GOF Chapter 2: The Scar

[oryx_leucoryx]

Harry wakes up with his scar hurting. We are let to understand that he experienced the events of the previous chapter as a dream. He quickly starts forgetting the details so as to keep him from noticing when relevant information pops up again. BTW from what POV did he experience the vision? Starting from the following year his visions will be from Voldemort's POV but this does not seem to be the case this instance. Consistency? What consistency?

The description of Harry's room shows he was already on his way to becoming the worst slob child hero in the history of literature. Didn't living in a closet teach him to appreciate having space?

Harry can't even see a cat in the darkness (sorry Harry, your Head of House doesn't spend her summer spying on you) so he concludes there can't be any wizard lurking outside. Despite knowing at least one way to be invisible and knowing that some wizards don't need a cloak to be invisible.

Bizarre accidents and injuries are unavoidable at Hogwarts, which is why it is such a safe place.

The Dursleys weren't of any help to Harry while awake. Except by magically protecting him from Voldemort, just the wizard he feared might be near. OK, they didn't have to be awake for the protection to work, but their being awake didn't hinder it either. (I know Harry didn't know of the protection yet, it's just that he makes judgments in ignorance.)

The story about Harry supposedly attending St Brutus' Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys is now the official line the Dusrleys tell anyone. How does that fit with their desire to project the 'perfectly normal' image? (Note the foreshadowing of Barty entering Harry to the Tournament as a student from a different school.)

Voldemort is still "the most powerful Dark wizard for a century". Maybe the ones before him were Albus and Gellert, in the summer of 1899. Just under a century ago - the timing almost works. Gellert never came back to Britain and Albus thinks he abandoned Dark magic, under some definition thereof.

Harry thinks there was a fortnight to go until his return to school. Looks like ending his math education at 11 didn't do him good.

Harry's assessment of Hermione's probable response is realistic. However why does not knowing where Albus went for the summer preclude writing to him? Not knowing where Sirius was didn't stop Harry from writing to him. Ah, he's ashamed to look stupid for saying his scar hurt. What about including that it hurt while he was having a vision of Voldemort killing someone? Why would this look stupid to Dumbledore rather than, say, informative? But a Gryffindor can't afford to appear weak in any way, even if this means hiding potentially crucial information.

Arthur is described as a 'fully qualified wizard'. Aren't almost all adult wizards? How meaningful is this description? Again, Harry's fear of appearing weak to the Weasleys trumps any common sense.

Only Dumbledore believed the trio's story about Sirius. Maybe because he was the only one who heard it in detail from Sirius. Anyone else present (Severus, Fudge, Poppy) just heard kids insisting on something. Severus also heard Sirius and Remus admitting to being serial liars. And was repeatedly injured by Sirius (after already being injured by the kids) and thus was denied a chance to receive evidence of the truth.

So Harry writes to Sirius. The part about Dudley's diet looks like Harry already mentioned the diet in a previous letter, but on the previous page I got the impression this was the first time Harry writes to Sirius. Oh well.

Dudley is ridiculous for enjoying a game called "Mega-Mutilation Part Three". That's because Harry goes to a school where kids learn how to really mutilate each other.

Again, Harry avoids mentioning any part of his dream. Nor does he date his letter. How is Sirius going to know when 'this morning' refers to? Why be helpful to adults whose advice you are seeking?

Comments

[condwiramurs.livejournal.com]

I agree that he'd be better with older students, yes. The situation at Hogwarts in that regard however isn't exactly something he can change.

I don't agree about his students only doing well on the test: IMHO we don't see at all enough of the lives of other students, or of Potions in the WW in general, in order to be able to support the assumption you make. (I'm not saying it cannot be true, I am pointing out we don't have enough information to say for certain either way.) Harry has little interest in Potions, and doesn't investigate it much at all, so we see very little of Potions outside the Hogwarts classroom. That doesn't mean there aren't former students of Snape's who are working at Potions jobs or go on to love the subject. Harry doesn't seem to pay much attention to anyone interested in Potions, in fact. His own obsession is DADA. He also is inclined to put the worst interpretation on anything to do with Snape, and ignore evidence to the contrary, so he's not going to be going around looking for evidence of Snape's amazing teaching ability or carefully noting anything of the kind. Absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence.

Also, you didn't seem from what I could tell to be speaking only of truly exceptional teachers who go on to spark such a love of the subject in their students (believe me, they are exceptional, not the norm). Nor are the other teachers discussed here critiqued on those grounds in this discussion. The discussion was about the disaster of the Occlumency lessons and why Harry didn't learn *anything* there, and generally about teaching style, not the fact that Harry never fell in love with Occlumency or Potions or what have you. Snape's task there wasn't to make him love it, only to get the basics of it into his head, and why that did not happen. So it seemed quite naturally to me that you were critiquing merely his basic effectiveness as a teacher, not anything more, and that's the only level I'm concerned with here. I think the discussion of effective vs truly great teaching and teachers at Hogwarts is another topic; if you want to discuss that, that's fine of course, but that did not come across as what you were talking about.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

The discussion was about the disaster of the Occlumency lessons and why Harry didn't learn *anything* there, and generally about teaching style, not the fact that Harry never fell in love with Occlumency or Potions or what have you.

Actually the discussion started when a couple of other posters started discussing whether Snape deliberately sabotaged the Occlumency lessons; personally I don't believe that he did, but that is neither here nor there.

I got into the discussion when the issue of whether Snape was a GOOD teacher was raised, and it had broadened into Snape's abilities as a teacher overall, not just in teaching Occlumency to Harry. It might just come down to a matter of semantics and how each person defines "good" in this respect, but in my personal interpretation of the meaning of "good teacher", I don't think Snape was. "Effectual", yes; "good", no.

One of the reasons I believe that Snape was not a good teacher across the board was his lack of patience; this flaw definitely affected his ability to teach Occlumency to Harry.

So maybe it would be better if I stated that I do not think that Snape was an effective teacher of Occlumency as far as Harry was concerned; he was an effective teacher of Potions overall, but not a good one.

Just my opinion... ;-)

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

IDK, I think Snape would probably deal better with the 6/7th year Potions students, 'coz at least they'd be the ones who've done well and stick with it 'coz they want to, as opposed to the younger years who are forced to be there.

(I remember reading a bit of this hilarious fic with the Arithmancy teacher...Septima Vector? Noting thankfully that she only gets the students when they're 'fully formed' and actual people or something like that, lol! It was just funny, since that's kinda my attitude to little kids as well, heh)

Echoing you on the 'absence of evidence, etc.' thing. ITA. Although if JKR ever does an encyclopedia (or worse, more books in the HP!verse) I just know she's gonna find more ways to disparage his character and cut him down. 'During his term as Potions teacher, NO students were inclined to pursue potions in their career, which can only be attributed to his offensive teaching style and abnormally long nose and generally unpleasant demeanor.'