Fields of Magic (was Re: Potions Master Question)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 94011

> Neri:
> I realize I'm getting into dangerous water now, but why do you think 
> Snape has more status as a teacher than Flitwick? It is not my 
> impression at all. Snape is in the Order and DD trusts him, but this 
> is associated with his secret agent role, not his teaching position. 
> DD has trusted Hagrid even longer than he's trusted Snape, yet Hagrid 
> is surely not a high-status teacher. Again, this is only my 
> impression, but Flitwick's sense of humor and complete ease with the 
> students strikes me as a teacher who is very sure about his status, 
> while Snape's animosity is a typical defense mechanism for a teacher 
> who feels insecure. You don't see Flitwick (or McGonagall or Sprout) 
> haunting the corridors at night in search for rule-breaking students. 
> My reading of Snape's status in the eyes of his fellow teachers 
> is "talented and ambitious, but still young. Needs to cool down and 
> mellow a bit. In twenty years or so we might let him have a go at the 
> DADA or Transfiguration jobs".   

Carol:
I'm not so sure. As I stated in a different thread, the other
teachers, including the other heads of houses and acting headmistress
McGonagall, who is twice Snape's age, followed Snape's lead in getting
Gilderoy Lockhart out of the staffroom to "put up or shut up," as we
say in the U.S.--either act on his boasts and save Ginny or get out of
Hogwarts. ("Just the man. The very man," ff., CoS Am. ed. 294). Also
McGonagall says something about not being able to look Severus Snape
in the eye for weeks the last time Slytherin won the Quidditch cup. So
it sounds to me as if, despite his age, he's a respected college--in
marked contrast to Gilderoy Lockhart or Dolores Umbridge. And he's one
of only four heads of houses, again despite his age.

Also it's possible that Potioncat and others are thinking of Snape's
position as Dumbledore's righthand man--always present to help him in
a crisis, most notably in the later books, GoF and OoP (where he
contacts DD and works with him even though DD is not at Hogwarts). I'd
call him DD's trusted lieutenant. And "prowling" the halls is part of
Snape's role as the rule enforcer. Somehow, I can't see Flitwick or
Sprout being quite as effective.

Carol, who agrees that Snape is young, talented, ambitious and needs
to mellow down but doesn't think the other teachers look down on him
for these qualities