Snape and Teaching, Does it Matter?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 128428

>>Lupinlore:
<snip>
>Interesting as all the debates might be, does anyone really think 
that teaching is particularly important to the HP saga?
>Frankly, I don't.  When it comes down to it, I don't think JKR 
really cares very much whether the various characters she puts on 
the Hogwarts faculty are good teachers or not.<
<snip>

Betsy:
Interesting, except, no.  No, no, no.  JKR is *very* interested in 
the teachers and their abilities.  Frankly, the entire Harry Potter 
series reads like an ode to teaching.  Who's the most powerful 
wizard in the WW?  The headmaster of a school.  What does our 
intrepid hero do when faced with a life-threatening challenge?  He 
goes to the school library.  Who's the *only* Maurader to survive 
without going all eeevilll?  Yup, the one who becomes a teacher.  
Where is the heart of the incredibly cool, totally tough, kicks-
evil's-ass resistance group located?  A school. (Yes, Gimmauld Place 
is the headquarters.  But all the cool members hang at Hogwarts.)

The Harry Potter series is totally up-teachers.  A character's 
coolness is generally in ratio to either their teaching ability or 
their learning ability.  Even the golden Mauraders weren't just 
pretty and athletic, they were the most intelligent boys of their 
year.  (All of the "it" girls are pretty brainy too.)

A huge signal that Umbridge (one of JKR's more insidious and creepy 
villian thus far) is "no good" is that she's not only a bad teacher, 
she's actually *against* learning.  And even Fake!Moody, who wasn't 
all bad as a teacher, is found out to have cheated Harry through his 
last big test - a teaching no-no, I would assume.  Quirrell was a 
weak teacher and Lockhart was pathetic.  Frankly, being a bad 
teacher sends a pretty strong signal in JKR's world, and it's not a 
good one.  

(Hagrid gets points for trying to improve his skills, plus he's 
really enthusiastic about teaching, and I think JKR is making a 
point that teaching ain't easy.  You have to learn how to become a 
good teacher.  Trelawny is allowed to slide because she does have a 
useful skill.  But she avoids her colleagues when she can, and it 
takes the powerful mojo of the sexy new DADA professor to bring her 
out of her tower and down to the faculty Christmas dinner (PoA)  - 
poor Lupin. <g> So she may well realize that her teaching abilities 
aren't up to snuff.)

>>Lupinlore:
<snip> 
>Hogwarts is only a backdrop and the faculty are only supporting 
characters.<

Betsy:
Erm, yeah.  Like Middle Earth is merely the scenic route and the 
elves provide some eye-candy.  If Harry wasn't a student, going 
through his seven years of schooling, if Dumbledore was the owner of 
the local coffee bar, the story would be *totally* different.  (And 
I would actually bump Hogwarts up to a supporting character, 
myself.  With its moving staircases and disappearing rooms it's had 
more action scenes than some of the human characters. <g>)

>>Lupinlore:
>Whether we are talking about Snape or Hagrid or McGonnagal or any 
of the others, the important thing to remember is that THEY JUST 
AIN'T ALL THAT IMPORTANT.<  

Betsy:
But that doesn't make any sense at all.  Why, if their teaching 
abilities are completely unimportant, would JKR bring it up?  Why 
would there be three years of Harry and gang working to help Hagrid 
become a better teacher?  Why show scenes of Umbridge visiting and 
rating the various classrooms?  Why bring Trelawny's teaching 
abilities into question the moment her character is introduced?  
Teaching ability obviously means something. (Considering this is 
a "school-days" type tale, I'd say teaching ability is as important 
as observation skills in a who-dun-it.)

As to the characters being unimportant in and of themselves, if that 
was the case they'd go the way of Hermione's little sister.  Or at 
the very least, the way of Dean's wizard father.  If they didn't 
bring something necessary to the tale, JKR would cut them.

>>Lupinlore:
>Is Snape a good teacher in JKR's estimation?  I doubt she's 
interested enough in him to make up her mind.  He is in the story to 
serve a purpose and beyond that purpose I really don't think she 
cares very much about him.<

Betsy:
Now you're just being cruel. <g>  JKR obviously cares a great deal 
about Snape.  She's gone through a lot of trouble to introduce 
fascinating tid-bits about his background, she's given him some of 
the best lines in the books, she's been quite mysterious about the 
final role he'll play.  Heck, Harry spends more time daydreaming 
about Snape than he *ever* did about Cho.  (True, most of those 
daydreams end with Snape's gory death, but the point still stands.)

No, I'm quite sure that Snape is one of JKR's favorite characters - 
she herself has said he's one of the most fun to write.  (And by 
favorite I'm not saying JKR says Snape is good.  Even villains are 
great fun to write, and writers, as their creators, are quite 
facinated by them.  Not that I'm saying Snape's a villain!)

>>Lupinlore:
>Is Lupin a good teacher in her mind?  I suppose so, but she was 
building up sympathy for him with the readers and a level of trust 
with Harry.  The teaching per se was rather beside the point.<

Betsy:
No, the teaching *was* the point.  Lupin is the teacher Harry most 
relates to.  (McGonagall is good, but Harry is intimidated by her.)  
And interestingly enough, Harry relates to him pretty much only as a 
teacher.  Lupin, strangely enough, doesn't talk to Harry too much 
about his father.  IIRC it's only at the end of the book that Lupin 
reveals just how close he'd been to James and Lily. 

Sirius is Harry's link to his parents, but Lupin is his teacher 
(note that Harry never refers to Lupin as Remus).  Lupin has a 
relationship with Harry completely outside his parents.  What's 
interesting is that JKR might be setting up a situation where the 
more enduring relationship is that between teacher and student, 
rather than best friend of dead parents and son of dead best 
friends. 

>>Lupinlore: 
>In the end a lot of these questions, as much as they exercise us, 
are, I suspect, of very little interest to JKR.  They just don't 
touch very strongly on Harry or his story, which is what she is 
really interested in.<
<snip>

Betsy:
They're the meat and potatoes of the story.  It was Harry becoming a 
teacher himself that heralded his growing maturity and readiness to 
take on the burden of being the prophecy boy.  My gosh, one of the 
major themes of the story is the break in the school brought about 
by an argument over what children were worthy of being taught.  An 
argument waged by four teachers who founded a school of learning 
unique to it's age.  Four teachers known as the most powerful 
witches and wizards of the time.

Betsy, who suddenly wishes she'd taken those ed. courses after all