Harry's safety: To Expell or Not

[juli17ptf]

No: HPFGUIDX 188836

I'm not sure what Harry's safety has to do with whether
Snape really wants to see Harry expelled or not. On the
other hand, maybe it has everything to do with it...

Snape's vow to Dumbledore is to help protect Harry so 
Lily's son can grow up despite the threat he is living 
under from the DEs and Voldemort (should the latter find
a way to return). From Harry's first year that has been 
made progressively more difficult by Harry's penchant
for putting himself in mortal peril. From Snape's POV,
is Harry safer at Hogwarts, where he constantly gets 
himself into troublesome situations (forcing Snape to
be on constant alert, of course), or at home, where
he is under the protection of his mother's blood (even
while he is going to the local school) and away from
the apparently adverse infuence of magical surroundings
(in which case Snape can breathe a sigh of relief and 
get on with his own business knowing the boy is safe)?

It seems obvious to me, and I can see Snape and Dumbledore
having a conversation(s) like thus:

Snape "How am I supposed to protect the boy when all he
does is break the rules and put himself in danger? He 
needs to be expelled and sent back to his relatives 
where he'll be safe!"

Dumbledore: "And out of your greasy hair, Severus?"
(Okay, maybe Dumbledore would leave out the greasy part)

Snape (bitter): "Is it only Slytherins who should suffer
the consequences of their actions then, Dumbledore? The boy
saviour learns *nothing* when you let him get away with
*everything*."

Dumbledore: "He has been chastised, Severus(--"Like that
does any good," Severus mutters, as Dumbledore continues
to speak right over him--)Speaking of learning, how would
Harry learn what he needs to know to defeat Voldemort if
he is not at Hogwarts?"

Snape: "We still don't know if the Dark Lord will return!
In the meanwhile his minions keep finding ways to reach
the boy, and the boy makes it easy for them by searching
for ever more ways of getting himself stupidly killed--"

Which brings up an interesting point. It seems to me that
Snape relinquished his demands that Harry be expelled at
approximately the same time that Voldemort came to full
body and power. At which time Snape would have realized 
that merely protecting Harry's life would not be enough;
for Harry to survive the resurrected Voldemort he would
need to learn things he could only be taught by wizards
such as Dumbledore and himself, at Hogwarts.

So I don't have any conflict with Snape genuinely 
wanting Harry expelled in those early years. He knows
Harry is safe at his aunt's house (and until Occlumency
he seems to assume Harry leads a pampered life there).
If the boy needed basic magical training it could be 
arranged by tutor, while he continues to get a muggle
education. And I doubt Snape was worried about years 
into the future. After all, in the unlikely even that
Voldemort returned in full body and power, Harry could
always be brought back to Hogwarts. 

I wouldn't have wanted Snape to have his way, and I 
don't think Snape ever expected to get Harry expelled.
But he had a solid argument for it, so it's not like
his threats of expulsion could all be chalked up merely
to unreasonable hatred of Harry, nor to Snape willing
to dismiss/ignore his vow to protect Harry. 

Julie