Poll: Severus's Worst and/or Least Favorite Subject (Electives)
In your opinion, what was Severus's worst and/or least favorite elective? Did he figure it out the hard way by taking that class, or did he already know he wouldn't like it and avoid it altogether? Was it something he chose to steer clear of (as much as possible) as an adult? Or did he make an effort to educate himself, gradually improving in that area?
I'll just look at the list:
- Ancient Runes:
- Arithmancy:
- Care of Magical Creatures:
- Divination:
- Mugg--
I was just typing out all the options, but I have to stop right there, it's obviously Muggle Studies. When he was in school, he hated Muggles.
Probably an obvious choice, but I voted for Divination. Severus is a practical person, far more logical and grounded in facts than the average witch or wizard. I can see him rejecting Divination as silly nonsense, years before he had more personal reasons to dislike the subject.
My second choice would be Care Of Magical Creatures, which seems like it would be one of his worst subjects. He might not hate animals, but he doesn't seem to have any particular skill in dealing with them (leg chewed on by the three headed dog, attacked by Buckbeak, etc).
ETA: I can see Muggle Studies being his most hated, but I don't think he'd be bad at it based on his background/connection with Lily. It would've probably been an easy O for him if he could've gotten over his distaste.
If Snape was actually good at Divination, I could see him take he Prophecy utteration more seriously (I generally headcanon that he considered Sibyll a crackpot and gave Voldie the prophecy mostly in order to give him *something* from the entire ordeal). Plus, after the entire debacle I can see him utterly detest Divination, whether he had any skill in it or not.
Snape, being a Muggle-raised halfblood, is good at Muggle Studies pretty much by default.
I can't comment on the other 3 subjects really.
I voted for Divination based on the adult Professor Snape's opinion but I can see him detesting the muggle studies in his school days due to his anti-muggle sentiment. I can see him being indifferent to divination in his youth but after the whole mess with the 'prophecy' actually loathing this subject and becoming accepting of muggle studies in his Professor years.
I chose Divination. In the words of Snape himself:
'You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making... As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic.'
(HP 1, Chapter 8- The Potions Master, p146)
I cannot see Severus Snape having the patience to determine something as imprecise as Divination. He can tolerate the imprecision of Defence Against the Dark Arts, because that is a real threat. Nothing, or at least very little, about Snape indicates that he has any interest in peering into the future. Look how he reacts when someone (Harry) peers into his past.
Given Snape's bookishness, I presume that he would have had an inkling of what Divination would entail. In fact, some of Divination sounds similar to the Muggle habits of reading star signs, and in fact, Hogwarts students do take Astronomy classes. This is not to say that Snape does not have any intuition, but he has to use that for something practical, such as brewing potions or fighting the Dark Arts.
Presumably he was obliged to take Divination at school and, like Hermione Granger, quit the class in exasperation.
Quote from mmlf on February 14, 2023, 8:51 amPresumably he was obliged to take Divination at school and, like Hermione Granger, quit the class in exasperation.
It wasn't a requirement, was it? I thought students got to choose two electives out of the group.
@heatherlly, there was not a strict cap on electives, students could choose at least two. Hermione chose to do all so Mcgonagall got her time turner to make her able to attend all the classes. Perhaps Severus decided to check it out and abandoned it with similar reasons as Hermione.
Oh yes, I remember now. Agreed about Severus… like Hermione, he seems like someone who would've tried them all (except perhaps Muggle Studies), quickly realizing he'd made a mistake with Divination. 😂
Since we are talking about the period when Snape was a student, then it was Muggle studies. He loathed the muggles due to his asshole father, shitty home condition and grooming by the Slytherin housemates and would've hated anything else related to them.
