Scapegoating Slytherin - The Moral Majority

[colebiancardi]

No: HPFGUIDX 144448

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_svirn" <a_svirn at y...> wrote:
>
> >Betsy Hp:
> ><snip>Sounds pretty hostile to me. I don't think the Slytherins in 
> >the
> >class could miss that she angered Snape.
> 
> a_svirn:
> You can hardly call it hostility, not by her usual standards. She 
> was hostile with Hagrid and Trelawney, with Snape she was just 
> showing her whip hand.  Nevertheless, she took care to present him 
> with a carrot afterwards. Her overall verdict was positive after 
> all. 
> 
colebiancardi: when it comes to adults, that was Umbridge's *usual
standards* of hostility - she is passive-aggressive.  All of her
interviews were done with a smile and her *questioning* of the
professors, on the surface, are innocent sounding.  However, for those
who lack confidence(Hagrid & Trelawney), it unnerved them and they got
all defensive during her questioning.  Everyone Umbridge questioned
was given questions, that if the professor *took* the bait, as Hagrid
& Trelawney did, the situation becomes worse for them.   After all, we
could say her overall verdict on McGongonall was also positive, but
Umbridge's methods towards Umbridge were hostile, by using the
passive-aggressive mode.  Hostility comes in many shapes & forms,
yelling at someone is not the only indicator of hostility.   In that
scene with Snape, she was trying to undermine his confidence & shake
him up.  She failed.

colebiancardi
 
>