep 
goading Harry, despite Harry's resistance. I understand that you 
want Snape to stop feeling gratified by the pleasure he feels 
when he hurts somebody, but I don't think that's under his 
control, anymore than I can help feeling gratified when I eat 
chocolate. I can give up eating chocolate, but I can't give up liking 
it, you see?

And unfortunately, Snape is in a position where he has to punish 
people sometimes...it's part of his job. And it's a job that the WW 
and Dumbledore want him to do, and apparently their ideas 
about what a good teacher is differ from ours, so I can't really 
blame him for the way he does it, though I don't approve. 

Alla:
> Kreacher, I believe, is a very different story. I do NOT believe 
that  Sirius treated Kreacher any worse than any other elf-owner 
treats  them. In general, it is very wrong. But I don't believe that 
Sirius  deserves to be singled out from the others. I believe that 
hose elves should be and will be set free, but I fail  to see how 
Sirius behaviour was the worst. Lucius to Dobby? yes. <

Pippin:
Excuse me?  There are at least 100 House Elves owned by  
Hogwarts, and I have never heard Dumbledore treat any of them 
the way Sirius treated Kreacher.

Alla: 
> It is your right to feel what you are feeling about James. I am 
just  having trouble figuring out how you consider what James 
did to Snape  such a big deal (and I agree with you, it was), but 
what Snape does  to those who cannot fight him back, not a big 
deal.<

Pippin:
I'm not talking about the way we should regard sadistic teachers 
in general, I'm talking very specifically about what Harry should 
do about Snape. 

Consider the boggart dementor versus the real dementor.  The 
feelings that Harry has facing the boggart dementor are just as 
real as the ones he has facing a real dementor. They are a big 
deal, and you could argue that both dementors and boggarts are  
evil sadistic creatures because of it.

But the remedy for each is very different. Riddikulus won't do a 
thing against a real dementor, but OTOH the patronus, as we 
finally saw in GoF, won't make a  boggart go away. You have to 
use laughter. You may feel you are doing something very noble 
and wonderful by conjuring a patronus instead, and the patronus 
may cancel out the bad feelings. But it won't do a thing about the  
boggart, and as soon as the patronus fades, the boggart will be 
back to scare you again.
 
Pippin