Snape's OWL/NEWT Criteria
I've seen reviews saying that Snape's refusal to accept students with an E potion score disrupted the future of students aspiring to become Auror, and weakened the entire power of the Magical Government.
Snape sees no use in teaching stupid and untalented people, so he only accepts students who get an O. And the general view is that it is viewed for the selfish reason that it is easier to teach because it only teaches a small number of elites.
He weakens the entire power of the wizarding government as a result of failing future talent with useless scores?
But let’s think realistically. Especially considering aspiring Auror, Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts class changes professors every year and has many ups and downs, making it difficult to receive consistent, high-quality lectures. The period when Voldemort cast the Jinx was mid to late 1965~1970.
In the Order of the Phoenix, there were many students who couldn't even use simple defensive magic. This situation continued. Then, it is possible that the evaluation standards for OWL and NEWT have declined over the past 30 years. In fact, many students would have scored below the level of the Defense Against the Dark Arts test. By lowering the standard evaluation, there is a possibility that someone who should actually receive an A will receive an E. Then, the number of students who want to become Auror but lack practical skills in the field will increase. In severe cases, there is a possibility that it becomes nothing more than a meat shield.Let's look at the reason why the Magical Government purchased Weasley's protective hat and cloak in large quantities in the original work.
So maybe it makes sense for Snape to only accept students who get an O on potions. It would be a big problem if Voldemort's curse lowered the level of students and lowered the threshold for the DADA exam, resulting in the production of useless Auror.
Wouldn't it be much better for a student who studies hard at DADA but is passionate enough to get an O in a difficult Potions class to become an Auror? Students who don't compromise on their scores have stronger will and are more likely to survive the battle.
And Snape had always wanted a job as a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Although Snape has no attachment to his students, he values the lives of those he teaches. Given his personality, he would probably find it pathetic to see students who were happy to get good grades in a low-level Defense Against the Dark Arts class and said they wanted to become Auror. Instead of being a future Auror, I might have looked like a student who might one day die as a 'meat shield'.
Honestly, I think it's unlikely that Snape intended to do something like this, but no matter how I think about it, It's better than mass producing stupid Aurors with poor practical skills. Even if my guess is wrong and the DADA test was still difficult in the original without lowering the evaluation standards, I think it is more reasonable because it is clear that the average level of students has lowered in the end.
Agreed!
PS - I edited the thread title for brevity and clarity.
Snape also taught Potions well and I've always held that he taught his own potions recipes because he wrote recipes on board in his potion classes.
His potions class was noted to be advanced by Umbridge who was looking forward to undermining teachers of Dumbledore's regime.
‘Well, the class seem fairly advanced for their level,’ she said briskly to Snape’s back.
Snape had high turnover for O grade, about 10 out of 26/27 students in Harry's class got highest grade which is a really good result. Even Harry and Ron who didn't apply much in Potions class got E, second highest grade.
So, in the situation where Snape was getting high output of good results with advanced teaching, it makes sense for him to take only the best for his NEWT Potions classes.
Even if Slughorn took E graders as well, his teaching was inferior to Snape so much that Hermione who was top performer in Potions couldn't even brew the perfect Potions she used to, under Snape. So going by Slughorn's standards, it'd make sense that not many of his students would obtain an O, making his acceptance of E graders fair because he won't be able to produce Snape's output.
And taking about Snape's so call criticism of lack of aurors, auror is one of the top professions in the wizarding world, therefore their selection criteria is tougher than other careers. Not everyone in Harry's batch was looking to become an auror and not every wizarding career required Potions NEWT. Therefore Snape was not doing any harm to wizard world, and in fact doing a great service by upgrading skills of an average student far more than likes of Slughorn.
Quote from Naaga on March 14, 2024, 6:17 amSnape also taught Potions well and I've always held that he taught his own potions recipes because he wrote recipes on board in his potion classes.
His potions class was noted to be advanced by Umbridge who was looking forward to undermining teachers of Dumbledore's regime.
‘Well, the class seem fairly advanced for their level,’ she said briskly to Snape’s back.
Snape had high turnover for O grade, about 10 out of 26/27 students in Harry's class got highest grade which is a really good result. Even Harry and Ron who didn't apply much in Potions class got E, second highest grade.
So, in the situation where Snape was getting high output of good results with advanced teaching, it makes sense for him to take only the best for his NEWT Potions classes.
Even if Slughorn took E graders as well, his teaching was inferior to Snape so much that Hermione who was top performer in Potions couldn't even brew the perfect Potions she used to, under Snape. So going by Slughorn's standards, it'd make sense that not many of his students would obtain an O, making his acceptance of E graders fair because he won't be able to produce Snape's output.
