Hermione's Potions ability and "How long has Snape been reading Harry's mind"

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 134846

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Nanagose at a... wrote:
> >>Irene:
> >>  She is in fact a mediocre Potions student, not
> >> curious, afraid to experiment, only good in following
> >> the instructions to a 't'.
> >> That was very surprising, at least for me.
> > 
> 
> Christina:
> I completely disagree.  Potions is like chemistry, or for an even 
> easier-to-see analogy, cooking.  

I see Irene's point. An exceptional chemistist or cook (dare I use 
the word chef) knows their chemicals/ingredients well enough and the 
physical properties of those chemicals/ingredients well enough that 
they will be able to overcome "bad instructions". So while Hermione 
is a mediocre to good, the HBP is an exceptional Potions student 
because HBP knew enough about the nature of the potions ingredients 
to make those potions work, in spite of the directions in the book. 
Let's face it, it's the exceptional chemists who are winning Nobels 
and are highly regarded in their fields not for how well their 
experiments turn out but for how well they think outside the box.

Milz (who's suffered through General Chemistry, Biochemistry and a 
couple of cooking classes)