Mandatory mandrakes (Was: Albus Dumbledore: the myth and the man)

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 96879

> SB4E:
> 
> I'm not arguing that they were there for the reasons that have been 
brought up in this thread...but if they are part of the curriculum 
for 2nd year, why would they need to procure them?  Shouldn't they 
always have them on hand?  After all, there is a 2nd year class every 
year at Hogwarts.


 
Potioncat:
I'm not sure, but IIRC, the original question or concern was that the 
mandrakes appearing at the beginning of term was a hint that DD knew 
he would be needing them.  I still think that if DD anticipated 
petrification, he should have obtained mature mandrakes.  On the 
other hand, why did they wait for this batch to mature?  Wouldn't you 
think they could have gotten mature mandrake root and chopped it up 
for the potions?

And as I think of it, wouldn't you think there would already be 
mature mandrakes at Hogswarts?  For that matter, if Mandrake is that 
hard to get, why teach it to 2nd years, why not to an older group?
Potioncat