[HPforGrownups] Re: Growing into the Hero

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 165464

>> Bart:
>> I think that Harry might have done better under Phinny Black's 
>tutelage rather than Dumbledore; Phinny has (had? I still don't have 
>the portrait business quite down yet) a way of getting people so angry 
>at him that they do exactly what he wants them to do, just to show him 
>up. Picture, "Well, I guess you can't be blamed if you are too stupid 
>to learn Occlumancy." 
>
>zgirnius:
>I'm not so sure this is the case. It certainly works for some people (I 
>know I've fallen for it in the past <g>), but I am less sure Harry is 
>one of them. It seems to me this is Snape's approach to teaching as 
>well, and with Harry and Neville it is not all that successful. 
>(Hermione, on the other hand, is eager to start proving she is not a 
>dunderhead from  Day One).

Bart:
Not entirely. In OOP, PNB seems to be about the ONLY one who can get through Harry's thick skull. But he is subtly different than Snape, in that he doesn't assume that the kid is going to fail, nor does he appear to be uneven handed. I have seen a few depictions of the devil, or a satanic character, who does not want evil to triumph, but is cursed to try to ensure that it does. Generally, they will do whatever they can to sabotage themselves, and, if they win (evil wins, that is), they are clearly disappointed, but if they lose, they are quite pleased. 

Phineas "feels" to me to have a low opinion of others, but is happy when proven wrong. Snape, on the other hand, HATES to be proven wrong.