CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 8, THE POTIONS MASTER

[ZaraG]

No: HPFGUIDX 188220

<snip Carol's concise summary of the chapter>

> Questions for Discussion:
> 1. Harry's Astronomy class is mentioned here for the first and last time before the Astronomy OWL in OoP. Why do you think that the class takes place so late despite the rule that no students should be in the corridors after hours? Do you think that all of the first-years have Astronomy together or is this class another attended by Gryffindors only? Do all the Astronomy classes take place at midnight, and, if so, how does Professor Sinistra fit seven (or more) midnight classes into her schedule?

Zara:
I think the class needs to be at night because it consists of observations of the night sky. I don't have a guess as to what other Houses might share a time with Gryffs (Maybe Ravenclaw? <g>), but I would guess not all the classes are at midnight, other years/Houses may have them at other late hours. In my fanfiction, I have proposed Professor Sinistra routinely sleeps until lunchtime, just as Muggles who work night-shift jobs might.

> 2. Harry takes five core subjects—Herbology, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts, along with History of Magic and Astronomy. What do you think of this set of classes for a group of eleven-year-old novice witches and wizards? Which class (setting aside the instructors since we barely glimpse any of them except Snape) would be your favorite and why?

Zara:
They seem a reasonable set of classes, Astronomy is the only one I would question, as we are never given much of a use for it aside to its relevance to Divination (itself an elective subject). I have always wondered at the lack of basic Muggle subjects, though - improving reading and writing skills, and learning mathematics.

I think my favorites among these subjects would have been either Potions or Defense Against the Dark Arts. The former because of its apparent similarities to Muggle sciences (at which I do well) and the latter because of its usefulness for self-defense. That Snape taught both at different points in the story may not be entirely absent from my thought process, however... 

> 3. Why do you think that Quirrell's turban and classroom smell like garlic? Did his blushing and confusion when Seamus asked him about fighting off the zombie arouse your suspicion? What was your initial reaction when Quirrell rescued Harry and Ron from detention with Filch for trying to get through the forbidden door?

Zara:
I attributed Quirrell's garlic smell to an excessive fear of Vampires. Garlic is supposed to ward them off, in traditional stories.

> 4. Harry's first Potions class is on a Friday, "Double Potions with the Slytherins." Does Potions class meet only once a week for a double period or might there be some other reason for having the first class so late in the week? Why do you think that the Gryffindors have two classes (Potions and the not-yet-scheduled flying lessons) with the Slytherins, one class (Herbology) with the Hufflepuffs, and none with the Ravenclaws?

Zara:
Rowling needs to have the Gryffindors and Slytherins interact in flying lessons to help set up the Quidditch and Harry/Draco rivalries. She needs to have the Slytherins in Potions to brainwash us all into believing Snape is awful. The rest, I think, is random.

> 5. Snape asks Harry where he might find a bezoar, what he would get if he added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood, and what the difference is between monkshood and wolfsbane? Why do you think that Snape asked those particular questions? Do you think that he asks the same questions to every class or that he chose them specifically for Harry?

Zara:
I think he asks someone some questions in every first year class. I doubt they are the same ones every year in every class, and I do not think that he scose the ones he did especially for Harry because they have some special meaning to him.

I do think Rowling did, though. The latter two questions set up plot elements which occur in later books (Harry's use of a bezoar to save Ron's life, and its association with the HBP/Snape, and Lupin's "furry little problem".) The first, I think Rowling picked because it symbolically conveys Snape's backstory. 
 (As discussed, for example, here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/178235)

> 6. When Snape asks Harry about the bezoar, Harry wonders whether Snape expects him to have memorized every word of "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi." But the Potions text mentioned in "Diagon Alley" is "Magical Drafts and Potions" by Arsenius Jigger. "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" is almost certainly the Herbology text. How do you explain this apparent error on JKR's part?

Zara:
Harry may have no idea what a bezoar is. Based ont he previous quesoint, though, a guess that it is a plant is reasaonable. Even if Harry has never heard of either of them (and he might have), worm*wood* has a name suggesting its planthood, and the question about asphodel is phrased in such a way that betrays that asphodel, whatever it might be, has roots. Thus, the book Harry thinks of, would be a logical place in which to have read the answers to them. 

> 7. Just for fun, why do you think that Snape (and, later, Slughorn) is referred to by the old-fashioned title "Potions master" when no other teacher (except the headmaster or headmistress) is called by a similar title? Why not "Potions teacher" for Snape and "Charms master" for Flitwick, for example?

Zara:
Because Slytherins are old-fashioned, and refuse to adopt Muggle neologisms like "teacher"? Also, the chapter title sounds more colorful that way. I'm glad they did not "translate" it into American.

Thank you, Carol, for the interesting questions!