Snape and DADA from DD's perspective (Was: The DADA job - Not Snape's cup of tea

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 141919

Carol:
Let me preface my remarks by stating that I *do* see the discrepancy
between the statements by Snape and others that he applied for the
DADA post every year and the conflicting evidence Goddlefrood cited,
and I remain confused as to whether the conflicts are Flints or red
herrings. I have my own ideas as to why Snape would apply for a cursed
position (nothing to do with suicide), but in this post, I want to
concentrate on why DD didn't hire him for DADA until HBP despite his
knowledge of the subject. So please forgive me, Goddlefrood, for
ignoring the question of whether Snape actually wanted or applied for
a position he must have known to be cursed. I do have some doubts on
that subject, but I want to focus on some particular points where I
disagree with you rather than on the argument as a whole.

I believe that Dumbledore held off giving Snape the post for sixteen
years because he wanted him at Hogwarts, and the only way to do that
was to keep him as Potions Master, a position for which he was equally
qualified. DD also had specific reasons in some cases, notably those
of Lupin and the real Moody, for hiring a particular teacher in a
particular year. And there were reasons as well why he chose to allow
Umbridge into the school rather than giving Snape the position while
Voldemort was preoccupied with the Prophecy. (More on that in a moment.)

Goddlefrood asked:
<snipped and rearranged> Do you really think that if Snape had applied
Dumbledore would not, however reluctantly, have given him the job,
mostly because of his aversion to Ministry interference?
> 
Christina responded:
> I can see how there might be doubt, but I believe it.  Dumbledore
needed Snape at Hogwarts as a double agent for as long as possible.  I
think that the need to get Slughorn to Hogwarts gave Dumbledore the
final little push that convinced him that giving Snape the DADA job
was his only choice.

Carol adds:
Even Umbridge was preferable, from DD's perspective, to losing Snape
at a time when he was most useful to the Order and could teach both
Potions and Occlumency (the failure of the Occlumency lessons is
irrelevant here). And Voldemort, though restored to his body, is not
yet waging open war. Dumbledore does not yet need Snape's DADA (and
Dark Arts) expertise. What he does need is to keep him at Hogwarts in
his usual capacity as Potions Master, rule enforcer, and righthand
man, holding his DADA skills in reserve until they are more
desperately needed, which is exactly what occurs the following year.

In HBP, more is at stake than Dumbledore's need for Slughorn's memory,
which is only one factor among many in his decision to give Snape the
DADA post. Circumstances have changed. The war is on. Another Potions
master, whom DD happens to want at Hogwarts for other reasons, is
available to replace Snape if DD moves him to the DADA position.
Conveniently, this teacher is also a Slytherin, who can take Snape's
place as HoH when he inevitably loses his position at the end of the
year as the result of the DADA curse. DD has no need for two Potions
masters, but, as ever, he has a DADA vacancy, and, as in OoP, no one
has (apparently) applied for the cursed DADA position--unless Snape
himself has done so, and I believe he has. It's Snape or no one
(unless the MoM supplies another candidate, not a desirable option).
In these dangerous times, Dumbledore can't afford *not* to use Snape's
skills (discussed later in this post), even though he knows that Snape
won't be back the following year. Perhaps he suspects that he himself
won't be back. But curse or no curse, he  can't put off hiring Snape
to teach DADA any longer. He has no other choice. Whether he likes it
or not, it's time.

(On a side note, I think that Snape knows all this when he talks to
Narcissa and Bellatrix in "Spinner's End" but doesn't want to reveal
yet that he's taken the cursed one-year position. But surely DD would
not have approached Slughorn to teach Potions without consulting Snape
first, either telling him that he'd accepted his DADA application or
giving him the choice of taking that accursed position, nor would he
have approached Slughorn to take the Potions job if it weren't vacant.
So to all intents and purposes, IMO, Snape *is* the DADA teacher in
"Spinner's End"--and already subject to the curse.)

Goddlefrood wrote:
> > I thought the only useful thing Snape taught them was non-verbal
spells, and he didn't really teach that did he? He expected people to
do it. The rest of what we saw had previously been covered, and in my
view quite a lot better than Severus managed it.
> 
Christina responded: 
> Not exactly.  What directions can you give for casting non-verbal
spells other than "cast a spell without speaking"?  And Snape doesn't
expect people to do it right off the bat- he says, "One partner will
attempt to jinx the other without speaking.  The other will attempt to
repel the jinx in equal silence."  He has them practice on each other
to make it work.  Snape gives no fewer directions than other teachers
we've seen (IIRC, most of the class sessions at Hogwarts consist of
students actively refining practical technique.  Not much instruction
is given when it comes to skill-based magic).