And taking about Snape's so call criticism of lack of aurors, auror is one of the top professions in the wizarding world, therefore their selection criteria is tougher than other careers. Not everyone in Harry's batch was looking to become an auror and not every wizarding career required Potions NEWT. Therefore Snape was not doing any harm to wizard world, and in fact doing a great service by upgrading skills of an average student far more than likes of Slughorn.
Fortunately, in Korea, the fact that Snape always taught by writing recipes on the blackboard in the original work, the line in Hogwarts Mystery that Professor Snape's recipe is different from the textbook, and the fact that Hermione had a hard time are widely known. When Snape wasn't a professor. So, the Snape seen in Korea is well-known in the fan community as a competent and talented professor, except that he is eccentric, has a bad personality, and only likes Slytherin. .....And Korean fans once again realized that it is realistic and natural for professors to view students as gorillas....
Snape is more understandable for millennials and older HP fans. Gen Z kids, who get more understanding teachers can't understand that Snape type of teachers were far more common in that era and in fact there were teachers a lot worse than him.
Good for Koreans to be so understanding.
Quote from Naaga on March 14, 2024, 11:00 amSnape is more understandable for millennials and older HP fans. Gen Z kids, who get more understanding teachers can't understand that Snape type of teachers were far more common in that era and in fact there were teachers a lot worse than him.
Good for Koreans to be so understanding.
No... That's because the population is decreasing now... The new generation, which is not much of a generation gap, is listening to and understanding the old stories... In fact, corporal punishment existed until the mid-2000s. (Until about 2012 or so...), the money envelope bribes that teachers demanded actually existed, but now corporal punishment no longer exists. The reason it disappeared late was because in Korea, due to the culture of respecting teachers since ancient times, there was a perception that corporal punishment was an appropriate form of education. And the military's unique dog-eat-dog culture still remains... In addition, the people in our country had the mentality that 'I can't be the only one who suffers', and as a result, this continued in many ways, and even gentle teachers took a lot of unreasonable attitudes...
Quote from cometis on March 14, 2024, 11:41 amQuote from Naaga on March 14, 2024, 11:00 amSnape is more understandable for millennials and older HP fans. Gen Z kids, who get more understanding teachers can't understand that Snape type of teachers were far more common in that era and in fact there were teachers a lot worse than him.
Good for Koreans to be so understanding.
No... That's because the population is decreasing now... The new generation, which is not much of a generation gap, is listening to and understanding the old stories... In fact, corporal punishment existed until the mid-2000s. (Until about 2012 or so...), the money envelope bribes that teachers demanded actually existed, but now corporal punishment no longer exists. The reason it disappeared late was because in Korea, due to the culture of respecting teachers since ancient times, there was a perception that corporal punishment was an appropriate form of education. And the military's unique dog-eat-dog culture still remains... In addition, the people in our country had the mentality that 'I can't be the only one who suffers', and as a result, this continued in many ways, and even gentle teachers took a lot of unreasonable attitudes...
Similar things here, I guess that's why Snape is more understandable among Asians.
Yep. During my school days, it was common for teachers to discipline students lmao. I am talking about pre-2011. And it was all about respecting your teachers (whether they deserved it or not but that's a different story). Not to mention, the parents would in fact tell the teachers to discipline the kids if they misbehaved xD
Also, you need maturity to understand things from Severus' POV. But that's a hard thing these days, considering the younger fans have herd like mentality and consider fanon stuff as canon reading stuff like the "canon compliant" gospel of a certain part of H.P fandom.
Quote from Naaga on March 14, 2024, 11:00 amSnape is more understandable for millennials and older HP fans. Gen Z kids, who get more understanding teachers can't understand that Snape type of teachers were far more common in that era and in fact there were teachers a lot worse than him.
Good for Koreans to be so understanding.
It's true!
I will say more from my own experience: well, students are afraid of the perpetrator, seriously.
Demanding teacher, to the best teacher. But I was born in 1990, now children do whatever they want, it's mandatory in Polish schools.
It may be anecdotal or whatever, but I never got disciplined, but the threat of being disciplined was enough to make me behave. Now whether that makes me a bootlicker or coward, or just a keep your head down and follow the rules kind of loser, I don't really know. But I am of an opinion that there has to be some level of strictness and punishment for misbehaving children, or at least the threat of it, to keep them in line. With that controversial take, I am going to slither out of this conversation.
