Real child abuse/ Snape again

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 145677

> Alla:
> 
> I definitely do, or more like they have the potentially huge 
> emotional power over their students, but we don't see them either 
> using or misusing it either because it is not important for the 
> story or because they don't misuse it. IMO of course.

Pippin:
Oh, I disagree. We do see other teachers abuse their power.
I think telling a student he is fated to die is an abuse of power.
So is  not teaching him anything he couldn't learn from the
lecture notes (a step could be eliminated there ;-)) But
Harry doesn't hate Trelawney or Binns. He hates Snape, because
Snape cheats him of approval. It's not wrong for Harry to want
it, any more than it's wrong for Dudley to want sweets. But
for Dudley to want them so much he takes candy from strangers
is dangerous. Likewise, it's dangerous for Harry to want
approval so much that he is provoked to rage whenever Snape
withholds it.

Snape isn't likely to hand out sweets, and he isn't ever likely
to approve of Harry, but Harry is always lying or justifying himself
and then getting furious when Snape sees through the lies and 
refuses to listen to the justifications. It's a rigged game, but Harry 
keeps playing it.
 
> Pippin:
> *Hogwarts* has huge emotional power over Harry. But Hogwarts
> > overall was not an abusive situation for Harry or Neville, 
> IMO,except when Umbridge was in charge. 

> 
> Alla:
> 
> Oh, but Hogwarts cannot exercises its power by itself, but only 
> through teachers, I think.

Pippin:
Nonetheless, Harry has an emotional attachment to the institution.
That's canon. Most of his insecurity stems from his fear that he won't
be considered a worthy student, and the same is true for Neville.

> Alla:
> 
> Since when students wanting and needing approval from their teacher 
> is a bad thing? It is certainly not in my opinion. IMO teacher who 
> does not want to give such approval is not a good one, NOT student 
> who wants one. But I know that it is ALL Harry and Neville's fault 
> and nothing is Snape's. :-)

Pippin:
And Harry has no responsibilities at all, although he has taken it on
himself to defeat Voldemort? Harry has always had the choice of
leaving the fight against Voldemort to other people. So has Neville.
Preparation for such a contest is dangerous and difficult in itself -- 
it has to be. But it would be irresponsible to let Harry involve himself
in the conflict unprepared. Harry can't shield his feelings with magic,
so he is going to have to learn to do it the hard way, the real world
way, by realizing that the only person whose approval he really
needs is Harry Potter's. 

Emotional manipulation of the need for approval  is one of the tools 
Voldemort uses, and the students need to know how it feels, just as 
they need to know how it feels to be manipulated by Imperius. 


Alla:
I see nothing wrong in that Harry took a liking to Fake!Moody.
I mean, of course it was bad within the story, BUT IMO there were no 
signs for Harry that man was exhibited abnormal behaviour. I think 
> that he behaved as a good teacher. IMO of course. 

Pippin:
Except when he tortured one of Harry's classmates, helped Harry
cheat on the Tri-wizard tournament,  and lied about what he saw 
on the Marauder's Map. 

Alla:
 Except if he was  showing Unforgivables in order to purposefully 
upset Neville of  course, but personally I doubt it. For some strange 
reason I think Fake!Moody truly wanted them to learn about 
unforgivables.

Pippin:
Pardon my skepticism, but is it so hard to believe that a fanatical
Death Eater who tortured a student and murdered his own father
would be above deliberately upsetting Neville so he would have
an excuse to give him a valuable book which he definitely wanted
Neville to have? 

It's certainly canon that Riddle played on Ginny's need for approval
to get her to pour her soul into the diary.

Alla:
> I think you argued in the past that Snape does a good thing by 
> Hermione, since she does not need teachers' approval anyway and does 
> better in the challenging environment, but she GLOWES when Lupin 
> praises her, therefore I don't think that Snape does Hermione any 
> good either.

Pippin:
That's what she's at school to learn, is it? Glowing?  She got an O in 
potions but only an E in DADA, so I guess the examiners weren't 
impressed with her glowing ability either :-)

Pippin