Hagrid and Snape: Nice people get a pass

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 125068



Lupinlore:
<SNIP>
Now, why?  This seems rather unjust, doesn't it?  Why should Snape be
castigated for snarling comments and Hagrid be given, by and large, a
pass for using hyppogriffs?  Why should Molly get a pass for behavior
that would seem to incite friction among her children and the 
Dursleys not be given a pass for the different ways in which they 
treat Harry and Dudley?
 
Well, the answer is that niceness is, for some bizarre reason, 
rather undervalued in these discussions.  The fact is that it isn't 
very easy to be nice.  It is MUCH easier to be cruel, snarky, and 
uncaring of other people's feelings.  People who are nice show that 
they are willing, to use DD's language, to do "what is right rather 
than what is easy," not just in the huge questions but, what is 
harder perhaps and maybe even as important, in the small, everyday 
things of life.
 
Let's face it, the small things ARE life.  And by their behavior,
Snape and the Dursleys show they are not, in the matters that make up
the vast majority of life, willing to follow the precepts of "right
over easy."
 
<SNIP>

So, in sum, we give Hagrid a pass and not Snape.  And it is perfectly
fair and appropriate to do so.  And we give Molly a pass and not the
Dursleys.  And it is perfectly fair and appropriate to do so.



Alla:

Great post, Lupinlore. While I agree with 95% of it, I want to 
register one minor disagreement.

I am most certainly much more willing to forgive Molly's and 
Hagrid's daily lapses than Snape and Dursleys for the precise 
reasons you so eloquently stated, but I don't think that I am going 
to give Hagrid high pass as a teacher simply because he is nicer 
than Snape. As a person and friend to the Trio, YES, definitely,as a 
teacher - NO. He cannot maintain discipline and yeah, to start with 
hypogriffs, not very wise, I'd say.

Nevertheless, Hagrid most definitely gets points from me for trying 
to be a good teacher. As other argued he has no prior teaching 
experience and I think  he definitely improved from PoA to OOP.

I also want to thank Neri for bringing up the point I never thought 
about - Hagrid's teachings are indeed come in handy for the Trio in 
every book. So, I am rethinking Hagrid's academic usefullness. Maybe 
he IS knows what he is doing, teaching-wise or maybe his syllabus 
even been approved by Dumbledore. :o)


Hickengruendler:
 
Still I thought he was pretty sneaky in this scene. I know he was 
genuinely concerned for his brother, and I really appreciate that, 
but he didn't even seem to think about the possibility that Grawp is 
a danger for Harry and Hermione, inspite of the fact that he nearly 
killed Hermione and that he gravely wounded Hagrid himself. Sorry, 
but this scene made me dislike Hagrid. I think he went too far, here.


Alla:

I understand where you are coming from , nevertheless I consider 
this scene to be the perfect example of Hagrid's lapses in judgment. 
He did NOT think it through, definitely. I can forgive him though 
because I don't think that if he would imagine for a second that 
Hermione or Harry will be harmed, he would asked them to do that.

Grawp, on the other hand, I would love to be harmed severely enough 
for him not to ever appear in the books again. :o)


Just my opinion, of course

Alla