DIY Spell making

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 141279

bboyminn wrote:
> >
> > Which brings us to another aspect, in many cases, the wand
movement seems to have precise requirements. <snip> I suspect 'wand
movement' is both an art and a science in itself.
> >
> 
Trekkie responded: 
> And that makes Snape's remark about "foolish wandwaving" so much
more interesting. Obviously Snape, as the HBP, has been able to not
just invent the "silly incantations" (yes I know that bit is only from
The Media Which Must Not Be Named) but also the accompanying "foolish
Wand-waving" that goes with the sectumsempra and the other spells he
has alledgedly invented.
> 
> There's something here that seems out of tune to me.

Carol notes:
First, I'm guessing from your use of "allegedly" that you're not
entirely sure that Teen!Snape invented the spells in his Potions book.
I, OTOH, am certain that he did invent them based on the adult Snape's
anger when Harry tries to use them against him and his complete
mastery of the complex countercurse to heal Draco (surely also his own
invention). I doubt that anyone else in the school could have saved
Draco, including both Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore. 

That aside, I agree that something is "out of tune" in Snape's remark
about "silly wand waving" in SS/PS. We know almost from the outset
that Snape can wave a wand and achieve results without speaking a word:

"'Idiot boy!'" snarled Snape, cleaning up the spilled potion with one
wave of his wand" (SS Am. ed. 139). Later we see his mumbled
incantation when he's countering Quirrell's curse on Harry's broom,
which involves either concealed wand movements or wandless magic (BTW,
for people in the Dark magic thread, Hagrid refers to the curse on the
broom as "Dark magic," SS 190). We again see Snape's prowess with a
wand (his "teeny bit" of knowledge about duelling, as Lockhart
idiotically puts it) when he knocks Lockhart into the wall with a
spectacular Expelliarmus in CoS. Later we learn that he writes his
Potions directions on the board with a flick of his wand, we see in
OoP that he would have been more than a match for James in a
one-on-one duel and in HBP that he invents his own spells and is a
spectacular duellist (using "silly wand waving" to deflect Harry's
spells). Almost certainly the countercurses Snape used to save Katie
Bell from the cursed necklace and Dumbledore from the ring Horcrux
also involved the use of a wand in combination with complex
incantations that no one else at Hogwarts can perform. (I almost
forgot to mention the large number of hexes that he had already
mastered before he even started school.) Obviously, he's an expert
wand waver from childhood onward.

So what's up with the demeaning remark about "silly wand waving" in
SS/PS? I'm not sure, but it certainly has nothing to do with Snape's
own skill with a wand. It may be sour grapes because he's not allowed
to teach the DADA class. (I'm not convinced that he really wants to
teach the class, given that he must know that the post is jinxed or
cursed, but he also knows that he could teach the students some very
interesting hexes, jinxes, and countercurses, none of which they're
likely to learn from Quirrell.) I think it's also important that he's
addressing first years, most of whom seem to be more interested in
learning to use their wands than in putting (rather revolting)
ingredients into a cauldron and watching them simmer. The Gryffindors,
at least, are much more excited about their DADA class (at least until
they find out what a wimp Quirrell appears to be) than about Potions.
Even making a feather hover (their first Charms lesson) seems more
like magic than chopping up roots and stewing slugs, which undoubtedly
seems like *work.* 

So Snape gives his first years a poetic description of the art and
science that is Potions, followed by a snide dismissal of the various
classes involving "wand waving" (which he surely knows that the
students in general would prefer to be taking). It's an interesting
psychological tactic though the effect is somewhat spoiled by his
remarks on "dunderheads." If he had kept up the emphasis on the beauty
and power of Potions without allowing himself to indulge his
resentment at being denied the opportunity to display his own prowess
with a wand, he might have inspired his students, but his unpleasant
personality works against him. And somehow, even the most poetic
description of shimmering fumes doesn't have quite the effect of
changing your desk into a pig and back again, as McGonagall does to
demonstrate the potential uses of Transfiguration (154). IMO, Snape
resorts to attacking "silly wand waving" to vent his frustration at
having to teach a subject that the typical Hogwarts "dunderhead" won't
appreciate.

There may be other reasons for the "silly wand waving" remark that I
haven't thought of. I'd be interested in other people's thoughts on
the subject.

Carol