Academic dishonesty (was "Apologies and responsibility")

[Matt]

No: HPFGUIDX 139664

--- Lady Indigo asks: 
> If [Harry] wasn't doing anything wrong [in using the HBP
> book], why the coverup? The lying? The taking the punishment 
> without arguing with Snape or appealing to Dumbledore? I've 
> seen these questions get asked a few times now and nobody's 
> even bothered to answer them.

I've seen the questions, too, and they rather surprised me: Harry had
just slashed up Draco using an untried spell out of the book.  Snape,
whom Harry has always known to side with Draco and against him was
demanding that Harry produce the book.  It seemed certain that Snape
would confiscate the book if Harry gave it to him, and Harry wanted to
keep it.  

Why did Harry lie and hide the book?  Because he wanted to keep it and
certainly did not want to give it to Snape, who would have taken any
opportunity to magnify the severity of Harry's offense.  I honestly
believe at this point Harry gave very little thought to what he had
done in Potions, but rather to what everyone would think if they found
out he had injured Draco using an unknown spell of unknown origin from
a book where it was marked as "for enemies."  So while he probably
acted in part out of embarrassment and shame, I think that those
emotions flowed mainly from his immediate predicament and not from
what he had been doing in Potions all year.

Accepting the punishment?  I think Harry felt he deserved it.  He
would never have consciously chosen to do what he did to Draco, and
was appalled at himself.  He wasn't being punished for using the
potions notes in the book, nor do I think he had any fear of being
punished for that -- I think he viewed the notes as his secret, much
the way a baseball pitcher may not like to share the way he throws a
particular pitch, but I don't think Harry was worried there would be
any academic punishment for what he had done in Potions.  And on that
point, I take Hermione as something of a guide to the appropriate WW
mores: When she thought Harry had cheated at Quidditch, she was ready
to turn him in, but when he was using the HBP notes there was no
moralizing (she confined herself to muttering under her breath and
trying to convince him that they were dangerous).

-- Matt