Snape and moral courage WAS: Re: The Houses, Finally

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 184658

Alla wrote:
> 
> I just reallly really do not get it. You mean not showing the child
that he hates him would do Harry a disservice as well?
> 
> I mean, let's put one thing straight here - yes, I honestly think
that if Snape loved Lily, it would be quite good for him to be nice to
her baby.
> 
> BUT the only reason I even said it is because this is what I think
**could be** good for both Snape and Harry as people.
> 
> By no means I believe that striking a friendship with Harry is 
Snape's obligation **as a teacher**, of course not.
> 
> I believe that Snape's obligation as a teacher to be **fair** to
Harry, and at the very least **be neutral** to him. <snip>

Carol responds:
There we go. You've arrived at the right solution. Having been a
teacher, I know that you're not supposed to form friendships with your
students, any more than you're supposed to treat on one particular
student as a scapegoat. You're supposed to be fair and neutral to them
all. Favoritism is no favor; Harry is learning Potions from the HBP,
not from Slughorn, who praises him to the skies for innovations that
aren't his own. (Sure, he followed the directions and assembled the
ingredients, but he's doing no more than Hermione, who actually knows
what she's doing, and getting better results at her expense.) Neither
favoritism, earned or unearned, nor unfairness to a student you
dislike is desirable.

Snape, I think, really believes what he tells Fudge, that he treats
him as he would treat any other student. (Certainly, Harry is never
held back in Potions and required to repeat it, so those few zeroes,
some of them earned, some not, do him no harm. And Harry does deserve
some, not all, of his point deductions and most, if not all, of his
detentions with Snape.) But Snape can't see past Harry's resemblance
to James until his last breath, at which point, it's too late to
apologize (and the last thing on his mind is his own unfairness as a
teacher). I agree with Leah that he had no time to think back on his
teaching methods, but I'm not sure that he would have done so even if
he had survived. I think he would have continued to be a strict and
sometimes sarcastic headmaster concerned with the safety of all the
students, even those pesky Gryffindors and Ravenclaws (cf. the
detention with Hagrid that he assigned to Neville, Ginny, and Luna)
and not at all with popularity. Or he would have found a position in
research at the MoM or St. Mungo's, where he (and the students) would
have been happier. 

But for Snape to *like* Harry is, I think, expecting too much, setting
aside any concerns for his cover (which I do think is a legitimate
concern when Gryffindors and Slytherins are in the same class). And
*pretending* to be Harry's friend would be simply despicable. (It
would also arouse suspicion--the HOH of Slytherin might take and
occasional Slytherin under his wing [Draco], but it's not his job to
advise and guide, much less befriend, students from other Houses. The
only way to do that is to be jolly old Slughorn and have a group of
students from different Houses who are privileged above all the others
and whom you hope will do you favors when you help them to get good
jobs after Hogwarts. That's not Snape's way, and I don't think it's a
particularly good way. Ron, who's not a Sluggie, gets treated like
dirt by Slughorn, who can't even remember his name, and even Hermione
is less favored than Harry.)

Slughorn, BTW, feels almost as guilty over Lily's death as Snape does
because he gave Tom Riddle information on Horcruxes, and he also liked
(though he didn't love Lily), so his situation in some ways parallels
Snape's on a lower level of involvement and intensity, but he has (for
various reasons) the opposite reaction to Harry. Neither reaction is
right; neither really helps Harry (unless you count getting what he
wants out of Slughorn, that memory. and slughorn is worse than useless
when Ron is poisoned. Had Snape been present, he wouldn't have stood
around helplessly. He'd have stuffed a Bezoar down his throat.)

Caolr, agreeing that teachers *ought* to be fair or at least neutral 
in dealing with all students, just as a parent shouldn't have
favorites (or "least favorites) among her own children, but
understanding just how hard it would be for Snape to achieve that goal