Real child abuse/ Snape again

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 145714

> > 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.
 
> Alla:
> Yeah, sure. I will agree with that, and if Trelawney would have 
> done it every single lesson, I would even agree with you that it 
> is an emotional abuse.

Jen: This point reminded me of Trelawney's and Harry's discussion in 
HBP:

"I miss having you in my classes, Harry," she said, soulfully as 
they set off together. "You were never much of a Seer....but you 
were a wonderful Object...." Harry did not reply; he had loathed 
being the Object of Professor Trelawney's continual predictions of 
doom. (The Seer Overheard, p. 544, Scholastic)

That bothered me, about Harry being the Object. I know that's just 
psychic talk, but the fact that Trelawney is basically 'fessing up 
to using Harry and then finding out how deeply Harry hated being in 
that position did make me think of a teacher abusing her power. I 
hadn't realized quite how much Harry hated it until JKR used the 
word 'loathed' which is usually reserved for Snape <g>.

I'm reading POA to my son and reading aloud to a child makes you 
notice things you might not when reading to yourself. I found 
Trelawney's antics laughable before, now I think her attempts to 
scare the students in order to appear legitimate is a pretty jerky 
thing to do.

And about teachers in general and abuse of power, this list proves 
there are many opinions as to who is the worst offender. I found 
Umbridge chilling because she was an unknown with a very hidden 
agenda. Her use of censorship in the classroom was apalling, as well 
as the actual use of physical abuse for punishment. It was an 
amusing idea for Filch to cry for the thumbscrews and chains, but to 
actually see such cruelty in action made Snape pale in comparison 
for me. I think the fact he was a known and predictable quanitity 
for Harry after the first class is a mitigating factor in my mind: 
For 6 books Harry's been hearing the same needling, the same taunts, 
the same James complex, the same zeros, the same points taken--come 
on, get some new material Severus! With Umbridge, I never felt sure 
what she would do next, she just kept upping her level of domination 
and secrecy until that moment she was willing to Crucio Harry. Yikes!

Jen D.:
> What you two keep saying without saying is that Harry is 
> emotionally attached to "safe" Hogwarts, a Hogwarts run by
> Dumbledore. Remember when Dumbledore was sent away in COS and how 
> the atmosphere changed so completely (never mind Snape's true 
> motives towards Harry)? And under Umbridge, Hogwarts again became 
> a very unsafe, non-nurturing place, never mind Binns or 
> Trelawney's behavior. Harry, it seems, could handle anything 
> anyone dished out as long as DD was presiding over the situation,
> the ultimate authority albeit. And now that DD is no more, Harry
> won't be going back. Hogwarts is just as unsafe (in much more 
> serious ways than Snape ever tried to be)as the rest of the WW.

Jen R: This is such a good (and sad) point. Harry did trust 
Dumbledore completely. That's the point I come back to whenever 
debate starts about "Dumbledore should have done this or that or..." 
Harry thought Dumbledore's choices were right in almost every case, 
and even when he disagreed with him as he did in OOTP, the 
relationship wasn't torn apart. Having that kind of faith in someone 
does bring about a huge measure of security.

Another!Jen, as we tend to travel in packs :).