Carol adds:
Let's see. Quirrell taught the Gryffindors how to treat a werewolf
bite (without curing the werewolf) but nothing else that we can
determine from canon; Lockhart taught taught them not to release a
cageful of Cornish Pixies into a classroom and how to drop your wand
if you're duelling Severus Snape; Lupin taught them how to deal with a
variety of minor Dark creatures such as Hinkypunks, Boggarts, and
Grindylows (useful if Voldemort intends to use these creatures but not
much help if you're dealing with a Death Eater); Crouch!Moody
demonstrated the Unforgiveable Curses on spiders, upsetting Neville
(whose parents he had helped Crucio into insanity) and Imperioed all
the students, giving Harry the opportunity to resist the curse but not
teaching anyone else how to do it; Umbridge teaches them theory
(including the idea that countercurses are really curses) but does not
allow them to use their wands in the classroom. As Christina pointed
out in a snipped portion of her post, Umbridge was wrong in this
approach, which is essentially useless. (On a side note, Snape has in
some way opposed all these DADA teachers, helping to expose their
incompetence or outright evil intentions, whether as DD's Man or out
of rivalry or as an unwitting agent of the DADA curse, I can't say. I
suspect it's all of the above, but I don't want to get sidetracked by
pursuing the topic.)

Snape, in contrast, takes a practical approach, acting as coach and
supervisor as Harry and his classmates attempt nonverbal jinxes/hexes
and nonverbal defensive maneuvers--highly useful if you're battling a
Death Eater and don't want him or her to anticipate your next move. He
also teaches them an alternate way (unfortunately not specified) to
deal with Dementors, quite possibly useful for students who can't
conjure up the happy memory needed to cast Expecto Patronum while
facing a Dementor who wants to suck the happiness out of you. And he
has graphic posters of Dark Creatures to make sure that his students
know one when they see one. (In past years he has taught students to
treat poisons with a bezoar, SS/PS; to disarm an enemy using
Expelliarmus, CoS; and to recognize a werewolf, PoA--all useful
defenses against Dark Arts and/or Dark wizards.)

In HBP, we see him (all too briefly) dealing with sixth-year
Gryffindors (no Slytherins, Ravenclaws, or Hufflepuffs in the DADA
class), most if not all of whom have had DADA lessons with Harry and
presumably did well on their DADA OWLs in consequence. Unlike the
younger students in classes we don't see, Harry's classmates don't
need to learn new defensive spells at this point; they need to
practice using what they know nonverbally as a further defensive
measure. (Snape, as we see later, is an expert at this technique,
which, combined with quick reflexes and Legilimency, makes him a
formidable duellist. No wonder he sneered disdainfully at Lockhart in
the duelling club chapter of CoS.) It's possible, of course, that the
students do learn additional defensive spells but we don't see those
lessons. What we also don't see is Harry viewing the lessons (with the
exception of the Dementor essay, about which I believe he's mistaken)
as useless or complaining about Snape's unfairness. And in contrast to
his view of the Occlumency lessons, Harry doesn't complain that the
DADA classes are harming rather than helping him or his classmates.
Nor do we have any indication that Snape is teaching any of his
students, including the Slytherins, the Dark Arts themselves, as
indicated by Draco's scorn for *Defense Against* the Dark Arts when
Snape confronts him about what he's up to. IOW, DD's supposed fear
that the DADA class will bring out the worst in Snape is not justified
(if he ever really had such a fear). 

Certainly he has not hesitated all these years to hire Snape to teach
DADA because he considers him unqualified, nor is it likely that Snape
is not interested in teaching the subject. We have all sorts of
evidence, from young Severus's detailed answers on his DADA OWL in OoP
and the spells he invented as a teenager (only one of them Dark) and
his skill at duelling that he is, indeed, highly qualified to teach
the DADA course. And certainly, if it weren't for the curse placed on
it by Voldemort, Dumbledore would have been wise to assign it to him
long before. DADA is an important course and Snape knows his stuff. 

