First Potions lesson

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 145894

Potioncat wrote:
> There is so much happening in this first Potions class, I don't
really know where to begin, so I'll start with canon:
> 
> "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
> Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold dark 
> eyes. He *had* looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did
Snape expect him to remember everything in *One Thousand Magical Herbs
and Fungi*?"
> 
> (That was just to counter the arguments that Harry couldn't look at
his books. He did look them over. Snape might expect him to remember 
> everything, I wouldn't.)

Carol responds:
Setting aside Snape and his motivations for the moment (I'll return to
them), this quote shows something rather odd about Harry: He seems to
be confusing what is surely his Herbology textbook, "One Thousand
Magical Herbs and Fungi," with his Potions textbook, which we're told
earlier is "Magical Drafts and Potions" by Arsenius Jigger (SS Am. ed.
66). If Harry has looked through his textbooks, as the narrator
indicates, surely he should know which book is for which class. Is
this a Flint, or is JKR emphasizing Harry's ignorance of the WW by
having him think that he'd find out what a bezoar is by looking at a
book on plants?
> 
Potioncat wrote:
<snip>
> We don't really know Snape's motivation in the first class. <snip>
Prior to this class, on the first page of the chapter,we're given a
description of Harry's celebrity. He is getting lots of attention from
students and teachers. So, Snape knows Harry Potter is a celebrity.
Harry knows it too.
> 
> Snape . . . may expect Harry to be just like his father (as do many
others). We know James didn't always study and was a big
hero/celebrity, which he seemed to enjoy. 
> (IMHO, OoP) So perhaps that is what Snape is expecting Harry to be like.

Carol responds:
Right. And Snape also knows that some of the DEs think that Harry may
be a new Dark Wizard to rally around (paraphrasing his remark to Bella
in "Spinner's End"). IMO, it's his duty (at least in his own view) to
find out whether this is true and to dispel any rumors among his
Slytherin students that this is the case. It's important to remember
that Harry's Potions class contains not one but four children of Death
Eaters. It's entirely possible that Snape would have treated Harry
differently if the Potions class contained only Gryffindors, or
Gryffindors and Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. Whatever he says and does
will be witnessed by Draco (and Theo--I'm not counting the thugs C and
G) and just possibly reported back to their fathers. So Snape can't be
seen buddying up to Harry and Co. and he has to maintain his
reputation as favoring the Slytherins, but more important, he has to
disabuse them of the notion (if it hasn't already been destroyed by
his being sorted into Gryffindor) that this boy is one of them.

Also, IMO, he's operating on the assumption (expressed by DD to
McGonagall in another scene as a motive--though not his real or main
motive--for placing Harry at the Dursleys') that the Prophecy boy
should not be a "pampered little prince." He must not, IOW, be a
second James, arrogant and egocentric. He would be in extreme danger
from Voldemort if he thought too highly of his own powers, and if he
had a following like Cedric's or Krum's in a later book, it would be
very hard for him to have anything other than a swelled head. So Snape
in revealing Harry's ignorance of bezoars and aconite and the Draught
of Living Death shows both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors that
Harry knows no more than they do (and less than Hermione).

Is this kind or fair to Harry? No (though preventing the formation of
a herd of Colin Creevey-style groupies is doing Harry a perhaps
unintended favor). But it isn't abuse and it has important
consequences for his relationship with both the Slytherins and the
Gryffindors.

Potioncat responds: 
> Snape knows something of the prophesy, knows that LV did something
to Harry. He may have sensed something of LV in Harry, as the Sorting
Hat did, and as Trelawney seems to (without knowing it). So Snape may
be trying to ferret out signs of the Dark Lord. <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree. We see in CoS that Snape isn't entirely sure that Harry
didn't petrify Mrs. Norris, and he may have had Draco cast 
Serpensortia rather than some other curse to find out whether Harry,
like Voldemort, had some sort of affinity with snakes. And when he
finds out that Harry can speak Parseltongue and Harry sees that
shrewd, calculating look on his face, it's clear that his suspicions
have been confirmed. He's not yet sure whether Harry is a budding Dark
Lord, but it's clear that he shares a very rare power with LV that
must have resulted from a transfer of powers at GH. (Almost certainly
he went to DD immediately with this information/inference, as DD
presents the same idea to Harry at the end of the book.)
> 
Potioncat wrote:
> It may be a combination of both, and he's trying to scare Harry into
paying attention. Is it a good way to start off teaching 11 year old 
kids. Nope.

Carol responds:
Maybe. It certainly seems like something other than coincidence that
the first thing he asks Harry about is a bezoar (a near-universal
antidote as important to DADA as to Potions and very important in
dealing with Dark Wizards who may want to get rid of you). Possibly he
hoped the lesson would be memorable (and reading the HBP's Potions
notes does jog his memory of this lesson--the content, not the
experience of being humiliated--luckily for Ron.)

So, regardless of Snape's intentions, Harry does benefit in several
ways from this lesson. The Slytherins see him as neither a standard to
rally around nor a threat to their DE fathers, the Gryffindors see him
as an ordinary kid like themselves and someone they can sympathize or
empathize with (rather than a celebrity to idolize), Harry himself is
prevented from becoming arrogant and self-important like James (maybe
he wouldn't have done so anyway, but Snape can't know that), and he's
introduced to bezoars, which will prove extremely important later.

Does all this make Snape a nice, fair teacher? No, of course not. But
it doesn't make him an abuser, either. Harry suffers no lasting damage
from the lesson (though it does form a first step in his antagonistic
relationship with Snape). If I'm right, Snape is operating as
Dumbledore's Man here (and in many other places), insuring that Harry
will be able to perform his role as Voldemort's nemesis when the time
comes without regard for anything so frivolous (in his view) as a
student's feelings. And he's also maintaining his cover among the
Slytherins as a DE who walked free, insuring their respect for him,
which would be lost if he treated the Boy Who Lived (and unwittingly
vaporized Voldemort) as in any way special. Let them think Harry is
mediocre--and let Harry think that's what Snape thinks, too.

Carol, courteously requesting that she not be thrown to the lions for
this one