Harry's detention in HBP

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 168348

> 
> JW:
> 
> First, I do not understand how a sadistic personality could be more 
> noble than a non-sadistic personality.

Pippin:
To struggle against your weaknesses is noble. I had in mind the
episode in LOTR where Faramir says he shouldn't be praised for
rejecting the ring because he had no desire to do otherwise. It's
clear to me that the WW tolerates a lot more cruelty and unfairness
from its teachers than Snape displays.

 If  Snape is not holding back out of a desire to deceive Dumbledore 
(which DDM!Snape would not do) , and if he truly hates Harry and
Neville  and  wants to see them suffer, then it seems to me he must 
be struggling against his sadism and attempting to behave
appropriately. After all, what are the alternatives, given DDM!Snape?
Either Snape is acting and does not mean any of it, or he is completely
unaware of the effect he's having. Neither of those make much sense.  

Of course he goes astray, much as Harry does with his saving people
thing. When someone Harry cares about seems to be in danger, he
often overreacts, partly at least because of the charge he gets out of
rushing to save the day. There's nothing noble about that charge,
it's just a psychological quirk. His instinct is to help others can be
beneficial, but not when it's so powerful that it distorts his ability
to judge whether people really need help or what kind of help is 
needed. 

Similarly Snape's  judgment is distorted by the charge he gets
out of punishing people. But the charge itself is not noble, or ignoble,
it too is a quirk of Snape's psychology. It's not a *choice*. His
instinct   to punish the guilty can be beneficial, but it's not
good at telling him who is guilty or how much punishment is 
appropriate.

JW:
> Further, I do not see how Snape can possibly treat Harry worse.  For 
> example, on more than one occasion SS has demanded that HP be 
> expelled, only to be over-ruled by DD or MM.

Pippin:
Snape admits in CoS that he hasn't got the authority to expel Harry.
They were empty threats, as Harry could have found out if he'd
asked.

Further, on the one occasion where he could have forced the issue
because Harry had attacked him, he claimed that Harry was confunded.
Snape is a DADA expert; I'm perfectly sure he could tell whether Harry
was confunded or not.

JW:
 Finally, SS is anything but egalitarian.  The books are filled with 
> instances during which Snape obviously favors Slytherins over all 
> other atudents, especially Gryffs.  Similarly, I am at a loss to find 
> him treating any non-Slytherin with generosity, courtesy or nobility.

Pippin:
I was not claiming that Snape is egalitarian by our standards. No one
at Hogwarts is -- they're willing participants in a slaveholding society. 
But other teachers show much more favoritism than Snape does,
Snape could, for example, habitually grade as unfairly as Slughorn does.
But Hermione beats Draco in every class, potions included.

He displays courtesy to McGonagall, shaking hands with her when 
Gryffindor wins the House Cup in PS/SS, backing her up in CoS when she
confronts Lockhart, and greeting her return to Hogwarts in OOP with 
apparent enthusiasm.

It's often argued that Snape ought to be aware of how much distrust
he is sowing between himself and Harry and how distorted his view
of Harry is, and  that he can't possibly think this is in Dumbledore's
interest. But I think JKR shows just how difficult it is for anyone 
in the WW to make such a connection. 

One of the most striking differences between our society and the 
WW is their reliance on divination and prophecy. If all is foretold,
or even just the important stuff as the centaurs believe,  does it
not follow that nothing important can happen by accident?

Preventing accidental harm would not be much of a priority if
that were so.

It would not be surprising if many wizards feel they are responsible 
only for the harm they mean to cause, and that they take
little responsibility for their indifference and neglect
because they don't see that the hatred and cruelty it spawns is
a consequence. 

Pippin