[HPforGrownups] Re: On lying and cheating

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 165327

Carol:
>And Potions is not a cooking class. It's more like chemistry, and
>getting a potion wrong can have disastrous results ranging from melted
>cauldrons and explosions to poisonous fumes. One scientist using
>another's findings is very different from a cook using another's
>recipe--but even chef's protect their cooking secrets. And no Home Ec
>teacher would let a kid bring a recipe from home if the assignment was
>to bake the chocolate cake using the recipe on page 272. That would
>only be permissible if the assignment was to use any available recipe.

Bart (in agreement): 
There is something that is strongly implied but not explicitly stated in HBP about NEWT potions: the students are NOT necessarily following recipes. They are learning theory (theoretically), which allows them to develop their own recipes, or to finish partial recipes. Most of the students are doing the work for themselves. Harry has the answers written out for him. In other words, while the other students are learning potions theory, Harry is still following a cookbook. 

In high school, chemistry was usually, "Here's a theory, here's an experiment to test the theory, perform the experiment and create a lab report." In an advanced chemistry course, it was more, "Here's a theory, design your own experiment to test the theory, and create a lab report." If someone's textbook had descriptions of valid experiments in the margins, then whoever was using that book would have been cheating if he claimed that he came up with the experiments by himself. 

Bart