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

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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?

Re: More on Minerva--another inspired touch oryx_leucoryx August 18 2015, 10:05:24 UTC

Terri, this really should be dealt with in Unlikely Alies, don't you think?

Re: More on Minerva--another inspired touch terri_testing August 19 2015, 04:11:57 UTC

Totally! But of course I'll have to write Minerva as what she THINKS she is doing. I mean, she isn't swanking about in canon going, "By my tartan, I think I'll inveigle children into acts of betrayal of their every principle, while telling themselves they're being noble! What fun!"

Re: More on Minerva--another inspired touch condwiramurs August 19 2015, 15:01:09 UTC

I mean, she isn't swanking about in canon going, "By my tartan, I think I'll inveigle children into acts of betrayal of their every principle, while telling themselves they're being noble! What fun!"

Nah, that's more Albus' line, isn't it?

Lemon sherbert? *twinkle*

If I can hijack the Bard again, a certain line keeps popping into my mind:

"O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!"

(I'm eager to see what you do with her in UA now!)

Blaming Severus for Sirius's death terri_testing August 17 2015, 05:20:38 UTC

"The man he already hates and resists, who he's already wronged but would like to avoid having to acknowledge that fact about, and the man who subconsciously presents the greatest threat to his internal model here - because Severus of course had been the one pointing out the danger Harry fell into and the likely result and had demanded he work to avoid it. Severus is here most clearly the figure of rightful authority, the one with the greatest standing to criticize Harry, the one whose rules he failed to obey and thereby lost Sirius. Severus is going to be the figure Harry most strongly and instinctively resists, and Dumbledore says 'go for it! That's my boy ( ... )

Re: Blaming Severus for Sirius's death condwiramurs August 17 2015, 15:40:42 UTC

Oh, god, I never saw this before. Obviously if Harry's feelings are his strength and Snape's his failing, it must be because Harry's feelings are meritorious and justified and noble while Snape's were ... not. And one of the things Harry had been struggling with (and wanting to discard) was his glimpse of seeing the Marauders as Snape had. [...]

Albus told Harry outright, in effect, that Snape was wrong to resent such treatment. [...]

Congrats, Albus, on doing what Sirius and Remus working together couldn't manage: get Harry to accept James's worst, most sadistic misbehavior, as something, not to abhor, but to accept as a trivial peccadillo.

In fact, ultimately, to emulate enthusiastically. Oh god. Ouch. Yes. And in HBP, sure enough, we get a full-fledged bully Harry hexing people in the corridors for fun, indeed. And the shift is so stark that even one of Harry's closest friends - a girl who herself is already a thief, blackmailer, and mutilator of a fellow student (for the greater good!) - is taken aback by his behavior ( ... )

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