Minerva the Strict but Fair
Nov. 20th, 2014 09:53 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
terri-testing.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
deathtocapslockI just realized something about the teacher I’m most disappointed to be disillusioned by.
Remember that detention Minerva gave in the first book to the firsties she caught out after curfew?
What she thought at the time was going on, was Harry and Hermione had suckered Draco and Neville into believing “some cock and bull story about a dragon.”
She very properly (given her understanding of the matter) docked the most points from her own house, since in her view Harry and Hermione had not only broken a school rule themselves (and put themselves into danger), they’d led others into doing the same.
But then when it came time for the joint detention for all four curfew-breakers, there are two things odd about it.
One was, if they were being punished for leaving their dorms at night and putting themselves into danger, it seems odd to punish them by sending them into the extremely dangerous Forbidden Forest at night—to track a unicorn-killer, no less! I mean, presumably Minerva didn’t expect Hagrid to be so stupid as to break up the party and leave two of the children unprotected except for Fang, but still!
Still, I suppose that might be defended as giving them a taste of what they’d seemed to want. You want to be out at night running foolish risks? Okay, see how you like it!
But the second thing is… well, when Snape gave the would-be sword-stealers a detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, we readers understood it to be more of a reward than a punishment. For those particular students. Because we knew that the students in question all got on rather well with Hagrid and would be treated well by him, and further that those students had all ventured into the Forest on their own.
Back to the detention Minerva assigned. Harry and Hermione were Hagrid’s personal friends, and Neville was a fellow Gryffindor. Hagrid was vociferously prejudiced in favor of his own house—and equally openly prejudiced against one of the others. Remind me, which? So giving their joint detention to Hagrid to supervise… well, it’s canon that Hagrid treated Harry and Hermione with open friendliness, not as a disciplinarian overseeing a punishment.
And Minerva must have expected that.
Remember that detention Minerva gave in the first book to the firsties she caught out after curfew?
What she thought at the time was going on, was Harry and Hermione had suckered Draco and Neville into believing “some cock and bull story about a dragon.”
She very properly (given her understanding of the matter) docked the most points from her own house, since in her view Harry and Hermione had not only broken a school rule themselves (and put themselves into danger), they’d led others into doing the same.
But then when it came time for the joint detention for all four curfew-breakers, there are two things odd about it.
One was, if they were being punished for leaving their dorms at night and putting themselves into danger, it seems odd to punish them by sending them into the extremely dangerous Forbidden Forest at night—to track a unicorn-killer, no less! I mean, presumably Minerva didn’t expect Hagrid to be so stupid as to break up the party and leave two of the children unprotected except for Fang, but still!
Still, I suppose that might be defended as giving them a taste of what they’d seemed to want. You want to be out at night running foolish risks? Okay, see how you like it!
But the second thing is… well, when Snape gave the would-be sword-stealers a detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid, we readers understood it to be more of a reward than a punishment. For those particular students. Because we knew that the students in question all got on rather well with Hagrid and would be treated well by him, and further that those students had all ventured into the Forest on their own.
Back to the detention Minerva assigned. Harry and Hermione were Hagrid’s personal friends, and Neville was a fellow Gryffindor. Hagrid was vociferously prejudiced in favor of his own house—and equally openly prejudiced against one of the others. Remind me, which? So giving their joint detention to Hagrid to supervise… well, it’s canon that Hagrid treated Harry and Hermione with open friendliness, not as a disciplinarian overseeing a punishment.
And Minerva must have expected that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: “Strict but Fair” Minerva
Date: 2014-11-21 10:12 am (UTC)Hermione would understand it. Hermione knows that her parents can be ashamed of her and that it is bad.
I'm not sure how much Minerva knew about Harry and the Dursleys. On the other hand, she has seen some belittling of Severus and his Slytherin ("Slytherin is evil, Snape is unfair, Snape never punishes a Slytherin" etc). Maybe she expects (not that she approves of it, just that she knows it happens) her Gryffindor prefects would hammer this the newcomers into heads during their first few weeks at the school.
On the other hand, did Minerva send them to catch that evil thing who was killing the unicorns directly, or did she only send them to Hagrid to the Forest (and hoped Hagrid will not be stupid enough to go with them after the evil killer)? I don't remember well.
The first was stupid (because she could have known Hagrid at this time well enough), but not evil. The second, well...
On the third hand, it seems to be norm in this school not to care about safety of the students too much. ("Don't do this" - and that is all. "Ah, you did after all? Then don't complain." Like, "don't go to the Forbidden Forest.") Severus is the only one who cares, if I recall correctly.
Maybe, from this point of view, to send a Slytherin to Hagrid means to teach Hagrid a lesson - via Severus?
On the fourth hand (I have weird number of hands, haven't I? :-) ), maybe it was intended as a lesson for the children: "Don't fight. You can survive only if you cooperate."
Or is Minerva somebody who just doesn't care?
I don't know...