Fields of Magic (was Re: Potions Master Question)

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 93906

> 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 <snip of many 
good examples>

Neri:
Oops, I was apparently not very clear here. I certainly did not mean 
to say that Potions is not useful. It is extremely useful, as you 
show with your examples. I was talking about how distinguished is the 
area in the eyes of the WW. There are several factors that might make 
a field of magic more or less distinguished than others, and utility 
is only one of them. Some other factors are:

1. The strength of the theoretical basis. This is considered very 
important in science (and JKR's magic is modeled on science in many 
senses). Some areas of pure mathematics have no practical utility 
whatsoever, but are still considered important because of the strong 
theory. OTOH medicine, which is the most important science from 
practical considerations, doesn't have a very strong theoretical 
basis (which is why we have alternative medicine but not alternative 
physics or alternative mathematics). I suspect Potions is similar to 
medicine in this regard. That is, potion recipes are, much like 
cooking recipes, based on long experience more than pure theory. OTOH 
Transfiguration seems to have a strong theoretical basis, as 
suggested by those complex diagrams (the phases of an owl turning 
into opera glasses... or was it the other way around?).

2. Just plain show. Potions (and Herbology) require tedious manual 
work and not much impressive "wand waving". Charms, DADA and 
especially Transfiguration are very impressive to watch. I know this 
is superficial, but I'm not talking here about the actual importance 
of the field. I'm talking about how distinguished it is considered in 
the eyes of other wizards.

3. Power. Fields that require the wizard to be more powerful are 
likely to be more distinguished. It seems Potions and Herbology 
require very little power (in fact, I can't see why a muggle or a 
squib won't be able to brew many of these potions). OTOH 
Transfiguration seems to require a lot of magical power.

4. Tradition. Some fields are distinguished just because they were 
practiced for many years by famous and learned people. Potions seems 
to have rather humble origins (it is basically cooking). 
Transfiguration is traditionally considered the mark of the greatest 
wizards.

Back to utility, Potions is indeed very useful, but so is 
Transfiguration. You forgot to mention switching, vanishing and 
conjuring spells, which are all part of Transfiguration. Conjuring 
especially seems dead useful. I wonder what are its limitations. For 
example, could you just conjure a cup of polyjuice potion out of thin 
air instead of bothering to brew it? It hardly seems fair.

Regarding DADA, I think Potioncat was right in classifying it as a 
specialized area of Charms. It is, however, considerably more 
dangerous than standard Charms. It also has great practical 
importance, a lot of impressive wand waving, a celebrated tradition, 
and requires a lot of power. However, I suspect that the reputation 
of DADA is somewhat tarnished because, especially in the high level, 
the distinction between DADA and the Dark Arts is so very fine. 
Remember Slinkhard writing that anti-jinxes are just jinxes with a 
nicer name, and the aurors permitted to use the Unforgivables during 
VW-I (I wonder where did they learn them? Not in Hogwarts surely?). 

In addition to the above, we also have the clues I've already 
mentioned: The headmaster and his deputy were/are Transfiguration 
teachers, and Snape would much rather be the DADA teacher than the 
Potions Master. This is not conclusive canon, only my impression, but 
I think the order of status (again, not the order of actual 
importance, which is something else) is approximately:
Transfiguration > DADA > Charms > Potions and Herbology > other 
subjects.

Just an opinion (I thought shipping was the touchy subject:-)

Neri