Lily, Snape, Potions

[krista7]

No: HPFGUIDX 142922

Sydney writes:

>I would say, from the evidence of the text, that it's 'likely' the
>other way around:  Snape was Lily's guide in Potions.  Slughorn
>compares Harry to his mother because he's a NATURAL, like Lily....


I'm just popping in to point out one problem with taking any observance 
of Slughorn's on face value--his perceptive ability is *terrible*. He seems 
not to have realized, at any point, that Harry was relying on an outside 
text and not his own abilities. (And given that Harry couldn't have that
 book in his hands all the time, *surely*, there were moments when it 
was plain as day that Harry was not a potions genius--either the 
classroom, in conversation, etc.) To me this is something that said a *lot* 
about Slughorn as a teacher, that he couldn't spot a kid submitting 
non-original work. (I don't mean to write as if what Harry's doing is 
plagiarism per se--which Snape certainly thinks he's doing!--but 
Harry's at the very least *not* turning in the expected work, and any 
teacher worth his/her chalk should 1.) spot it and 2.) be QUITE 
certain there's natural genius involved before praising it.) I do not
 think for a second that Snape would've missed a kid cribbing in
 his class, even if the source hadn't been his own book. 

Slughorn also suffers from a dim memory. If the ideas of the 
HBP are Snape's, and if Snape turned in his work to reflect 
the best of his abilities, then Slughorn should've known 
Snape's original thinking when he saw it. Yes, Lily might 
have been influenced by Snape's ideas (or vice-versa), but 
the real problem is that Slughorn graded Snape and *still* 
doesn't see that Harry's copying Snape's ideas. (This is 
particularly striking since Slug and Snape are now 
colleagues, and you'd think taking back the classroom 
from your own student would make you remember him 
a bit better. At least make you think of him as *the*
obvious Potions genius in his year.)

 (Maybe Snape was too poor and anti-social to be worthy of 
SlugClub status? Regardless. Doesn't say much about 
Slughorn that he'd forget Snape's work.)

Anyway, to get back to the question of who-guided-whom: 
Neither. We have info to suggest Snape's a genius in 
Potions, and that Lily, at the least, was naturally gifted
and quite skilled. We have no reason to believe 
either needed (particular) assistance. If anything,
I tend to believe they were lab partners (because can't you see
 Lily honing in on poor lonely teen!Snape when it came time
 to choose partners) who assisted one another in a shared
 sense of academic curiosity and drive.

Krista