Snape's teaching methods / Do they work for Neville at all or not?

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 143970

> > >>Alla:
> > There is always professor Sprout of course who could also 
teach    
> > dear Sevvy a thing or two which can help Neville perform better.
> > <snip>
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> Prove that he didn't talk to Sprout.  Actually, tell me about 
> Sprout's teaching methods.  Canon is pretty blank when it comes to 
> Sprout.  I can easily see Sprout telling Snape (and Neville's 
other 
> professors) that he's not an idiot and he generally lacks 
confidence 
> and to not let up on him because even if he thinks he can't, 
Neville 
> really can perform under pressure.

Alla:

Canon is indeed pretty blank when it comes to Sprout, BUT there is a 
circumstantial evidence, IMO which shows us that Sprout's attitude 
and teaching methods are VERY different from those that dear Sevvie 
employs.


" "Mimbulus mimbletonia," he said proudly.
Harry stared at the thing. It was pulsating slightly, giving it the 
rather sinister look of some diseased internal organ.
"It's really, really rare," said Neville, beaming. "I don't know if 
there is one in the greenhouse in Hogwarts, even. I can't wait to 
show it to Professor Sprout. My Great Uncle Algie got it for me in 
Assyria. I am going to see if I can breed from it." - OOP, p.186, 
paperback, am.ed.

Erm... can you imagine Neville wanting to show Snape ANYTHING and 
actually be excited about it?

It tells me that Neville has very different relationship with 
professor Sprout from that with Snape
So, can I see Sprout telling other teachers than Neville can perform 
under pressure? Sure, why not. But do I see her interpreting 
the "pressure' as threatening to poison Neville's toad. Sorry, no 
can do here. :-)



> 
> > >>Alla:
> > That is the main reason I never bought and will probably never 
buy 
> > the argument that Snape cares tiny bit about Neville learning 
> > anything - because he SEES that his approach does not work 
and     
> > does not change.
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> Erm... How do you figure?  Neville passes potions every year, his 
> cauldrons-melted-or-otherwise-destroyed statistics decrease 
> steadily, and his potions improve.  So what Snape actually sees 
(if 
> we go by the books, anyway) is a challenged student improving.  If 
> it's working, why should Snape change his methods?


Alla:

Well, how do you figure that Neville does not flunk the potions 
every year? I can absolutely see him getting zeros from Snape over 
and over again. Keep in mind, I think he is MUCH more able student 
than Snape can ever imagine because he passes OWLS, but I do think 
that Snape terrified him that much that anything that Neville COULD 
do well, he does not. It was VERY telling to me that Neville 
performed well enough when Snape was not there to frighten him.

Are you arguing that because Neville is  not expelled, it means that 
he passes the potions?
If so, I don't remember canon being clear that direct link between 
flunking a subject and being expelled exists.

After all, when Harry at the end of third year worries that he could 
have flunked potions but for Dumbledore's interference, he does NOT 
worry that he could have been expelled.

"Harry was amazed when he got through Potions. He had a shrewd 
suspicion that Dumbledore might have stepped in to stop Snape 
falling him on purpose. Snape's behavior towards Harry over the past 
week had been quite alarming. Harry wouldn't have thought it 
possible that Snape's dislike for him could increase, but it 
certainly had. A muscle twitched unpleasantly at the corner of 
Snape's thin mouth every time he looked at Harry, and he was 
constantly flexing his fingers, as thought itching to place them   
around Harry's throat" - PoA, am.ed, paperback, pp.429-430.

As an aside, it is amazing to me how our perspective changes when we 
have more information about characters.

I remember when I read this quote much earlier that I found the last 
sentence to be quite funny. I did not think that Snape would ever 
itch to place his fingers around Harry's throat. I thought that 
those thoughts were Harry's overactive imagination at work, because 
back then I thought that Snape spit out nasty words, but would not 
hit him ever.

Well, after book 5 and of course especially after HBP I think that 
maybe Harry WAS reading Snape's body language correctly after all. :)

Just my opinion,

Alla