Is Snape really THAT good in Potions?(was: Snape and the Kappa)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 119389


Neri wrote:
> 
> After Nora found a textbook example that Snape might not be such an
> expert in DADA as he is cracked up to be, I had a REALLY strange
> thought: Why do we all assume that Snape is such a wiz in Potions?
> I've raked my brains, and as far as I can remember the only canon
> source for that is Lupin, who tells Harry in PoA that the Wolfbane
> Potion is very complex and very few potion masters are up to it. Can
> someone corroborate Snape's expertise from a different source?
><snip>
> Ha, I know - he prepared Veritaserum and it did make Crouch Jr
> confess. The proof is in the pudding! But did Snape really prepare
> that Veritaserum? Somehow we all assume he did, but I couldn't find
it in canon. DD asks him to bring "the strongest Truth Potion you
> possess" (GoF, Ch. 35). "Possess" and not "prepared". Snape himself
> only claims to prepare the Veritaserum in OotP, which turned out to
be fake.
> 
<snip>
> 
> I'll find it strange if Snape's reputation as a genius potion master
> would depend solely on Lupin's word. And, since we (well, most of
us) know how kind and generous Lupin usually is, are we so sure that
he wasn't just a bit overgenerous to Snape here? It does look like he
was trying to make amends with Snape for most of the PoA year, calling
him pleasantly "Severus" and mostly overlooking Snape sneering at him.
And just when praising Snape he was also pointedly ignoring Harry
trying to suggest that Snape is not to be trusted. <snip>
>
Carol responds:
Almost certainly Dumbledore hired Snape to teach potions because he's
a Potions Master, and we do see evidence of his skill and knowledge in
most of his lessons. He can place the ingredients of a potion on the
board with a flick of his wand, evidence that he has memorized not
only the ingredients and their proportions but every step in the
process. He knows when Neville's potion is the wrong color exactly
which step has gone wrong. 

There is no reason to doubt that he makes all his potions and
antidotes himself. Certainly we know that he brews the wolfbane
potion, and there is no reason to doubt Lupin's word that it is
difficult to prepare and that the ability to do so is rare. Otherwise
he, a gifted wizard himself, would brew his own potions. nor can we
doubt Lupin's statement that Snape is a superb Occlumens. He clearly
knows exactly what Occlumency is and how to do it, as well as what
Harry needs to do. The only difficulty is getting an angry Harry who
hates Snape to clear his mind, especially since Snape has apparently
been forbidden by Dumbledore to explain exactly *why* he should stop
himself from having that dream. Occlumency, too, appears to be a rare
gift, and Lupin, unlike Sirius, appreciates that.

I won't get too deeply into Lupin's motives since they're a side issue
here, but I think he resents his adolescent conduct toward Snape,
mainly not fulfilling his duties as prefect but also unwittingly
endangering him in the Prank. But whatever his motives in praising
Snape's abilities to Harry, I see no reason to think that he's not
sincere. (But then I don't believe that Lupin, for all his faults, is
ESE!, and I think that [in OoP] he understands, as Snape perhaps
doesn't yet, that they are both loyal Order members and have to work
together. And even in PoA, where he has his own concerns and secrets,
he sees no reason not to acknowledge Snape's abilities. I think it's
*very* important that he unquestioningly drinks what Harry thinks is
poison in front of Harry, and that the wolfbane potion does indeed
have its intended effect, though Harry doesn't know that yet.)

As for Lupin being the only person to praise Snape's abilities to
Harry, he is certainly the best person to do so. Sirius won't even
acknowledge that Snape *has* any abilities other than casting hexes or
curses; Dumbledore is primarily concerned with getting Harry to treat
Snape respectfully and understand that he is to be trusted.
McGonagall, who treats Snape as a colleague and an equal even though
she's headmistress and he's half her age, has never questioned his
abilities. And as someone else pointed out, even Umbridge notes that
Snape's students are ahead of where they ought to be according to the
Ministry's approved curriculum.

And Harry has learned Potions in spite of himself. I still think that
Snape's reference to a bezoar on Harry's first day of class will prove
to be important. It was his reference in class to polyjuice potions
that led Hermione to check out the book he had mentioned which
contained the recipe and when the ingredients were stolen from his
office, he knew immediately which potion they were intended for.

There are probably additional examples, but I can't think of them at
the moment. Anyone?

Carol