[HPforGrownups] Snape the Zen Master/ was Re: Harry's Role in OotP (long)

[Laura Ingalls Huntley]

No: HPFGUIDX 130182

Tonks:
> And just think if the person that was with him was LV. He would not
> be very prepared to face the enemy now would he?

Before I really get going, I'd just like to point out that this entire 
analogy only works IF brow-beating and nastiness is at all an effective 
way of teaching Occlumency.  After all, it's not really Snape's job to 
toughen Harry up so that he can win a staring contest with the Dark 
Lord, is it?  What he's SUPPOSED to be doing is teaching Harry to use a 
powerful tool that has a concrete application against Voldy.  If he 
fails at this, and especially if that failure is a direct consequence 
of the way he went about teaching the subject, then all the toughening 
in the world isn't going to help Harry shield his mind, and Snape is, 
IMO, at fault.

> Think of the basic training folks in the Army get. It is a place
> that I would never want to be and I would never survive it because I
> would tell my commanding officer to go to hell after the first hour.
> And I know people don't want to see Harry as *drafted*, etc. He's
> still a kid, yada, yada…  But like it or not he is in a war and he
> is the prime objective for LV.
>
> I understand that basic training for the Army is rather nasty. They
> say mean, nasty things to you.  You are exhausted, angry, and
> humiliated on a daily basis. How is Harry's experience any different
> than that?  And for the same reason, he has to be prepared to meet
> the enemy face to face. And the next time he meets LV face to face
> he will have to face him alone.

You keep coming back to the solider analogy, which I think is invalid, 
because Harry *isn't* a solider.  Furthermore, he will never *be* a 
solider -- nor *should* he.  In so many ways, the solider mentality 
(which is what basic training *really* accomplishes) is directly 
opposed to Harry's natural character.  Harry is a hero.  He's never 
going to follow orders without questioning them.  He's never going to 
report to a superior or follow a chain of command.  He's never going to 
allow tactical loss of life for the greater good.  He'll never hesitate 
to put his life in danger to save someone else, even though his own 
life is by far more important to the war effort.  Harry's personality 
(and from what you said, your own) will *never* allow him to be a good 
solider.

But he's still going to defeat the Dark Lord, and he's going to do it 
*because* he's a hero (with all of the strengths and weaknesses that go 
along with it), and not a solider.  Is this realistic?  Maybe, maybe 
not.  But if I wanted to read a story about soliders, I would read a 
history book.  When I want a story about a hero, I read fantasy.  
That's just the way it is, and, IMO, the way it should be.

> No Phoenix to come to his rescue, no
> DD to show his power, no ghosts from the wand to hold LV off.  Harry
> is going to have to face LV ALONE.

I recall two times when Harry has met LV in what amounted to a 
one-on-one battle of strength.  The first is the Priori scene, in which 
Harry triumphs basically because he is as stubborn as all get out.  The 
second is when he is possessed in the DoM -- and in this case he 
triumphs because he *loves*.  Now, neither of these qualities are 
things that make good soldier -- in fact, being stubborn and succumbing 
to emotion are things that soldiers should specifically NOT do.  But 
these ARE the weapons that will allow Harry to defeat LV for good.  As 
Dumbledore says, Harry has a power that Voldemort knows not, and 
*that's* what's going to make Harry different from all of the countless 
other Aurors and Order member (i.e. the common fighters -- soldiers) 
that Voldemort has killed.

> LV is a powerful wizard, second
> only to DD. Harry hasn't got a chance in his present state of being
> blown by the wind in all directions. LV can do with him as he wills.
> Harry has no discipline. Harry has been a child playing with LV and
> the adults around Harry have protected him as DD has watched him
> grow in the knowledge and strength that will hopefully prepare Harry
> for the day that is to come. Harry has been is training without
> realizing it.

Oh, I agree with that.  Dumbledore put Harry into training the second 
he left him on the Dursley's doorstep.

<SNIP>

Laura (who left the rest of this post to be responded to by someone who 
has some actual experience with Zen training.)