^ Hermione aces nearly everything in assignments and gets all OWLs (except for maybe in Divination, but that's it), and Snape treats her practically worse than Harry.

I think there must have been a very good reason Dumbledore had Snape teach Harry instead of doing it himself- so if we trust Dumbledores judgement, we'd have to accept that Snape was the best available option.

Clearly Dumbledore knew about the problems betwen the two, and he still gave the job to Snape.

Snape puts his potions instructions on a board, because it's better than any available text on the subject. There's a reason Snapes students do so well in external exams- it's because the techniques etc. being used are more effective than what would normally 'meet expectations'. The teaching material is amazing, but his personal flaws make his teaching style overly agressive and create a poor learning environment.

Dumbledore explained why he chose Snape as the occlumency teacher, and he admitted that it was a mistake. The two master occlumens who were available were Dumbledore and Snape. Dumbledore was worried that if he taught Harry himself, then Voldemort would take advantage of the opportunity to invade his mind. He also hoped that Snape would be willing to put his hatred of James aside and treat Harry with respect. I think Dumbledore always, naively, hoped that Harry and Snape would one day put aside their differences and be friends.

I spent years training to be a teacher, and part of my job is to observe other teachers and provide feedback. I can tell you that I would have a lot of notes for Snape if I ever observed his class. Putting the notes on the board is fine, and it is obvious that he is an expert potion maker, but that isn’t enough. Not all students learn the same, and many students don’t do well with written instructions alone. He needs to model the different skills involved in potion making, he needs to respectfully answer student questions, he needs to be willing to work one on one with students to determine where they made mistakes without berating them. Most importantly, he needs to create a positive learning environment where students will be in the proper mindset to learn.

I think that Dumbledore would have done a worse job,

Snape and Dumbledore (at least in my fics) have very different versions of occlumency because they have very different types of minds.

Snape (once again in my interpretation) keeps things organized into boxes; he's also very information-oriented and tries to separate information from emotion. (There are obviously exceptions ie *Snape's Worst Memory*)

This version of occulemency would probably be easier for Harry if he had actually learned it, of course.

Dumbledore (MY INTERPRETATION) keeps things loose, which means they are more easily hidden, but also harder for him to find, like a maze or a tree; his memories overlap and cross and get jumbled, so other people can't understand the information he has.

Given that Harry is at least somewhat mentally unstable (if you don't think Harry is mentally unstable, did you even read the books? That boy has TRAUMA.), this version of occelumency would be much more difficult for his mind

so if we trust Dumbledores judgement

I will never trust Dumbledore's judgement, he's just...not a good person. He created not one (1) but two (2) CHILD ARMIES, he manipulated basically everyone around him, he left Harry in an abusive household for 10 years, and let him go back there every summer for 6 more. Yeah... just not a good person.

There's obviously some plot reveals that needed to happen too regards Snape and James' time together.. so plot convenience is a factor..

Book Harry was actively snooping, and stepped over the line FAR worse than movie Harry who saw Snapes memories as a result of his Protego. It's one of quite a few book Harry moments that make you dislike the protagonist. Movie Snape is far more sympathetic, although his reaction to Harrys accidental viewing of his memories, seems more like an over reaction when considering the importance of the lessons.

I tend to give Harry a pass for his snooping. He assumed that the memories that Snape was hiding were the same secrets that Dumbledore was keeping from him. Things like what was hidden behind the door in the Department of Mysteries, which Harry did absolutely have a right to know. Once he realized that he was actually seeing some of Snape’s most deeply personal memories, he did feel guilty. And if Snape had been up front and explained that the things that he was putting in the pensive were private, then perhaps Harry wouldn’t have snooped.

I’m confused by the claim that Dumbledore created two child armies. As far as I know, the only army he created was the Order of the Phoenix, which explicitly didn’t allow children. Fred and George were turned down for being too young. The DA was mostly made up of children but, despite its name, it wasn’t affiliated with Dumbledore and wasn’t an army. It was a glorified study group. Adult members of the DA fought in the Battle of Hogwarts (after Dumbledore was dead, anyway), but the children were (mostly) all evacuated.

His reasons for keeping Harry at the Dursleys were clearly explained. The Dursleys were awful, but Harry probably would have been murdered if he hadn’t been taken in by a member of Lily’s family.

I also don’t think that it is reasonable to call Harry mentally unstable. For one thing, that is definitely not a scientific phrase, and it sounds ableist to me. It is certainly offensive to say that someone must have something wrong with them because they faced trauma. Everyone processes trauma differently. Despite (or perhaps due to) the trauma that Harry faced growing up, he is a pretty normal guy. He may make poor decisions sometimes, but he is also an exceptionally brave and caring individual.

I stand by what I said before, it would be worse. Harry wouldn’t mind Dumbledore going into his personal memories as much as he did Snape. When Snape almost saw him & Cho in the memory, it caused him to get VERY defensive VERY quickly, hence why he was able to finally make a move against Snape going into his mind. I don’t think Harry would’ve reacted that fiercely if it was Dumbledore seeing that particular memory.

Occlumency isn’t really supposed to be based on fear or anger. It’s about compartmentalizing your emotions. That’s not something he was able to do with Snape.

I will never trust Dumbledore's judgement, he's just...not a good person. He created not one (1) but two (2) CHILD ARMIES, he manipulated basically everyone around him, he left Harry in an abusive household for 10 years, and let him go back there every summer for 6 more. Yeah... just not a good person.

Hmm, I think Snape's a bit worse as a person, perhaps as a teacher as well. There's a reason it took a while for him to get the DADA professor position at Hogwarts...

Also, as for that first "child army", if you're talking abt the OOTP, I think most of its members were actually adults, and the 2nd "child army", the DA, was founded by Hermione and led by Harry, Dumbledore had nothing to do with it, they just named their group after him.

Dumbledore explained why he chose Snape as the occlumency teacher, and he admitted that it was a mistake.

It was... *Sigh* Smh, Dumbledore, you can do better than this!

^ Hermione aces nearly everything in assignments and gets all OWLs (except for maybe in Divination, but that's it), and Snape treats her practically worse than Harry.

I think she quit Divinitation before the OWLs for that could begin, but yeah, she might fail the Dvinitation OWLS if it's a practical exam, she'd probably pass a written exam tho! Snape does treat her badly, though. >:(