Snape and Sirius WAS :Regulus and Sirius

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163785

Ceridwen:
> I think they're both smart.  I don't know if either one of them are 
> Reinaissance Men, good at everything.  Sirius certainly has a talent 
> for Transfiguration, while Snape seems to be better at Potions and 
> Defense.  In personality, too, they're a bit different.  So of
course they would not be alike in academic interests.
> 
> Carol mentioned that McGonagall might think Sirius was all that
smart because he excelled in her class.  I can believe that.  She saw
his classwork and gave his classroom exams.  She was his Head of
House, but she may have given him the benefit of the doubt about his
other classes since he did so well in hers.  He was probably no worse
than average or slightly above, even in his worst subjects or she
would have remembered that.
> 
> We've only seen Snape playing to his strengths, so we don't know how 
> he did in Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, or other courses. 
But, most people have an area that is stronger than other areas of
interest.

Carol responds:
In essence, I agree. I would add, though, that Severus must have been
good at Charms as well as DADA and Potions because Muffliato is a
Charm rather than a DADA spell. (It creates a buzzing in the
listener's ears, not very useful in a battle but quite useful when you
don't want to be overheard.) And he almost certainly did well in
Herbology as well since he sometime assigns homework from the
Herbology text "One Thousand and One Magical Herbs and Fungi" rather
than from the Potions text, "Magical Drafts and Potions" by Arsenius
Jigger, and he certainly knows the uses of dittany, as indicated in
HBP. Muggle Studies or Divination might have been another matter, but
given what appears to be a photographic memory and study habits like
Hermione's (leading to that long essay for the DADA OWL), I'm guessing
that young Severus got twelve OWLs, with Os in at least two subjects
and Es in the rest. The mere fact that he was interested in earning
high marks, even to the point of experimenting outside of class in
improving the potions in the books, would have given him a reputation
as a swot or a nerd and added to his unpopularity. 

Sirius, in contrast, uses his free time, and perhaps his study time,
working on becoming an Animagus and/or contributing to the Marauder's
Map (or in detention). He rejects the opportunity to help Remus study
for his Transfiguration OWL. The last thing *he* wanted was a
reputation as a swot. And his looks, unlike Severus's, were in his
favor. People liked him even if he didn't know or care that they
existed, and McGonagall had particular reasons for liking him that she
can't let go even when she thinks he's a murderer. Also, she
underestimates Peter Pettigrew's talents and misreads his personality,
so I don't think we can go by her assessment of anyone. And note that
Fudge attributes powers to Black that he doesn't have, thinking that
it would take trained hit wizards to bring him in. The legend of the
thirteen murders exaggerates his powers. And note that Dumbledore
merely says that he was clever, not exceptionally talented or
powerful. Once James is dead, what does he do that illustrates talent
or power or creativity, other than using his ability as an Animagus to
escape from Azkaban? Even his advice to Harry is generally
wrong-headed (witness the mirror debacle).

BTW, the whole reason I brought up Severus in the first place is that
he's a student we *know* to be genuinely talented and powerful based
on his HBP notes and detailed DADA exam and all those hexes he knew
before he even came to school. I'm trying to figure out what we know
about Sirius, other characters' opinions aside, that would lead us to
believe that he's "creative and powerful," to quote the poster I was
responding to. All I can think of is his Animagus form and his
one-fourth share in making the Marauder's Map.

Carol, agreeing that they were good at different things but still
wondering if Sirius was talented in anything besides Transfiguration