On Children and the "Other" (was:Re: On the perfection of moral virt

[phoenixgod2000]

No: HPFGUIDX 169636


> Pippin:
> Whoa! In what way is being asked a few questions by a school
> teacher the same as being attacked by a vicious dog? 

It was the tone of the questions.
 
> Snape's instruction to the class to write all this down
> shows that in fact he doesn't expect anyone to know the
> answers. What is Harry's attitude? That he should only be asked
> questions about things he knows and that there is
> something shameful about admitting he doesn't know things
> that many of the other students don't know? That *is* arrogant.
  
No, but Snape's attitude clearly implies that Harry is foolish for 
not knowing the answers to the question.  Snape was asking them to 
make Harry look stupid in front of the class.

While there is nothing shameful in not knowing the answers, I think 
there is something shameful about a teacher picking on a student for 
his lack of knowledge on the first day of class.

>Whatever else you want to say about Snape's first class, it squashed
> that rumor so thoroughly that it didn't surface again for
> a year, by which time Harry was far better equipped to
> cope with it.

For a lot of people that doesn't exactly make it okay.

Phoenixgod2000