Comments | deathtocapslock: The (Mis)Education of Harry James Potter

condwiramurs in deathtocapslock

The (Mis)Education of Harry James Potter - Part I

Aug 13, 2015 13:44

I promise I’ll be continuing my “Indestructible” series soon. I’m working on another long piece, but I got slightly distracted in the middle of it. ;) Plus there’s my dissertation calling ( Read more... )

meta, teaching, author: condwiramurs, harry potter, albus dumbledore, severus snape, morality

Comments 21

This is great! Harry's education that he was above the rules... terri_testing August 16 2015, 16:31:10 UTC

Wonderful stuff, C. I particularly like how you tie in Minerva and her contribution to Harry's moral (mis)education at Hogwarts. Adding to that line, Harry in the early books DOES expect to face consequences for misdeeds--and Minerva was the first to show him directly that, no, HE's above the rules. He expected to be punished for getting caught disobeying Hooch's order to stay on the ground, and instead was rewarded lavishly. At the end of book 1 when he was thinking about going after the Stone, he expected to be expelled in punishment if he got caught--but that it would be worth it to try to stop Voldemort winning. Instead, he was lavishly rewarded again (despite the fact that the real result of his interference was to bring the PS out where Tom had a chance of getting it ( ... )

Re: This is great! Harry's education that he was above the rules... condwiramurs August 16 2015, 17:08:53 UTC

Thank you! :)

Yes, Dumbledore might ultimately stage-manage everything, but Minerva's the first to explicitly reward rather than punish him for breaking the rules. Before she ever attempts to punish him for anything, she's ALREADY shown herself to be biased in his favor. And even that first punishment was...er, quite appealing to a Gryff, yes? So of course she's "strict but fair" rather than a Harry-hater.

Good catch on that end-of-year talk - I missed that! Making it very explicit, and building on the pattern...

Getting Hermione to be the instigator was an inspired touch on Dumbledore's part, since the boys regard her as the rule-enforcer....

Oh, yes. Because it's not just Harry in question here, but his cohorts as well, yes. Lock them all into a pattern where they can reinforce to each other the overall direction for Harry... And then, yes, Ron in GOF, pushing Harry away, and coming back to apologize and admit his wrong. Echoed later in his return in DH, though at that point he really was right about everything.

Definitely by ( ... )

More on Minerva--another inspired touch terri_testing August 17 2015, 04:42:04 UTC

Yes, and as with Hermione, the boys' immediate perception that Minerva was "strict" (established in their first class with her) and "didn't favor her own house" (because she actually gave them homework their first week) made her bending the rules in Harry's favor seem acceptable/justifiable ( ... )

Re: More on Minerva--another inspired touch condwiramurs August 17 2015, 15:34:17 UTC

That, on reflection, is the truly terrible thing--it wasn't really the Dursleys who corrupted Harry at all. It was Albus and Minerva.

Oh yes, good catch. You're right. Harry, that boy we all liked on the train when he sympathized with Ron, DOES come in with a basic understanding of justice and willingness to work with it if rules are actually going to be enforced fairly. But Minerva and Albus between them set him up to move away from that understanding.

How much do you think Minerva was knowingly playing a part for Albus and how much do you think it was just her biases intersecting (un)fortunately with Albus' set-up? Though I'm sure Albus at the least knew his deputy's, er, priorities and was counting on them showing themselves somehow. A brief word or two offhand before the start of term regarding the upcoming arrival of Mr. Potter and his hopes for the boy might have been all that was needed?

