Snape and McGonagal---Rivals?

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 35306

It occurs to me that a lot of the "friction" we see between Professors Snape
and McGonagall could be because they represent, and specialize in, very
different approaches to magic.

Remember Professor Snape's speech in PS/SS?  He _loves_ potions, and kind of
looks down on "wand-waving" flashy magic.  And what, may I ask, is _more_
flashy, magic-wise, than Transfiguration?  Charms probably comes close, but
for something to make the spectators _ooh_ and _aah,_ turning one's enemies
into newts is awfully hard to beat.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that Professor McGonagall, in her turn, kind
of looks down her nose at Potions, seeing it as basically glorified
cooking---"okay, you throw _this_ and _that_ into the cauldron and seethe it
for a while.  Big whoop.  A house-elf could probably do _that,_ if they were
allowed to.  Now, try turning something into something else---_that_ is
magic!"

Intellectually, each one acknowledges the necessity of the "other" kind of
magic, I'm sure, but since Potions and Transfiguration require very
different approaches, specializing in one would kind of preclude a strong
interest in the other.  Kind of like how, in the more traditonal British
schools, the "classics" masters and science masters often found themselves
disagreeing about what was important.  (At least according to _Stalky and
Co._)  The classics guys had tradition (and the standard exams, still heavy
with Greek and Latin, even for places like Sandhurst) on their side, while
the science mavens could point to all the great changes and improvements
that science had brought, and sneered at the classics as "the Analects of
Confucius."

Being heads of houses that are traditional rivals would be, at most, icing
on the cake at their ages.