[HPforGrownups] Re: Dumbledore as a judge of character/ Trelawney and Snape

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 166124

From: Magpie <belviso at attglobal.net>
Bart:
>> Hagrid, on the other hand, is quite talented. If it weren't for Draco's
>> interference, he might have made an excellent teacher. But, after being
>> framed twice, he is a little too leery of authority. With some guidance,
>> he could have become a first rate teacher.

Magpie:
>So Hagrid would have been an excellent teacher of adolescents if only had to 
>teach actual 13-year-olds. (Hey, Draco would have been a model student if 
>not for Hagrid, one might as well say. He seems to do just fine with other 
>teachers.) Hagrid has his own talents, but his lack of talents as a teacher 
>are all his own and can't be blamed on Draco or any other mildly 
>disagreeable child--that's part of the job of being a teacher. His 
>shortcomings as an authority figure are also his own, and have been since 
>the beginning of the series. I don't think Luna's "We in Ravenclaw think 
>he's a bit of a joke" have anything to do with residual trauma over Draco 
>whispering in class that day. On the contrary, when the Trio have trouble 
>with Hagrid's teaching it usual revolves around things they consider all 
>Hagrid.

Bart: 
First of all, when I referred to Draco's interference, I mean his faking the severity of an injury, and his family influence being used to get the Board of Governors and the Ministry on Hagrid's case. The latter was a major blow to Hagrid's already fragile self-confidence; had Hagrid had more time to get used to the position, or had Draco's injuries been treated like getting splashed by an exploding potion in Snape's class, Hagrid would probably not become as self-doubting. In addition, to all appearances, none of the other teachers chose to mentor him (and Dumbledore didn't think to ask any of them to do so). Some experienced advice would have put Hagrid over the hump as well. Professor Sprout in particular would have been very useful in helping him set up lesson plans; apparently, in Hogwarts, there's no such thing as lesson plans (well, Hermione said in P/SS that the WW people are very poor when it comes to logic, although I wonder what they study in Arithmancy if that is the case.

Bart