Snape, Hagrid and Animals

[Sydney]

No: HPFGUIDX 143685

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Magpie" <belviso at a...> wrote:
>
> hekatesheadband:

I'll add that while it was foolish of
> > Hagrid to start his first lesson, with beginner students, with
> > something like Hippogryffs, that was entirely Malfoy's fault.
> 
> Magpie:
> 
> Sorry, but I can't ever let this pass.  It was not *entirely* Malfoy's 
> fault. Hagrid was irresponsible in that class from the beginning,
and that a 
> boy got hurt was no surprise. 

Exactly.  How many times has Harry not listened to Snape in class? 
But when has that resulted in anything other than his potion not
coming out? If Harry was hospitalized in Potions for not listening to
one line of instructions I don't think everyone would be comfortably
blaming Harry.. and I'm curious to know how this relates to the
Neville toad incident, given that that was a case of not following
clear instructions!  I love Hagrid to pieces, but saying what happened
was Malfoy's fault doesn't stand up.  If I put a 13-year-old with no
experience up on a dangerous horse, and rattled off a list of
instructions, and the kid got bucked off for not managing the reins
exactly right-- that is MY fault, not his, and few parents or courts
of law would disagree.

-- Sydney, who loves Hagrid and is no big fan of Draco, but knows
enough about large unpredictable animals to know who to blame for the
Buckbeak incident