First lesson WAS: Re: Marietta, was Slytherin's Reputation

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 185692


Alla:
>
> I do not know if we have any evidence that Lily would have liked it
> one way or another.
>
Montavilla47:
No. I'm inferring it from the way that we're told (it's almost the
first thing we know about Lily) that she was the star in her
parent's eyes, and that she was very popular both in school and
throughout the Wizarding world. 


Alla:

Ah. Okay, I see. I do not agree, but I see what you mean. I guess I 
observed too often one of my favorite kids in the world being 
extremely hungry for attention of her parents and myself all the time 
and being so so completely NOT wanting attention anywhere else that 
to me one does not necessarily translates into another. But again, 
certainly I understand the assumption; it just not sufficient for me.


Montavilla47:
Adding to that her upset at
Snape costing her cool points with her friends and it seems to
me that popularity was important to Lily.

Alla:

That I do not see at all. I mean, I do not see how you interpret her 
remark to Snape that he costs her cool points with her friends. Isn't 
she being upset on behalf of her friend and saying that her friends 
warned her about him? Or are you talking about another accident?

Again, I cannot disprove that popularity was important to Lily; I 
just do not think that we can prove it either. IMO of course.


Alla wrote:
<snip>
> And if he truly genuinely worried that Harry could be next Dark
Lord, again, why not do that extraordinary thing and just **watch**
him without antagonizing him? <SNIP>
Carol responds:
Later, he does exactly that. Watch him in the Duelling Club scene in
CoS. <SNIP>

Alla:

Um, yes, he does. More than a year later, when Harry is pretty set in 
thinking that Snape is the evil personified.


Carol:
<SNIP>
Whatever Snape's
*intentions*, the consequence was that Harry was clearly not regarded
as a genius or prodigy by his schoolmates (who would have found out
quickly enough, in any case, that Harry was no better than they were
at anything except flying).
<SNIP>

Carol, not defending Snape so much as pointing out that actions, as so
often in the HP books, have unintended consequences, in this case,
good ones

Alla:

As Zara somewhere in the thread said about a different thing – I am 
only interested in the topic as related to what is happening in 
Snape's head (paraphrasing). That is pretty much my thought, albeit 
related to first lesson. So, really I do not care at all about 
unintended good consequences of Snape's actions, I mean, I think they 
were not all good at all, but even if they are, to me it does not 
matter.

Pippin:
How is Dumbledore supposed to make it easier?

What's he supposed to say, "Stop acting like an emotional cripple or
I'll have to sack you"? 

Alla:

Well, more like stop doing such and such things, or I will have to 
sack you? I do not know why this seems like such strange idea, lol.

Pippin:
How would that work? 

Alla:

He would sack him? No, seriously, if we are talking from within of 
the story, why not? I mean, we all know why not, because Dumbledore 
has plans, but to me that what makes him equally responsible.

Pippin:
He might as well tell
Moody not to limp. There is no treatment for chronic emotional
distress in the WW, beyond confinement in St Mungo's for those who
aren't capable of observing the statutes of secrecy.

Alla:

Well, we are back again to how much Snape can control him, I guess. 

Pippin:
Besides, we don't know what Dumbledore's plan B was. It might have
been getting someone else to protect Harry, but it could just as
easily have been giving Harry up for lost and finding someone else to
destroy the remaining soul bit ( since Dumbledore did not yet guess
there was more than one.)

Alla:

Lesser of two evils? If that was Dumbledore's plan B, well, that just 
another point for evil Dumbledore in my opinion.

I have to say though, pissed at Dumbledore as I am after book 7, I 
was in a way pleased to hear that at least he did not agree with 
Snape about Harry. I was angry that he did not interfene, but at 
least he paid no attention to Snape's assesment of Harry.

JMO,

Alla