Snape, Hagrid and Animals

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 143710

> >>Marianne S:
> The thing is, while Hagrid may have been a bit over-eager to start
> things off with a bang, he was able to model for the students and
> the class had already witnessed how to follow the hippogriff
> directions properly. Draco DELIBERATELY CHOSE to not follow those
> directions. I have no doubt that Draco did fully understand the
> directions, but he either thought he was above them or that Hagrid 
> was exaggerating.

Betsy Hp:
But you're *completely* ignoring canon here.  Hagrid does *not* 
model how to best interact with a hippogriff for the class.  He 
rattles off the rules of behavior quite quickly and apparently off 
the top of his head.  He doesn't repeat anything, nor does he quiz 
the class to make sure they've got it.  And the text is *incredibly* 
clear that Draco misses the "don't insult a hippogriff" line.

" 'Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do.'
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening..." (PoA scholastic 
hardback p.114)

After Hagrid's very brief, and incomplete (the not blinking thing), 
outline on how to approach this highly dangerous animal, Harry is 
brought in for a dry run.  Hagrid stays with Harry and "quietly" 
gives him further instructions. (ibid p.115)  So it's doubtful the 
class even heard Hagrid's words to Harry.

Then, in an unbelivably stupid bit of behavior, Hagrid sets the 
entire class loose on a *dozen* hippogriffs. So (to take Sydney's 
horse analogy and run with it) Hagrid did the equivilent of 
introducing children, who'd never interacted with horses before, to 
twelve highblooded racing horses and letting them go.  Frankly, 
Hagrid is darn lucky Buckbeack's distress didn't affect the other 
hippogriffs. 

> >>Marianne S.
> When he "painfully" discovered that Hagrid was correct with his   
> directions, Draco's pain was probably more on his pride than      
> actual physical pain (though he seems a bit of a "wuss" in my     
> opinion, and he was able to milk it in order to get Hagrid and    
> Buckbeak punished, get people to do his work in potions,  and get 
> himself and his team out of a quidditch match simply to            
> inconvenience everyone.

Betsy Hp:
Any injury that ends in blood spray strikes me a fairly painful.  I 
can believe that Malfoy later milked the injury, but shrieking that 
one is dying is certainly not a way to win back wounded pride.  If 
anything, I'd say Malfoy reacted out of honest pain and fear, hence 
his rather unmanly reaction.

As to the quidditch match, that was Slytherin strategy, IMO.  Wood 
had trained his team to meet Slytherin and their sudden pull out 
threatened the Gryffindors' game.  So the "inconvenience" was not on 
Slytherin's side.

Hagrid has a wonderful heart, and he gives Harry a type of support 
no one else can.  But he had a horrible start as a teacher.  It's 
quite telling, I think, that there will be no NEWT students for CoMC 
in Harry's year.

Betsy Hp