But the curse makes all the difference. IMO. it's not the consequences
of having Snape teach the class but the consequences of the DADA curse
*specifically for Snape* that Dumbledore fears. He must give the class
to *someone*, but for as long as possible, he avoids giving it to
Snape, for whom a curse placed by Voldemort himself will surely have
terrible consequences. Better to hire an incompetent teacher like
Lockhart or give a one-year position to a werewolf or an ex-Auror or
even accept a bureaucrat imposed by the MoM than to risk Snape's
return to the Death Eaters or his murder--or some terrible unforeseen
predicament like the one that actually arises from the Unbreakable Vow.

If DD wants Snape with him and away from the Death Eaters, either for
Snape's own safety or to prevent him from falling back into his old
ways, he might as well take advantage of Snape's prodigious skills as
a potion maker to have him teach an uncursed course. And as Potions
Master, he can provide DD with potions that few other instructors
could prepare. He is at hand to provide Veritaserum and Wolfbane
Potion when needed (and to provide fake Veritaserum to Umbridge). I
believe he provides the Mandrake Restorative Potion in CoS as well
though he does not administer it. 

In addition, Snape patrols the halls and enforces the rules, watching
over Harry and his friends (and perhaps his own Slytherins) in
particular. He is on hand to help deal with both Quirrell and
Crouch!Moody and to expose Lockhart by proposing that he rescue Ginny
from the monster (providing Harry with the opportunity to actually do
so). In short, whatever his deficiencies in promoting his students'
self-esteem or worrying about their feelings, he is a very valuable
man to have around, not to mention his services as a double agent when
school is not in session. This relationship continues through the end
of OoP. Even though DD is absent from the school for part of the year,
Snape continues to report to him. And it's Snape, of course, who sends
the Order to the MoM to save Harry and company. 

In part because Snape is so useful, even valuable, in so many
capacities, DD trusts him completely and fears to lose him, as shown
by his apprehension when Snape leaves to explain why he wasn't at the
graveyard and convince Voldemort of his loyalty. DD doesn't speak for
several minutes even though Snape states that he's "ready" and
"prepared." This incident, like Snape's thrusting his Dark Mark under
Fudge's nose to convince him that Voldemort has returned, show Snape's
remarkable courage and loyalty to Dumbledore--or at least that's how
Dumbledore sees it (and I believe that he's right). Indeed, GoF
provides our best evidence that Snape is Dumbledore's man--but what's
relevant here is DD's reluctance to lose his services and his loyalty.
Perhaps he even loves Snape as a son and fears for his life despite
repeatedly sending him on dangerous missions that no one else can
accomplish.

But in HBP, as I said earlier, circumstances have changed. DD still
needs Snape to watch over the students (primarily Harry and Draco),
and he is placed directly in Voldemort's camp in his position as
double agent, but it's not Snape's skills as a potion maker that he
needs now. It's his knowledge of the Dark Arts and how to fight them.
Just as it would have been inappropriate for Lockhart as DADA teacher
to prepare the Mandrake Restorative Potion (even if he had the skill),
it would be inappropriate for Snape as Potions master to cure
Dumbledore and Katie Bell using DADA skills (or to remove the curse
from the opal necklace itself, which I believe he must have done).
That would be the DADA teacher's job (just as it *should* have been
Slughorn's job to supply a bezoar when Ron was poisoned). DD needs
Snape in a position where he is authorized to handle the emergencies
that are inevitable now that Voldemort and his DEs now waging active
war. Snape's healing skills are beyond Madam Pomfrey's. He alone could
have saved Katie Bell from the cursed necklace or DD from the ring
Horcrux or Draco from Harry's Sectumsempra curse. Whether he could
have saved DD from the poisoned memories in the cave potion we'll
never know, but DD clearly believed that he could.

However Snape feels about taking the DADA post, it's clear to me that
Dumbledore would much rather keep Snape with him, which he can only do
if Snape is Potions Master. To give him the DADA position is to lose
him, and the decision to do so in HBP constitutes a major sacrifice on
DD's part, as well as a terrible danger to Snape. Wanting Slughorn's
memory (which merely reveals the number of Horcruxes) is hardly
sufficient reason in itself to expose them both to such risks,
especially knowing that their long relationship will inevitably end.
Only the dire situation his students will face in the coming war, in
which they will need what only Snape can teach them, and his own need
for Snape's services in relation to DADA rather than Potions, could
convince him that it's time, at last, to give Snape the DADA post,
despite the curse. It's a sacrifice. It's the lesser of two evils,
just like Snape's decision on the tower.

Carol, wishing that Wormtail had left Baby!mort floating in the
boiling potion and released Harry to dispatch him then and there