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

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 185860

jkoney:
> Snape obviously knew that Malfoy knew more than the average spells.
It was just his way of trying to get Harry shown up in front of alot 
of people. Is it petty, yes, but that is how Snape acted especially
early on in the series.
> 
Carol earlier:
> > I'm not sure about the Serpensortia spell, but it *may* have been
Snape's way of testing to see whether Harry was a Parselmouth. It
certainly served that purpose whether it was his intention or not. 
And Snape easily Vanished the snake before it could do any harm.
> 
> jkoney:
> I think you are missing the point entirely. Malfoy and Harry should
have never been chosen to demonstrate. Why would you choose two
wizards with almost no experience for a demonstration when you have
the upper years also there.
> 
> No this was just Snape trying to embarrass Harry. His whispers with
Draco telling him what advanced spell to use definitely let us know
that. <snip>

Carol responds:

First, you're trying to have it both ways. You say that "Snape
obviously knew that Malfoy knew more than the average spells" and then
you say that "Malfoy and Harry should have never been chosen to
demonstrate. Why would you choose two wizards with almost no
experience." those two statements are not consistent. Either Draco,
unlike Harry, knows "more than average spells" (in which case, it's
odd that he's attending the Dueling Club to learn how to duel) or,
like Harry, he's "a wizard with almost no experience." I think *all*
the kids who attend have almost no experience, certainly none with
real dueling. 

Moreover, I'm not missing the point that those two should never have
been chosen to demonstrate because they're inexperienced. So is every
other student present. There's no indication that anyone except
second-years attends the Dueling Club meetings (probably because the
older kids already hex each other in the hallways if the behavior of
Harry and his friends is any indication). *There are no older kids to
choose.* With the possible exception of Miss Fawcett, every student
named--Harry, Ron, Seamus, Neville, Lavender, Ernie Macmillan, Justin
Finch-Fletchley, Draco, Hermione, Millicent Bulstrode--is a second-year.

Draco is a second-year just like Harry, and his spell-casting is no
better and no worse than Harry's.(In their hallway battles and even in
the fight in HBP, they're always at the same level.) If Serpensortia
were an advanced spell, twelve-year-old Draco could not have cast it.
As you said yourself, he's an inexperienced wizard just like Harry.

After Snape casts Expelliarmus against Lockhart, Lockhart and Snape
pair up the students, who are supposed to use Expelliarmus on each
other, but instead they cast a variety of hexes that second-years are
capable of casting. Draco casts an unnamed hex that makes Harry feel
as if he's been hit in the head by a pan; the effects are short-lived,
and Harry casts Rictusempra (the tickling spell) and Draco counters
with Tarantellegra, making him involuntarily dance. Once Snape has
stopped all the hexes with his "Finite Incantatem!" (Lockhart's "Stop!
Stop!" having proved ineffectual), Lockhart decides to teach the
students to block unfriendly spells. 

He initially chooses another pair of inexperienced second-years,
Seamus and Neville. Obviously, "upper years" aren't needed for the
experiment, and, in any case, none are available. Snape wisely if
unkindly points out that Neville is not a good choice and chooses
Harry and Draco instead. Draco is *supposed* to cast an "unfriendly
spell" which Harry is *supposed* to block. Snape, coaching Draco,
suggests Serpensortia--whether because it's a nice, Slytherinish
"unfriendly spell" that second-year Draco probably already knows or is
at least capable of casting or for the reasons I suggested earlier, I
don't know, but unless he casts an unfriendly spell, there's nothing
for Harry to block. Lockhart is *supposed* to tell Harry how to block
the spell (presumably using Protego). Instead, he makes a "complicated
sort of wiggle" with his wand and drops it. 

Needless to say, Draco is prepared and Harry is not and he can only
stare when a snake comes out of Draco's wand. Snape tells Harry to
hold still so he can Vanish the snake (which he does easily after
Lockhart bungles the same spell and sends the snake hissing toward
Justin Finch-Fletchley), so the scene also serves to show the reader
(if not Harry) that Snape has considerably more knowledge of DADA than
the "tiny little bit" that Lockhart attirbutes to him. At the same
time, of course, Lockhart's ineptitude is publicly exposed (but he's
too much of a fool to see it).

On rereading the scene, I think you're right that Snape wasn't
expecting Harry to be a Parselmouth. He seems almost horrified by the
discovery. I think he suggested it only as a spell that he could
easily counter himself if Harry failed to cast a Protego. He seems
completely unconcerned until Lockhart's botched spell enrages the
snake and Harry starts talking to it, after which Snape Vanishes it
easily. His "shrewd and calculating look" suggests that he's just
figured something out. It might be that he starts suspecting that
Harry is the Heir of Slytherin at that point. Certainly, he informs
Dumbledore of what has happened.

Anyway, the point of pairing Harry and Draco was not to humiliate
Harry, mcuh less to hurt him. It was, IMO, to give him the most
skilled and motivated opponent among the second-years to practice
with. It's much like Harry practicing Occlumency against Snape
himself--the next best thing to Voldemort, only not dangerous.

IMO, if we disregard Lockhart's inept contributions, we're seeing DADA
as Snape would have taught it. He might even have become Harry's
favorite teacher if he'd kept it up. Alas, the DADA curse and the
whole Snape/Harry plot makes that impossible.

Carol, who thinks that the Dueling Club would have been much less
productive and possibly disastrous had Snape not been present