More about Teaching Potions

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 33042

Edblanning at a... wrote:
> The thing that for me disqualifies [Snape] from any claim to being a 
> *good* teacher is his attitude to Neville.... Neville IMHO, should 
> be good at Potions. It doesn't involve 
> the "foolish wand waving" and harnessing of his magical powers 
> required by some of the other disciplines....When 
> Neville's shrinking potion turns orange, he is able to correct it 
> following  Hermione's instructions, yet he can't follow Snape's. 

Well, when it comes to Snape's bullying of students, I see only two 
possibilities.  The first possibility is just that he is genuinely 
nasty.  Whether this makes him a poor teacher or not depends on what 
one believes are the proper goals of teaching.  Currently, most people 
believe that school should raise confidence and self-esteem, but as 
recently as a century ago, the goal was to induce humility, using 
techniques such as dunce caps. In many ways, Hogwarts adheres to an 
old or even medieval style of teaching, so we really don't know which 
goal (humility or confidence) is considered desirable in the wizarding 
world.

The second possibility is that the nastiness is in fact an act, 
designed to serve some goal.  Several people have mentioned that Snape 
might see harsh teaching as a way of preparing students for the harsh, 
Voldy-dominated world they will be entering.  However, I think a 
better reason for a "nasty act" would be to convince the Slytherins in 
the class that Snape is on Voldemort's side. If Snape is really still 
infiltrating the Death Eaters (or planning to), then he *has* to be 
mean to Neville, Hermione and Harry.  Neville's parents (or at least 
his father) were Aurors.  Hermione is a muggle-born who keeps making 
the pure-bloods look bad.  Harry, of course, is Voldy's enemy, big 
time.  If Snape was nice to them, it would get back to Malfoy Sr., 
Crabbe Sr., Goyle Sr., and maybe other Death Eaters with children in 
the class.  This would jeopardize Snape's life and his spying mission, 
which might leave Dumbledore without vital information needed in the 
campaign against Voldemort.  When the fate of the world hangs in the 
balance, giving out a few undeserved detentions is no big deal. 

Snape's general favoratism towards the Slytherins can be justified by 
this same reason: convincing Voldy and the Death Eaters that he is on 
their side.

As for other excuses offered for Snape's meanness -- low self-esteem, 
or being stressed out about Voldy's return -- I agree that these 
aren't good enough justifications for Snape's level of nastiness.  
They also seem out of character to me; Snape is generally pretty much 
in control of his behavior except when dealing with Sirius Black. 

This is already long, but I have some comments on Neville in 
particular.  Possibly, making potions *does* require the same magical 
abilities as casting spells -- we really don't know.  If making a 
potion just involves taking some magical ingredients and following a  
recipe, then it should be possible for Muggles to be good at making 
potions, and there is nothing at all in the canon to suggest that this 
is the case.  Rowling just hasn't said how (or if) magical abilities 
are involved in making potions. So, perhaps Neville's problems 
interfere with potions as much as it does with spells.

As for Hermione helping Neville with his shrinking solution, it seems 
clear to me that Neville was having trouble *remembering* the 
instructions for the potion. (Snape says "Does anything penetrate that 
thick skull of yours?  Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that 
only one rat spleen was needed?" etc.) Hermione is giving continuous 
instructions to Neville, which avoids the problem with his memory.  
Snape apparently feels that students should make the potion without a 
non-stop stream of instructions. Also, if magical skill in involved, 
perhaps Hermione's involvement somehow imparts the necessary magical 
component.  So, Hermione wasn't really teaching Neville how to make 
the potion on his own. 

By the way, an earlier question asked "What is the meanest thing Snape 
has ever done?"  I'd say threatening to poison Neville's toad.  Of 
course, Snape may have had an antidote ready (antidotes seem to work 
on a wide range of poisons), but Neville was still very scared.  Did 
anyone notice that Snape gave Neville and Ron detentions that involved 
dismembering the type of animal they have as pets?  (Neville, who has 
a pet toad, had to disembowel toads; Ron, who used to have a pet rat, 
had to pickle rat brains.)  If this was supposed to be deliberate on 
Snape's part, it would argue that he was just plain mean, because the 
Slytherins might not even know what Neville and Ron had for detention. 
However, I am really hoping Rowling provides a good justification for 
Snape's behavior, he'd be so much less interesting as just another 
meany.