Potions, the Book, and a New/Old Perspective

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165317

Snape's Witch replies:
>
> Out of curiosity I rechecked the first year booklist (SS, pg. 66,
trade ppbk), and believe that 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi'
by Phyllida Spore is actually the Herbology textbook. Why this book
comes to Harry's mind beats me, but might merely show an 11 yr. old
boy's disinterest in gardening!!
>
> 'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger is the textbook for
Potions and sounds to me like a basic recipe book. I agree that
Snape never actually uses it, and doesn't appear to assign another
book for later classes.
>
Carol responds:
I agree. Harry's thought about finding Bezoars, which come from the
stomach of a goat, in a book on magical herbs and fungi emphasizes his
utter ignorance of the WW at that point (in contrast to Muggleborn
Hermione, who has read and memorized all her textbooks). He doesn't
even know the Herbology text from the Potions text at this point.

Now granted, Potions and Herbology are related subjects and HRH sometimes
use the Herbology book in researching potions ingredients (since
Jigger's book simply gives them the Ministry-approved Potions recipes
and, as you say, Snape doesn't even use it except perhaps to determine
which potions to teach which class, and even there, he's ahead of the
Ministry guidelines, teaching more advanced potions to fifth years
than Umbridge considers appropriate). But the point is that Harry
doesn't know a Bezoar from a Boobotuber, or Herbology from Potions,
when he enters Hogwarts.

And you're right. Snape doesn't assign another book for later classes.
We see Harry buying a new Charms book every year and a new
Transfiguration book as he moves from beginning to intermediate to
advanced classes in that subject and a new DADA book with each change
of instructor, but never a new Potions book until he ends up, contrary
to his expectations, in Slughorn's NEWT Potions class. And why would
he need one when Snape puts his own improved directions on the board?

Carol, who wishes that JKR had made it clearer that "Magical Herbs and
Fungi" was the Herbology text, not the Potions text, and that Snape
never teaches from the textbook