Teaching Neville & Blood Prejudice(was:Rampant Ingratitude, was Re:Lusting...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 129463

<snip of previous discussions>
>>Betsy:
>In *this* case, Neville had been assigned to do the potion *on his 
own*.  Hermione, in this case, was cheating.  She's lucky she and 
Neville didn't get expelled.  (And as Hermione made sure that 
Neville didn't actually learn Potions, might it not be argued that 
Snape hopefully taught them a small amount of ethics?)<

>>Amiable Dorsai: 
>No difference between the two cases--Neville was no more told to do 
it "on his own" in this instance than in the other, nor, if we are 
to engage in the sort of logic chopping you claim Snape is playing 
at, did he tell Hermione not to help him--"I don't remember asking 
you to show off, Miss Granger,"-- was all he said.  Hermione didn't 
show off; she helped Neville quietly and without drawing attention 
to herself.<

Betsy:
Right, you force me to go to the books <g>.

"A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. [...] His potion, 
which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned --
"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it to 
splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could 
see.  "Orange.  Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick 
skull of yours?  Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only 
one rat spleen was needed?  Didn't I state plainly that a dash of 
leech juice would suffice?  What do I have to do to make you 
understand, Longbottom?"
[...]
"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it 
right --"
"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape 
coldly..." (PoA scholastic hardback pp. 125-126)

It would take a major twist of logic indeed to presume that Snape 
actually *does* want Hermione to "help" Neville.  (And I don't 
recall claiming Snape is not logical.)  To make it even clearer that 
Snape wishes Neville to continue on his own, Snape assigns him a 
mini-exam.

"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of 
this potion to your toad and see what happens.  Perhaps that will 
encourage you to do it properly." (ibid p.126)

Snape sets a task before Neville, with the hope that he's given the 
boy enough motivation to reach his full potential.  Hermione 
sabatoges Snape's efforts.  And Hermione is fully aware that she is 
cheating.

"Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her 
mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see." (ibid p. 127)

By telling Neville exactly what to do, Hermione prevents Neville 
from learning on his own, reinforces Neville's belief that he can't 
do potions and gets in the way of Snape's efforts to get through to 
a troubled student.  Hermione was trying to be nice, but she acted 
as an enabler and in the end did Neville no favors.  

<more discussion snipped>

>>Betsy:
>And you'll notice that Pureblood Ron gets disciplined, so I don't 
think a blood prejuidice is really going to fly.  (Does he ever pick 
on Dean?)<

>>Amiable Dorsai: 
>Dunno about Dean, but Ron is a blood traitor from a family of blood 
traitors.  The man who once called Lily Evans a "mudblood" might 
find that an interesting distinction.<

Betsy:
The *boy* who called Lily Evans a mudblood might, but that boy is 
dead.  The man who left the Death Eaters and risks his life for the 
Order has yet to display any blood prejudice.  The reason you don't 
know about Dean is because Dean has never been picked on.  Rather 
strange behaviour for someone who's supposedly obsessed with blood 
purity.  

What Ron is, besides a blood traitor from a family of blood 
traitors, is a Gryffindor from a family of Gryffindors.  And a boy 
who has just smarted off to Snape.  I'm quite sure those last two 
traits are what get Ron punished.

Betsy