Bullying WAS: Re: Prodigal Sons

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 140825

> >>Magda:
> > <snip>
> > So if Snape had been a bully, they'd have mentioned it. They     
> > didn't - in fact they discuss how Lupin wasn't able to stop the   
> > others from bugging Snape.

> >>vmonte:
> LOL! So Snape's not a bully huh? Not even to the children he       
> teaches at Hogwarts? Oh, that's right, JKR is wrong about what the 
> word sadistic means.

Betsy Hp:
Well, sloppy in her usage, let's say. <g>  And really, I don't recall 
any canon showing Snape bullying his peers while a student at 
Hogwarts.  Actually, everything we've been shown about his student 
days seems to point to him being the *bullied*.  JKR could give us 
something in book 7 to change that view, yes.  But so far she hasn't.

As to Snape being a bully as a teacher.... He does show favoritism 
towards Slytherin, though I'm not sure I'd describe that as bullying 
behavior.  Whenever he chastises Harry, I believe it's because he's 
caught Harry in some form of wrong doing.

Snape is described as "bullying" Neville.  But he's also described 
as "forcing" the students to learn antidotes.  (Which is why I tend 
to treat any of Harry's descriptors with a grain of salt when it 
comes to Snape.)  I think it's just as valid to describe Snape as 
giving Neville the personal attention he needs to get through potions 
that year.  It's nothing Neville *enjoyed* I'm sure (redolent with 
sarcasm as I'm sure it was).  But it wasn't necessarily bullying in 
the sense that it was an abuse of power.

> >>Magda:
> > As for the he-became-a-DE-so-he-could-bully/torture-people claim -
> > again, I say nonsense. People join cults and gangs (the criminal
> > kind) for all sorts of reasons, especially when you're young and
> > stupid. Sirius himself - with no reason to whitewash things - says
> > his parents were pro-Voldemort only at first until they realised  
> > what he was all about. So the idea that VOldemort was upfront and 
> > taking out billboard advertising about his real intentions is not
> > established.

> >>vmonte:
> What kind of people do you suppose join the DEs (KKK,Nazis)? 
> Certainly not friendly type people--the kind of people that believe 
> in diversity and equality. And certainly not anyone I would want 
> teaching my child--especially when they continue to behave in an 
> inappropriate manner.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Hmm, but again, young!Snape doesn't come across as a bully in what 
we've been shown.  So it seems strange to just assume that this must 
be why he joined the Death Eaters.  What young!Snape *does* come 
across as is lonely.  An outsider.  Perfect material for any 
recruiter happening by.  (Or at least, that's what Oprah's taught me. 
<g>)  I'm sure bullies and sadists *did* join the Death Eaters to 
have better fodder for their tastes (see just about all the Death 
Eaters on the tower in HBP), but it doesn't necessarily follow that 
*only* bullies and sadists joined the Death Eaters.
 
Also, you seem to be suggesting that Snape still acts like a Death 
Eater.  Frankly, Molly Weasley seems more anti-muggle to me.  Hagrid 
and the twins have participated in more on page muggle baiting than 
Snape has.  (Heck, the twins nearly *killed* the muggle they 
baited.)  Actually, Snape has *saved* more student's lives than any 
other teacher at Hogwarts, IIRC.  Hardly Death Eater behavior, IMO.

Betsy Hp