On lying and cheating

[jennifer]

No: HPFGUIDX 165403

> From: eggplant107 <eggplant107 at ...>
> People say Harry cheated in potions, but nobody can point to a
> rule he violated. There is certainly no rule saying you can only
> use your textbook to complete your studies, otherwise Hogwarts
> wouldn't have a library. Harry didn't lie, he never told
> Slughorn "I was only reading the standard textbook". Harry not only
> followed the letter of the law he followed the spirit of the law
> too. He found a way to do things that was better than that idiotic
> textbook and he ran with it. Good for him!

> Bart:
> Even if Harry didn't break a single rule, he cheated the most
> important person of all: himself. In return for some praise from a
> teacher, he gave up a learning opportunity. It is clear that the
> NEWT level Potions is about learning theory and applying it. All
> Harry learned was some superior applications, which made it
> unecessary for him to learn the theory.


While I agree with both of you.  Harry did not break any rules by
using the extra instructions in the book but I feel that he should
have at least showed it to Professor Dumbledore or Professor
Slughorn and got an opinion from someone older and a lot wiser than
himself.  In not getting this opinion he left himself open to
Snape's discipline with the bathroom scene with Draco.  Even though
Snape called him a cheat, it is Harry's fault because he did not
report the book.    Jennifer