Sadism or not ? McGonagall and her punishments

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 186778


> 
> Carol responds:
> Hogwarts should give Harry the same opportunities for professional training that it gives any other student. Do students with a talent for Transfiguration or Potions get special help at Hogwarts? 

Pippin:
Hermione got a Time Turner. So yes, other students with extraordinary abilities do get special help. I believe it's common for schools in the free world  to give scholarships  and allow independent study to accommodate  practice sessions for athletically or artistically gifted prodigies. 

In any case, only a privileged few are ever going to play House Quidditch at all, so whatever the purpose of the first year rule, it hardly seems necessary to keep ickle firsties from dominating the teams (as if they could.) More likely, it's to keep the vain and the foolhardy from unsupervised flying  until they've been taught to land safely. 

Where do you get the idea that naturals don't benefit from additional training?  

As far as the infamous hair clip, I am sure that other Gryffindor girls would have liked to flirt and draw some attention from the newcomers, but they seem to have respected the decorum of the occasion (or McGonagall's wrath). If so, why would it be fair to let Parvati get away with it?

Pippin