back to Hermione, McGonagall and Snape was something else

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 128431

 
> Neri:

> 
> SS/PS Ch. 8:
> After making a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a 
match
> and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the 
lesson,
> only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; 
Professor
> McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy 
and
> gave Hermione a rare smile.
> 
> SS/PS Ch. 9:
> Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron 
through
> the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.
> "Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about 
yourselves, I
> don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the
> points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching
> Spells."
> 
> GoF, Ch. 15:
> "We don't take O.W.L.s till fifth year!" said Dean Thomas 
indignantly.
> "Maybe not, Thomas, but believe me, you need all the preparation you
> can get! Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has
> managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. I might
> remind you that your pincushion, Thomas, still curls up in fright if
> anyone approaches it with a pin!"
> Hermione, who had turned rather pink again, seemed to be trying not 
to
> look too pleased with herself.

snip 

Potioncat:
Thank you Neri, for those quotes, which I know I should snip. I did 
snip one quote which did not refer to Miss Granger. I'm taking this 
back to the question, who is the better teacher for Hermione?

This quote from PoA, chapter nine:
>That is the second time you've spoken out of turn, Miss Granger," 
said Snape coolly. "Five more points from Gryffindor for being an 
insufferable know-it-all."
...It was a mark of how much the class loathed Snape that they were 
all glaring at him, because every one of them had called Hermione a 
know-it-all at least once, and Ron, who told Hermione she was a know-
it-all at least twice a week...<


Can you not see it? Snape,in his usual self sacrificing way has taken 
a bullet for Hermione. He'll never get any credit for it either, just 
the satisfaction that he has helped yet another intelligent, socially 
backward student on the way to acceptance by her peers. By cruelly 
calling her the same name her Housemates used, he made her one of 
them.

See, although well meaning, McGonagall has further set Hermione as an 
object of derision among her classmates. She is the bar they are 
judged by, and she is very high. Who can hope to meet her tallent? 
And she certaninly enjoys the attention. But Snape in one move, has 
leveled the playing field and made it possible for Hermione to have a 
more enjoyable Hogwarts experience.

Potioncat, (BTW does anyone know the counter spell for Tongue-in-
Cheek?)

Oh, was it Pippin who said Snape is most likely hoping Hermione's 
judgement catches up with her potionmaking skills before she kills 
someone?...I did mean to cut and paste that. I think that is a 
perfect description of Hermione's abilities!

Potioncat, really signing off now.