What would Snape have to do.... / Snape as teacher

[Cathy Drolet]

No: HPFGUIDX 138620

Lupinlore said:

>>Actually, first of all it was 8 students with an O, two with an E.  
This is out of a class that JKR tells us included approximately 140 
students, not 40.  Since all the Hogwarts students had to take 
Potions in fifth year, that means, if we allow twice as many Es as 
Os and twice as many As as Es (which is a reasonable estimate, at 
least at the schools where I've taught), that 54 students, or only 
slightly more than a third, even passed the OWL.

>>This I think pretty much definitively ends the discussion of whether 
Snape is a good teacher.  He is a miserable, poor, absolute failure 
as a potions teacher, hands down, end of discussion.


CathyD:
Actually, there were 12 kids in that class. "...afternoon's double Potions....dungeon classroom that had, for so long, been Snape's.  When they arrived in the corridor they saw that there were only a *dozen* people progressing to NEWT level....four Slytherins made it through, including Malfoy.  Four Ravenclaws were there, and one Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan" plus Hermione, and Harry and Ron the two E's. (HBP pg 173 Can Ed)

There are, by JKR's own words, 40 students in Harry's year. "Way before I finished "Philosopher's Stone," when I was just amassing stuff for seven years, between having the idea and publishing the book, I sat down and I created 40 kids who enter Harry's year. I'm delighted I did it, [because] it was so useful. I got 40 pretty fleshed out characters.  I never have to stop and invent someone. I know who's in the year, I know who's in which house, I know what their parentage is, and I have a few personal details on all of them. So there were 40. I never consciously thought, "That's it, that' s all the people in his year," but that's kind of how it's worked out." ( - Part of that interview on July 16, 2005).  She also said she would post the info on the two *missing* Gryffindor girls on her website.

And we still have, as I said, an unknown number of O's and E's who did not go on to NEWT level potions for whatever reason. Plus those who achieved an A (passing grade) but could not advance to NEWT level Potions.  I still say Snape did pretty well as a teacher.




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