Hermione cheating over Trevor?

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 129577

>>Besty:
>Oh yes, Hermione *was* acting out of compassion.  But she was still 
cheating.  Hermione herself would admit that she was cheating.  At 
this point she had decided that it was worth breaking the rules 
to "save" Neville's pet.  As I said before, Hermione was acting out 
of kindness.  But she *does* sabatoge Snape's attempts to reach a 
troubled student.<

>>Laura Ingalls Huntley: 
> Well, that's *your* reading of his motivations.  It's not 
necessarily *my* reading, and, most importantly, it's certainly not 
Hermione's "reading".<

Betsy:
"What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?" 
[...] 
"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." (OotP scholastic ed p.126)

I do read Snape's motivation as trying to encourage Neville to do the 
potion properly.  I admit, I'm taking him at his word.  Honestly, I'm 
not sure what Hermione thought Snape was doing, if she even thought 
about it at all.  I think she was so caught up in feeling sorry for 
poor stupid Neville she was thinking more of how to save him rather 
than why Snape put Trevor on the line.  I'm curious, how do you read 
Snape's motivations?

>>Laura Ingalls Huntley:
>I'm actually not quite sure what you are trying to argue here (my 
fault, sorry), but I think what Sherry was trying to say was that 
Hermione should not be criticized for this instance of "cheating".<

Betsy:
My point is motivation - shmotivation.  Cheating is cheating.  And 
though Hermione's motives were very kindly meant, she reinforces 
Neville's own belief that he is a big failure that can't do anything 
right.  I will say, however, that were I in Hermione's place I may 
well do the same thing, especially since Neville asks so piteously 
for help.  But I would be completely aware (as I think Hermione is) 
that I *was* cheating.

>>Laura Ingalls Huntley: 
>In this argument, I think, it doesn't really matter what Snape's 
actual motivations are -- it's what Hermione *believes* them to be. 
And, honestly, if she thinks he'd actually kill Trevor -- it's his 
own fault for being such a raving bastard.
>Mind you, I'm not saying Snape *shouldn't* be a raving bastard -- 
he'd not be half so interesting if he wasn't.  I just don't think the 
other characters should be expected to act like he isn't a nasty 
piece of work.<

Betsy:
I'm not sure why Hermione's understanding of Snape's motivations 
matter.  She cheated.  Full stop.  Snape does come across as fully 
capable of poisoning someone's (especially a Gryffindor's) pet.  I do 
see that.  *I* don't think Snape would *actually* kill a pet, but I 
think he cultivates his "scary, nasty, bastard" persona quite well, 
so I can see how *Hermione* would think he'd do so.  So she decides 
to cheat to help save Neville's pet.  

>>Laura Ingalls Huntley: 
>I've snipped the rest of the post, as it didn't really pertain to 
Hermione, although I *do* think the fact that Snape only five points 
is a good . . . erm, *point*.

Betsy:
Heh.  Snape is actually pretty fair about point removal, IIRC.  He 
rarely takes many points at all.  (I think McGonagall has taken the 
largest amount of points from Harry and gang.)

>>Laura Ingalls Huntley: 
>McGonagall: "That Neville Longbottom!  I've tried  everything I can 
think of, and *still* he shows no improvement!"
>Hagrid: "Tell me about it.  Boy's a ruddy disaster."
>Flitwick: "He's got no self-confidence, that's the problem!  I just 
try to be as encouraging as possible with him."
>McGonagall: "Is that all?  Personally, I think what he needs is a 
structured environment and a firm hand -- that'll sort him out.  What 
do you think, Severus?"
>Snape: "Well, yesterday I tried to poison his toad."
>McGonagall: *looks fascinated* "Did it work?"
>Snape: *bored sigh* "No."<

Betsy:
It's funny because it's true! :-)