Potions - Dean

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 27997

Amber wrote (great summaries, Amber!):

>1) Ive asked this before, but I thought Id ask it again. Besides the 
>magical quality of the ingredients themselves, there doesnt seem to be any 
>overt magic used in the making of a potion. Do you think that if a Muggle 
>were to prepare a potion correctly, it would work? If not, why not?

No, I really don't.  I think there is a lot to magic that isn't overt.  
Magical people simply have an interaction with objects of the world that 
Muggles don't.  I've given the broomstick example before here and elsewhere: 
  even a charmed object like a broomstick would not necessarily work for 
Muggles.  It isn't enough to say "Up!"--one has to have that magical oomph.  
(I should note, though again I'm repeating myself, that there *are* charmed 
objects that work for Muggles, or perhaps we should say against Muggles--the 
tea set that gave Mr. Weasley's office so much trouble, e.g. [CS 3].)

By the same token, there is more to Potions than adding the right 
combination of things in the right order.  Some ingredients no doubt have a 
magical effect even on Muggles (hence Muggle legends such as the necessity 
of plugging one's ears when one pulls up a mandrake root), but an invisible 
"ingredient" is the magical ability of the person making the potion.

>5) Would you personally enjoy Potions class? Forget about controversial 
>Snape for the moment, what about the actual class itself?

With another teacher, definitely!  I love to cook, and the combination of 
cooking and magic is irresistible.  Actually consuming the products, however 
. . . :shudder:.  Pickled rats' brains, anyone?  Onna stick?

I bet Snape is a good cook.  The skills are similar:  patience, a 
willingness to put up with a lot of tedium (they need a food processor in 
that dungeon), strict adherence to certain rules (order to add ingredients, 
when to stir on or off the fire), a good understanding of the principles, 
and intuition.

BTW, there are a couple of mentions of essays for Snape--one on Undetectable 
Poisons (don't recall where) and "a particularly nasty one about Shrinking 
Potions" (PA chapter 1).  Why it would be particularly nasty, I don't know.  
Extra long?  Requiring a lot of independent research?  I don't doubt that 
Snape is an exacting grader.

Jennifer asked:

>I was reading in the Lexicon and found this line:

>Dean Thomas: "...a Black boy, even taller than Ron (SS..."

>When in the books is it said that he is tall? I've tried to find it
>but I couldn't. I'm pretty intested in Dean :)

Do you have the UK edition?  This line does not appear there, so you could 
look all week and not find it.  In the US edition Steve is quoting, it shows 
up in the Sorting, right after Harry is Sorted and takes his seat.  The 
change also led to a Flint:  the US edition, like the UK, says "there 
remained only 3 people to be Sorted," even though if the description 
includes Dean there are four:  Dean, Lisa Turpin, Ron, and Blaise Zabini.

However, JKR wrote it, so we can take it as canon that Dean is black and 
very tall.

Amy Z
who would like to point out that you can vote for Dean for prefect by 
clicking on Polls

-------------------------------------------------------
   "So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as
Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.
   "It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.
                     -HP and the Philosopher's Stone
-------------------------------------------------------

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