In Defense of Snape (long)

[dungrollin]

No: HPFGUIDX 122416


> > As Alla asked:
> > >>Don't you find it ironic, that Neville progressed in Harry's 
> > DADA club more during a few months than in Snape class 
> > during five  years.<<
>  
> Pippin:
> > Trouble is, Neville had Lupin for DADA, just as Harry did, so 
> > whatever made the difference for Neville in the DA, it wasn't 
> > finally having a competent, non-scary teacher.  Also, if I am 
not 
> > mistaken, Neville *has* made progress in potions class. IIRC, 
> > no cauldrons were injured in the making of OOP <g>. Not one.
> 
> SSSusan:
> Ah.  A fair point, Pippin.  Maybe this says something about 
> Neville's comfort level in learning from peers over learning from 
> teachers?  Or maybe it takes a long time for his confidence to 
> develop & manifest itself?  Did increased confidence in the DA 
> lead to increased confidence all around, including in Snape's 
> potions class?
> 
>  
> Pippin:
> > Could it be that in subjects where he isn't naturally motivated, 
> > Neville actually needs to be scared to try his best? That 
> > Snape's methods actually did break through that thick skull of 
> > his? Not PC, I know, but I'm just wondering.
> 
> SSSusan:
> Oh, I'm not trying to be PC, even if that's how people are reading 
> my comments.  I'm NOT about being PC just for the sake of being 
> PC.  
> I'm just not sure that we really saw evidence that scaring Neville 
> *helped* him.  I wonder if, instead, things like Lupin showing him 
> he could face down a boggart and Harry's DA giving him a chance to 
> practice DADA skills w/o being watched by a teacher or being 
> yelled at like he routinely is in Potions, finally built up a 
> level of confidence which is helping him overcome those tough 
> subjects?  I'm not sure, I'm just wondering, too.
<rest snipped>

Dungrollin:

I've found some canon to suggest that fear is actually a 
good motivator, and particularly for Neville:

OotP, chapter 25 The Beetle at Bay:

"Harry was pleased to see that all of them, even Zacharias Smith, 
had been spurred on to work harder than ever by the news that ten 
more Death Eaters were now on the loose, but in nobody was this 
improvement more pronounced than in Neville.  The news of his 
parents' attackers' escape had wrought a strange and even slightly 
alarming change in him.  He had not once mentioned his meeting with 
Harry, Ron and Hermione on the close ward in St. Mungo's and, taking 
their lead from him, they had kept quiet about it too.  Nor had he 
said anything on the subject of Bellatrix and her fellow torturers' 
escape.  In fact, Neville barely spoke during the DA meetings any 
more, but worked relentlessly on every new jinx and counter-curse 
Harry taught them, his plump face screwed up in concentration, 
apparently indifferent to injuries or accidents and working harder 
than anyone else in the room.  He was improving so fast it was quite 
unnerving and when Harry taught them the Shield Charm - a means of 
deflecting minor jinxes so that they rebounded upon the attacker - 
only Hermione mastered the charm faster than Neville."

(Sorry - it's all one paragraph in the book, too...)

Make of it what you will.

Dungrollin