Frogs, Cats and Sadistic Teachers (was:Re: Teaching Styles)

[festuco]

No: HPFGUIDX 148095

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "sistermagpie" <belviso at ...> wrote:

> 
> Magpie:
> Was it?  I was originally going to agree with you (despite Barty's 
> plan being actually incredibly impractical!) but thinking about it it 
> occured to me that it might not have been pragmatic at all, because 
> didn't Moody offer to comfort Neville after Harry was speaking to him 
> in the hall, thus making Fake!Moody think he and Harry were friends 
> and so think Neville was a good way to get the book to Harry? 

"didn't you realise that the book you needed was in your dormitory all
along? I planted it there early on, I gave it to the Longbottom boy,
don't you remember? magical Meditteranean Water-Plants and Their
Properties. It would have told you all you needed about Gilyweed. I
expected you to ask everyone and anyone you could for help. Longbottom
would have told you in an instant."  Gof p. 587-577 Bloomsbury edtion. 

That is why I think he planned it beforehand. He questioned Sprout who
of Harry's classmates was good in herbology and then found a way to
get the book in that kids hands. It turned out to be Neville, and oh
boy, he just knew the right thing. 

> Of course, I like to think that the little tea Neville and Crouch had 
> was a sick little sadistic game on its own, with Crouch going on and 
> on about what happened to Neville's parents and "not noticing" 
> Neville's distress.  After my last re-read of GoF I started to wonder 
> if that wasn't an important moment in Neville's arc and the moment he 
> started mentally preparing for his role in OotP.

Actually I do think he got a kick out of it, but not that kind of
kick. I think he relished comforting Neville, playing Mr. Understandig
Teacher and all the while relishing in the fact that he was actually
one of the architects of Neville's misery.

Gerry