Potions Master Question

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 93897

> Neri:
> My impression is that transfiguration is considered the most 
> distinguished field of magic, sort of like physics in muggle science. 
> Transfiguration seems to have a strong theoretical basis. It requires 
> a lot of intelligence and learning, but also a lot of power (James's 
> wand, which was especially suited transfiguration, was more powerful 
> than Lily's wand, which was more suited to Charms). Transfiguration 
> also has obvious utility, but mainly for big and impressive stuff, 
> not household chores, and is very dangerous when not applied 
> correctly. It is probably not a coincidence that the current 
> headmaster deputy in Hogwarts is the transfiguration teacher.
> 
> Potions, on the other hand, seems to be less a distinguished field 
> than Charms and DADA, not to mention Transfiguration. It is important 
> because of its obvious utility, but it doesn't have a strong 
> theoretical basis, but seems to have its roots in the humble skill of 
> cooking. Snape's opening remarks in the first Potions lesson in SS/PS 
> (paraphrasing: "no silly wand waving here") sounds like a typical 
> inferiority complex, and Snape himself is only the Potions Master 
> because he didn't get the DADA job. Being the Transfiguration Master 
> for several years is a probably the best qualification for the 
> headmaster position, thought perhaps not an obligatory condition. 
> Even if DD was the Potion Master for a time, he'd want the promotion 
> to the Transfiguration job.

Carol:
I don't agree with your assessment of Potions as less important than
Transfiguration. Snape's words about being able to stopper death,
etc., (paraphrasing here) suggest that it's very important in the WW,
and if "obvious utility" is an argument for the utility of
Transfiguration, surely it applies to Potions as well. Think of the
poisons Lucius Malfoy had (or has) stashed in his manor. Think of the
antidotes needed for those poisons that only a Potions Master like
Snape could concoct. Wizard medicine is dependent on potions--most
likely Snape prepares many of the potions that Madam Pomfrey uses in
the hospital wing, certainly those that aren't made from Professor
Sprout's plants. Snape's potion-making abilities made it possible for
a werewolf to teach at Hogwarts. And the Weasley twins may hate Snape,
but potions surely play a role in their Skiving snackboxes, or they
wouldn't be stealing doxy eggs and other unwholesome ingredients from
12 Grimmauld Place. I have a feeling that other potions, notably the
Draught of Peace, and antidotes such as bezoars, will be very
important in Books 6 and 7.

As for Transfiguration, it enables a select few witches and wizards to
transform themselves into cats, rats, dogs, and beetles. It enables
students to transform a guinea pig into a guinea fowl. It enables a
rogue teacher to punish a student (against the rules) by turning him
into a ferret. No doubt it has its uses. It would be interesting to
see Harry turn Lucius into a ferret, for example. But I can't see that
it's more important than potions, on which wizards rely for everything
from regrowing bones to sleeking down their hair for the Yule Ball. 

Interestingly, I held the same dismissive view of Charms (banishing
and summoning charms are useful, certainly, but not up there with
Potions or Transformation) until I realized that the champions in GoF
used Charms almost exclusively to survive the Tri-Wizard Tournament (I
realize there are exceptions, like Harry's gillyweed, a potion
ingredient, and Krum's incomplete transformation into a shark, but
IIRC, charms were used more often than transfiguration in the other
tasks.) I'm not sure how to classify hexes and jinxes, which don't
sound like anything Flitwick would teach, but wouldn't they also be
mostly charms rather than transfiguration?

Anyway, I've noticed that the four heads of houses teach the four core
subjects of the Hogwarts curriculum: Transfiguration, Potions, Charms,
and Herbology (two courses that require wands, two that don't).
Defense against the Dark Arts is not one of the four "pillars" of the
school but an unfortunate necessity in a world where students jinx one
another in the corridors, a family argument can send you to St.
Mungos's with a walnut up your nose, and Death Eaters kill Muggles for
sport. The other courses (History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures,
Divination, Astronomy) seem less central to the WW than these four.
Maybe Charms is a bit less important than Transfiguration, but they're
closely related, and Herbology and Potions are interdependent. I don't
think Dumbledore would consider McGonagall's course more important
than Snape's. In fact, I think it's of the essence that he has the
best Potion Master available for a class where many things could go
wrong. Imagine a Lockhart teaching Potions. It would be a serious,
possibly a fatal, mistake.

Carol