Re: part 2 And if you want to slap Hermione, then please, slap Severus too, because they have quite a few things in common.
Of course they do. And I'd like to do a little more than just slap Snape, actually. ;-) Ahem.....anyway, I had not intended to get into all the past behavior from both of them (other than as raised specifically in your chapter). And I thought you already knew from comments on Snapedom and elsewhere that I don't think Snape is some perfect knight in shining armor. But if we want to get into that...
He may have been an efficient teacher and child-protector but his methods leave a lot to be desired.
I kind of thought that went without saying. Although I don't agree with your criticism of how terribly he treated Harry. One of these days, I need to finish up and post my review of the discipline *actually* imposed by Snape vs. McGonagall. I think what you'll find (and I was quite surprised, frankly) is that McGonagall is actually MORE biased in favour of Gryffindors and against Slytherins than Snape is toward Slytherins and against Gryffindors. McGonagall is absolutely a HORRIBLE teacher and role-model if a person wants to take the sorting hat seriously.
And, IMNSHO, it shows in the outrageous behavior we get from Granger and Harry Potter. Just look at one example: Granger is the comfortably well-off child of professionals and Harry is independently wealthy. Granger is constantly rubbing everyone's nose in how much she knows. They know Fred and George, the ultimate black-market profiteers. Yet the only way they can think of to get supplies is to steal them from an improverished school teacher after creating a potentially lethal incident in the classroom as a diversion? They create black market potions, and receive nothing but praise from Dumbles and McGonagall?
Actually, Snape's discipline of Harry is quite mild and is usually in response to *Harry's* provocations. We may think he should have reacted more calmly, but the last thing anyone can call Snape is calm. I've always been a little nonplussed by the people who talk about how Snape is repressed and unable to show emotion. The man's like a volcano, sending out burts of smoke and ash to relieve some of the pressure. ;-) Of course, it's not fair that the kids are in the line of fire there, but Dumbles and McGonagall (as the school administrators) deserve a significant amount of the blame for that. First, they failed to provide *any* assistance to the man (expecting him to teach a full load, brew all the potions for the infirmary, be head of house for the fourth of the student body most in need of counseling and support, AND spy, without so much as a teaching assistant or help brewing standard infirmary positions). Then, they made it crystal clear to the Gryffindors that they would refuse to back Snape up, and that Harry et al had free reign in the castle (and actually used it pretty blatantly to torment Snape, Filch, etc at will). But the supposed terribly unfair treatment from Snape is very definitely the Harry filter, when you actually analyze the actions.