The Eggplant and Snape and I

[Deb]

No: HPFGUIDX 138850

:
> Jessica Bathurst
> >  we never see him [Snape] come to
> > class unprepared, and he does try
> > to actually teach these kids potions.  
> 
> Eggplant:
> >>Not only does Snape abuse children to an almost criminal degree I
> don't think he's even very good at teaching his subject. When Harry
> makes a potion for the first time without Snape breathing down his
> neck in his OWL test he surprised himself at how well he does.
> 
> CathyD:
> We just had this conversation on list, you should have read it.  
Snape, despite his teaching method, is actually a very good teacher 
in that he got at least 25% of his 40 fifth-year students to achieve 
an Outstanding OWL.  How many of the other 30 achieved Outstanding 
and did not need to continue to NEWT level Potions is not said 
although I would imagine there were a few.  How many, other than 
Harry and Ron, achieved Exceeds Expectations and may have been given 
the choice to continue in Slughorn's class but did not, is not known 
either. Nor how many passed with Acceptable but could not continue 
to NEWT a level class that required EE.   Potions, as someone else 
said, doesn't appear to be a class you take just for the fun of it.  
If you don't need advanced level Potions for your career of choice 
then you wouldn't take that class.  Who passed or failed obviously 
isn't important to the story or we would know, but to say Snape is a 
poor teacher certainly is not accurate, based on the numbers we know 
would have made it to Snape's NEWT class if he were still teaching 
Potions.

Deb adds:
  We also never - not once in 6 books - hear from Ravenclaw and 
Hufflepuff about Snape's teaching abilities or teaching style! Yet 4 
Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff make it into NEWTs Potions. I 
seriously doubt that, had Snape continued to teach Potions, he would 
have had only Hermione and a couple of Slytherins in his class. 
Perhaps he is not as surly and caustic with other students... Also 
consider Fred and George ... given their incredible abilities to 
create inovative potions -think of the "thick yellow paste" that 
Fred gives Hermione to heal her black eye and the love potions and 
all the items in the Skiving Snack Boxes - I'll bet they were taking 
NEWTs Potions before they left Hogwarts which means (by 
extrapolation) that they got Os on their Potions OWLS in order to be 
able to take NEWTs with Snape! The only thing I can remember them 
saying about Snape is that he tends to get nasty if told off... And 
then there's Bill, Charlie, and Percy who each got so many OWLs and 
NEWTs ... they were all at Hogwarts taking Potions from Snape. 
Deb