Harry's potions O.W.L - Outstanding-NOT.

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 104481

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <asian_lovr2 at y...> 
> asian_lovr2:
> 
> I know I'm out numbered on this, but I just don't see how Harry could
> possibly get an 'Outstanding' on his OWL. Even when we factor in -
> 
> - Snape's students generally achieve a 'High Pass' in their test 
> (They are generally above average).
> 
> - Snape wasn't in the room while the tests were administered, and
> therefore, wasn't able to harrass and distract Harry (or Neville).
> 
> - Harry is smarter than he thinks.
> 
> By Harry's own admission, the Potions tests were difficult, and he
> doesn't think he did well, but thinks he may have scraped by with a
> pass (Acceptable).
> 
> Pg 631 UK HB Ed-
> 
> "...Potions on Monday... which he was sure would be the downfall of is
> ambition to become an Auror. Sure enough, he found the written paper
> difficult,..."
> 
> pg 631-632 UK HB Ed-
> "When Professor Marchbanks said, 'Step away from your cauldrons,
> please, the excamination is over,' Harry corked his sample flask
> feeling that he might not have achieved a good grade but he had, with
> luck, avoided a fail."
> 
> Using American Muggle grades as an illustration, Harry thinks he may
> have scraped by with a low 'C'. I think Harry certainly did better
> than he thinks he did, but that would NOT be very likely to raise him
> much above a basic 'B'. To leap from 'avoided a fail' to the highest
> possible 'Outstanding' grade is just too great a leap to make. Harry
> is generally no better than OK at potions, making adjustments for
> Snape's persecution of him, and he is on par with the rest of the
> typical students. 
> 
> His potion, in the examples we see in the books, are usually very
> close to what they are suppose to be (usually based on color), and not
> as bad as the worst in the class, but neither as good as the best.
> Conclusion; he's in the middle, a typical average potions maker.
> 
> To say Harry got an 'Outstanding' is roughly the same as saying that
> you believe that nearly every student in the class got an
> 'Outstanding', and I just don't see that happening.
> 
> Snape's student are above average in Potions making skills, that puts
> them at a 'B' or 'Exceeds Expectation', not at an 'A' or 'Outstanding'.
> 
> Others put forth the logic that Harry needs Potions to be an Auror,
> and the story needs Snape as an antagonist, but it doesn't take much
> imagination to find ways around those things.
> 
> First, McGonagall didn't say that Potions was an absolute must to be
> an Auror, she suggested the most common classes and subjects that an
> Auror would typically need. 
> 
> I imagine that a student with overal outstanding ability, especially
> in DADA, demonstrated skill, and an 'Outstanding' OWL and NEWT in
> Herbology would be just a valuable, functional, and knowledgable as
> someone with a basic 'B' grade overal and a basic 'B' grade in
> Potions. Potions, afteral, is just applied Herbology (or very close to
> it). Note that the primary textbook for Potions is not a potions book
> but '1000 HERBS and Fungi'.
> 
> Certainly, we all /want/ Harry to get an 'Outstanding' but I think it
> is just too great a leap for it to happen.
> 
> Steve/asian_lovr2


Carol:
Just two minor points here. First, we've very often seen Harry wrong,
most notably when he "knows" that he's going to die. He's probably
completely wrong about the difficulty of those tests. And second,
although one of the texts for Potions is "1,000 Mgical Herbs and
Fungi," Potions is (IMO) an exact science more like chemistry than
"applied potions," About half of the potion ingredients are animal
rather than vegetable (lace wing flies, for example). And one of the
first questions Snape asks Harry relates to bezoars, which come from
the stomachs of goats. JKR has said that Muggles can't concoct potions
even if they acquire the ingredients and follow the steps. They
require great magical ability (which is why Snape is so good at them).
 An important part of Potions is antidotes--"putting a stopper in
death" (forgive me if that's the movie version--the point is the same
regardless of the wording).

I do definitely *want* Harry to be in Snape's NEWT potions class, but
I also believe that it's important to his future career and to the
plot for him to be there, so I admit that mya argument is not wholly
objective. Nevertheless, I wouldn't rate Harry's (or the limited
omniscient narrator's) assessment of his chances as a solid indication
of his real success. (It's also possible, of course, that McGonagall
or Dumbledore will step in and Snape will have to accept Harry in the
class whether he wants him there or not. Or McGonagall will teach him
herself, but since she's not an expert in Potions, I don't see how
that would work.)

One way or another, I think we'll see Harry in NEWT Potions with Snape
as his teacher. And I think we'll see a subtle change in their
relationship--less overt hostility, maybe even a grudging respect on
both sides and they come to understand each other's importance in the
battle against LV. Or rather, as Harry comes to understand and
acknowledge Snape's importance, Snape will realize at last that Harry
is not James and vent his hostility elsewhere. Or so I hope.

Carol