Bathroom Scene - A Different Perspective.

[Vexingconfection at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 165184

eggplant107 wrote:

> That is quite simply baloney. There is not a single chemistry
> professor on planet  Earth that would not praise a student to high
> heaven who had found  (and I don't care how he had found it) a way 
> to perform an experiment  that was superior to the way the textbook
> described. I can't emphasize  that enough, HE WOULD BE PRAISED! 
 

colebiancardi:
> yes, as Slughorn praised Harry. But an honest student would have
> given credit  where credit was due. An honest student would have 
> cited references to  where they got that knowledge. If I write an 
> essay, I better cite all my  references or I will flunk that 
> course, no matter how brilliant my essay  is. Because my essay 
> really isn't mine as I used other sources. Harry  wasn't an honest 
> student here. He took credit for someone else's work and  that is 
> why Snape called him a liar & a cheat. Snape somehow *knew*, in  my 
> opinion, that Harry was not the potions genuis that Slughorn and 
> the  rest of the school (Ron & Hermione excluded) think he is and 
> that Harry  was using the HBP's book.



Pardon my ignorance on this and understand-ignorance never equates to an absence of opinion as much as one might appreciate that to be.... Harry did not steal work as much as perform his own experimentation. He demonstrated both irreverence and irresponsibility but not in my opinion dishonesty. IMO he was using the potions class to further his investigation into the HBP's book. He did not take credit for any work professionally. He did not know who the Prince was. 

Remember, he did not even want to buy the same broom as Draco-wanted nothing the other thought valuable. He had less regard for Snape knowing his history, so I doubt he would have used the book to the extent he did. A better question would be, if Snape knew there were easier and more gainful methods to produce the same or better results in the spells or potions he was teaching, why did he not instruct his students on their use?  What was Snape's motivation to not give his students the fullest and most useful understanding and application of the craft? If it was because they were not MoM approved, he could 
have had them approved or gone through the Headmaster to instruct them. I am sure we have all had classes on evolution in which the teacher first issues the statement or disclaimer, "This may or may not be in your belief system but it's part of science and has not yet been proved or disproved. It is here for evaluation." Many of the notations made were simply how to extract juices. These were simple tricks that could have been taught.  

Here is something else I will mention and hopefully not bring so much criticism that you toss me from your group. Martin Luther King, Jr., plagiarized most of his work while in college. It's a known fact.  While we may make allowances for presidents and famous celebrities for perjury and plagiarization... a 15(?) yr old orphaned wizard who comes from a loveless home and is facing the Dark lord is held to 
higher standards. I think he acted within his character, reckless and 
youthful but not nefariously. I think JKR has been true to her character.

Vexingconfection