Learning and Teaching

[weildman]

No: HPFGUIDX 135216

Irene:  Why do you make the assumption that if Snape was teaching the
Advanced Potions, he would not be using the improved instructions? In all
the Potions lessons that we've seen in books 1-5, Snape does not tell them
to follow the instructions from the book, he puts his own version on the
blackboard. For all we know he was giving them HBP treatment all along.

--
There is no way Snape could have been deviating from the books in his
blackboard versions of Potions in the previous books.  Hermione, who has
memorized every book she has read, would have noted the deviation early on
and would have raved about the uselessness of the book.  Additionally, she
would have recognized that the HBP potion book shows the same sort of
deviation from the unmodified version as the blackboard version did.  The
HBP mystery would have been solved a lot earlier had Snape been using the
modified instructions all along.

My original thought involved the assignment of the textbook if Snape planned
on introducing the HBP treatment to the 6th years.  This would have wasted
the students time/money in buying a worthless version of an outdated book
that would not help them with his homework or classes (although they would
be enough for the ministry administered NEWTs). But then I realized that the
book hasn't changed in 50 years so Snape might not have routinely assigned
the textbook to NEWT classes and that the book was assigned after Slughorn
was appointed to the post as was his habit.  This would explain the lack of
an updated version of the textbook as well.  I guess we might never know.

I still think Snape failed the Wizarding World when he failed to update the
potions textbook.  Now that he is gone, he cannot pass that information to
future students (most likely)- its like he never existed in this context.
He wanted to make his mark (as a true slytherin) and failed himself by
keeping his discoveries secret.

-trevor