emilyspier:

Okay, so this scene is super important to me, and here’s why. 

1. Basically, you have Snape here bullying a student for knowing the answer. He has his own agenda, he’s hoping that someone will figure out what’s wrong with Lupin, because he’s still holding this grudge. Snape is a bitter, vindictive, loathsome, vile person. He should have never been allowed to teach students if he couldn’t keep favoritism out of his style. So what if his back story is tragic; most of his misery is really self-inflicted. He could have been a better person. He wasn’t. And so he acts like this to children.
2. The entire class is vehemently against Snape, for obvious reasons, and prior to these two pages, multiple students speak out towards him, as he’s not going with the flow of their class, and they are defensive of Professor Lupin, a professor they all like very much, because Lupin is a decent human being. 
3. Snape knows that Hermione would be the person to ask. He knows how smart she is, and he resents it, because she’s Muggleborn and generally quite pushy. Yet, instead of being a decent teacher, and acknowledging that there is a student in the room that knows the answer, he ignores her and then snaps at her when she interrupts, which he knew she would do. 
4. A good teacher would never, ever, ever call a student an insufferable know-it-all because a good teacher would reward the extra effort it takes to know something you have yet to be taught. Again, why Snape was allowed to teach for so long is beyond me.
5. Notice: everyone in the class is super defensive when Snape calls Hermione a know-it-all, because while everyone is aware that is exactly what she is, to have someone so vile call her that, and reduce her to tears is unacceptable. 
6. Ronald. Bilius. Weasley. Everyone convientely forgets that Hermione and Ron are friends, they have been for years now, because taking out a mountain troll is a bonding experience. And Ron is extremely loyal to his friends. He is loyal and defends them. And here we have Ron getting haughty with a teacher and basically yell at them for treating one of his friends terribly. He receives a detention for this! And even though he calls her a know-it-all “at least twice a week”, it’s different when it’s done with malice. When Ron says it, it’s between friends, some lighthearted teasing, a bit of joking around. 
7. And I can guarantee you Ron never calls her an “insufferable know-it-all”.

This scene in the books is so key to Snape’s character, and Ron’s as well. And really shows how much the students of Hogwarts hate Snape, which they have every right to do. 

Aaaand the films had him say ‘he’s right, you know’. Because goodness forbid that Ron Weasley is actually a good friend in the films…