Thread 9

Severus and the Slytherins terri_testing August 17 2015, 06:13:03 UTC

So a part of me wanted to argue, "But if Severus were not rather insensitive to anything beyond protecting his charges' bodies, if he were concerned about their moral growth as well, why did he fail so miserably with his Slytherins ( ... )

Re: Severus and the Slytherins: Quidditch terri_testing August 17 2015, 07:22:01 UTC

It's really in Quidditch that we can see most clearly the difference that Albus made to the Slytherins. It's the only place at school where, once a year at least, Harry has to notice Slytherins who aren't Draco ( ... )

Re: Severus and the Slytherins: Quidditch condwiramurs August 17 2015, 16:11:43 UTC

Yes, precisely. One of the - I don't know if it's simply an example of collateral damage, or an actual secondary target here - one of the unspoken casualties of Albus' game for Harry's soul is the relationship between Severus and his Slytherins, their respect for him and his ability to guide them effectively. And thus protect them from Voldemort, as well as other moral hazards ( ... )

Collateral damage or secondary target? terri_testing August 19 2015, 04:26:18 UTC

Secondary target, definitely. Remember what Swythyv noted, that Albus hated and targeted his "inner Slytherin."

Well, he killed it.

Utterly.

After his shining example, no Slytherin in canon, EVER, ever admits publicly to any ambition that isn't completely self-referential.

Thread 7

Finally, Severus clinging to rules terri_testing August 17 2015, 14:37:51 UTC

It's brilliant, your identifying Sev's definition of arrogance as believing that one is above having to regard the laws and rules that regulate others' behavior. Or consequences.

Because it's not, it's never been, just James that Harry (at his worst) reminds Severus of.

Though I imagine Severus, like Harry, prefers to externalize some of his own flaws and errors, projecting them on an Other that he already hates.

Draco is not, after all, the only boy who started Hogwarts thinking he could get the rules enforced against his rivals. Nor Harry the only one who snuck around spying on his enemies, sure that if he could just get proof of egregious enough wrongdoing the Headmaster would HAVE to expel them (he almost killed Katie, look!).

Nor either of them the first to decide when they discover their enemies to be Teflon, well bugger that for a game of soldiers. If my tormentors are above considering the law, then so will I be.

Re: Finally, Severus clinging to rules condwiramurs August 17 2015, 16:38:29 UTC

Oh no, it's not just James, not at all. Though I think in HBP the appearance of that book and its role in the bloodbath might have pushed a few things into more conscious recognition for Severus. But yes, we're on the same page.

I've long suspected that one of those fears lurking beneath Sev's increasingly desperate attempts to haul the BWL around was indeed that he might be watching his most important charge heading down a path he himself knows all too well, and thus might be failing him on that level despite all his frantic efforts to make the boy wake up and change course. But nothing he does seems to have any effect other than making things worse, the headmaster is undermining him at every step of the way, he's losing the Slytherins too, the Dark Lord keeps attempting to return, every ghost (or werewolf) from his past is suddenly being resurrected and shoved in his face... And then the Dark Lord really does come back and it's all-out war again.

And then the boy, the stupid stupid boy, starts letting the Dark Lord in, starts ( ... )

War, again; all I can do is quote you terri_testing August 19 2015, 04:36:07 UTC

I've long suspected that one of those fears lurking beneath Sev's increasingly desperate attempts to haul the BWL around was indeed that he might be watching his most important charge heading down a path he himself knows all too well, and thus might be failing him on that level despite all his frantic efforts to make the boy wake up and change course. But nothing he does seems to have any effect other than making things worse, the headmaster is undermining him at every step of the way, he's losing the Slytherins too, the Dark Lord keeps attempting to return, every ghost (or werewolf) from his past is suddenly being resurrected and shoved in his face... And then the Dark Lord really does come back and it's all-out war again ( ... )

Re: War, again; all I can do is quote you condwiramurs August 19 2015, 15:17:17 UTC

Yeah, once I saw the parallels my heart just broke.

No wonder Sev was on the verge of losing it so often that year. Protecting his charge had just lined itself up with what I can only imagine must be a deeply-felt impossible wish to be able to go back in time and shove some sense into another boy's thick skull while there's still time.

But teenage boys just never want to listen.

(And it's even in part Sirius Black's unwitting fault. And he snared himself again too, didn't he?)

Thread 5