Admonishing Snape

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 129453

>>"lupinlore" wrote:
> Over on Sugar Quill there has been a mini-discussion on the 
following topic:  Have any of the adults ever admonished Snape for 
his attitude toward Harry?  What do you all think?
 
Potioncat:
I can think of two times, excuse me for not quoting actual pages. The 
first is in CoS when they are examining Harry and Mrs. Norris.  McG 
bristles at Snape's suggestion that Harry be denied Quidditch until 
he tells the truth. She says something along the line of "the cat 
wasn't hit with a broom."

The second is in GoF, when Snape seems to suggest Harry cheated, but 
McG says that if DD believes him, that should be good enough for 
anyone.

Not exactly an admonishment, but the closest I can recall.

 Lupinlore (with a good bit of snipping):
> One possibility is that they (probably Lupin, McGonagall, and I
> suspect maybe even Dumbledore) have, and found out it does no good
> whatsoever.  
snip
> 
> Now, this line of thought goes, what on earth can Dumbledore do?
snip

  Dumbledore can't afford to do more than make disapproving noises,
> because he can't afford to back up any threats.

Potioncat:
I'm only responding to one theory here, and I've snipped a great deal 
of it...for brevity's sake. But here's why I disagree with this one.

DD is the only wizard LV fears.
McG has mentioned DD's great skills and powers.
Snape has mentioned DD's strength.(during Occlumency lessons.)
We've seen two episodes where characters talk about how frightening 
DD is when he's angry. One was the episode when the dementors came to 
the Quidditch game (was it Hermione or Lupin who described DD's 
anger?) and the other is when they find out MM is Crouch!Moody and 
Harry sees DD's anger.

I don't think DD would have any trouble making Snape behave.

 Unless of course Severus/Dumbledore interactions are just like 
Harry/Snape interactions.  ;-) But I don't think so.

I really don't know why Snape is allowed to treat students the way he 
does. What is JKR thinking/saying here? Perhaps JKR and DD know 
something about Snape we don't. Perhaps they, or at least DD, care 
about Snape and are making allowances.

Picture it now: Yearly Evaluation, DD says, "Well, Severus, you've 
made improvements. This year we only had 10 complaints from students' 
parents.  Keep up the good work and let's make 5 our goal for next 
year..." 

As for the Occlumencey lessons...there is a big piece of information, 
if not several pieces, that we are missing.  We don't know if we 
really know why Harry was taking lessons. I'm not convinced it wasn't 
so Snape could find out what was going on. We don't know when DD 
found out about the Pensieve incident or who told him or what was 
said between Snape and DD.

And the last piece is where we fans really fill in the blanks with 
our own particular outlook and with very different outcomes. 
Potioncat