Notions of potions

[carolynwhite2]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith 
<arrowsmithbt at b...> wrote:
<snip much amusing speculation on wizarding scientific method...will 
look forward to the Radio TBAY interview..>

Those recipes were the result of many and varied attempts, someone
ringing the changes, altering this, trying that, before finally
succeeding. A potions wonk, a cauldron nerd, an unguent anorak. Or
just possibly someone who was checking things out, searching for
something very different and these enhancements were unintended by-
products, but useful nonetheless.

<snip>

Though as others have pointed out just because the book is 50 years
old it doesn't mean the hand-written entries are. True. Equally, it
doesn't prove they aren't. Tom was an orphan - so who paid for his
robes, his cauldron, his wand - and his textbooks? A bursary?
Charity? Or were his books loaned to him by the school and handed
back when he finished his courses - complete with marginal notes?

Carolyn:
Footnote on funding and spellbooks from Chap 13 -

DD says to Tom 'There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require 
assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your 
spellbooks and so on second-hand, but -
'Where do you buy spellbooks?' interrupted Riddle
(...)
'In Diagon Alley,' said Dumbledore.

So, clear enough where Tom got his schoolbooks and how he paid for 
them. This is a 6th year textbook, published roughly 50 years 
previously. Tom could have bought it himself, either splashing out 
and getting it new, or picking it up when it was only a year or two 
old (Jo's notoriously poor maths allow for a margin of error here). 
Also the interesting possibility that if the book was second hand, 
the annotations could have been by the book's first owner, before Tom 
even - Grindewald or Sluggy perhaps?

Additional evidence that it might have been Tom's book, however, is 
Harry's curiously possessive attitude towards it. He treats it like 
the Diary, feels strangely drawn towards it, goes to elaborate 
protective measures to keep it. Somehow, it's hard to believe he'd 
react so strongly towards something of Snapes.

Kneasy:
Perhaps Sevvy also qualified for a helping hand from Hogwarts and had
the use of the same book? Pure speculation, but who would be more
likely to experiment - a brilliant student like Tom or a grinder like
Snape?

Carolyn:
But as Waldo points out, once you know how to cook, you know how to 
experiment. Snape knew a great deal even before he got to Hogwarts, 
and the tone of the annotations is very similar to how he speaks, 
with the bezoar reference in particular going right back to that very 
first class of Harry's. It is possible that the reason that Snape has 
been able to keep close to LV all these years is partly a shared 
fascination for magical experimentation and research, even if it 
takes you deep into the Dark Arts. As Ollivander said 'He Who Must 
Not Be Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great.'

Kneasy:
Alternatively the notes could be the result of a Potions Master
researching his subject - and here there are two possibilities -
Snape or Slughorn. One stumbling block is if a teacher improved on
potions recipes you'd expect him to demonstrate the improvements in
his classes, and that applies even if Student!Snape was the one with
the remarkable insights, he'd incorporate them into his classes when
he became Potions Prof. Could even publish them - become the new
standard text - if Lockhart can do it, why not Sevvy? Only one reason
I can think of - they weren't his spells, and claiming them as his
own might cause their true begetter to get a little annoyed with him.

Carolyn:
Would Snape want to draw attention to himself by publishing a 
textbook? Perhaps - he was ready enough to take a medal from Fudge 
for capturing Sirius after all. I agree it's in character for him to 
want the recognition, but if so, the real stumbling block here is 
that such a precious book was languishing in the bottom of the 
cupboard in his own potions dungeon. Clearly he's made no effort 
towards publication if it was his.

Although his twisted character would probably take equal delight in 
watching the students struggle to get the potions right by following 
the textbook instructions, secure in his own knowledge of the tips 
and techniques that were really needed. In fact, you could argue that 
it was only the students who figured out clever solutions on their 
own who would go on to be truly outstanding in the potions field. 
It's an effective, if Machiavellian, approach to identifying the star 
performers.

Kneasy:
Yes, he did tell Harry it was his book and his spells, but IMO it's
not advisable to regard everything that Harry is told as gospel. And
there's someone else around who for some reason or another has been
largely ignored in the discussion of the potions book - Slughorn. He
was teaching potions fifty years ago, taught Tom and later Snapey and
Lily - and he's the one that gives the book to Harry. A collector of
celebrities, a flatterer who'd like to incorporate young Potter into
his little club. Would turning Harry into a potions superstar also
turn his head and help Sluggy in his aim of luring Harry into his
circle? Depends how much you trust Horace. Not very far, would be my
response.

Carolyn:
Yes. Sluggy's the prime culprit - although the book could still be 
Snape's (or Tom's). It is just very unlikely that it should have 
turned up when it did and that it should have been given to Harry. I 
think Sluggy has kept it for years as a memento of a star pupil. 
[Reluctantly I concede that could also include Lily]. 

But I attribute a more benign motive to him in giving Harry the 
textbook. I think he hoped it might help Harry protect himself. Maybe 
he was encouraged to do so by Dumbledore. Which indicates that the 
pair of them thought there might be potions-type threats in the 
future. Oh no, back to the poisoned birdbath again.

Carolyn