Snape and Harry and expulsion LONG

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 188867


> Potioncat:
> That expelling Harry would
> be something of a sacrifice for Snape and therefore noble?
> 
> Alla:
> 
> If he knows that Harry would be safe, yes, in a sense I think so, that would be Snape controlling his darker impulses to make Harry suffer.

Montavilla47:
Wow.  If Snape isn't controlling his darker impulses to make 
Harry suffer already, then Snape has the weeniest dark 
impulses in the world.  I mean, what does Harry's suffering at 
Snape's hands consist of?  Some snide remarks about the 
quality of Harry's classwork, some digs at his celebrity 
status, and detentions (when he catches Harry breaking
rules).

Or maybe I'm just underestimating the suffering of a
sixteen year old boy who misses out on an hour of 
making out with his girlfriend.


> Potioncat:
> I don't believe that Snape enjoys Harry's presence at all and would be glad to
> avoid him entirely. 
> 
> Alla:
> See, you guys are funny. (you and Montavilla, I mean, since she expressed the similar thought). So now Snape indeed would have wanted Harry out of sight if it could have been done safely? How is it different from what I had been arguing all along? That Snape does not want Harry dead, but he would have loved to get out of his promise if he knew that somebody else (or something else for all I care) Could you please elaborate on how is it different from my position?

Montavilla47:
I don't think it's all that different, to be honest.  The only
difference that I can see is that I'm taking into account an
opposing force in Snape's psyche--which is his sense of 
duty to Dumbledore OR Lily, take your pick, which overrides
his desire to keep Harry as far away as possible.

And, also, although I find the idea that Snape loves
tormenting Harry so much that it would pain him
to send the kid away amusing, I don't actually think
that's what's going on.  I'm sure that Snape gets a 
bit of a thrill in exercising his authority over Harry, but 
I also think he justifies it to himself by saying that it's
for the kid's own good--that Harry needs some strong
guidelines and discipline.

So, I think Snape's *conscious* motivation is to be a
good, strong teacher to Harry.  Unfortunately, he has
this prejudice against Harry because of Harry's father and
that really gets in the way.  So, Snape isn't as fair or
objective as he would like to believe that he is.

But, he's hardly the only teacher to view Harry through
a James or Lily filter.  Many of Harry's teachers do so,
notably Hagrid, McGonagall (who is probably thinking 
a little about James's Quidditch prowess when she 
pushes Harry onto the team), Flitwick (who *faints* when
he sees Harry in his class for the first time), and Slughorn,
who can't stop talking about Lily.

Hagrid also seems to view Draco through a Lucius 
filter.  He's as rude to Draco in class as Snape is to
Harry.  Snape may also be seeing Lucius in Draco,
although I don't get that vibe as strongly as other 
people seem to.