Is Snape a Master of Potions?

In canon, Severus Snape is often referred to as a ‘Potions master’. Does this title mean he’s a Master of Potions, has a Master’s degree, or is world-class? I’m going to argue ‘no’, brilliant though he is. 

 

First, let’s have a look at the books.

 

• (Professor Slughorn is referred to as Potions master several times)
• The tiny little Charms master was bobbing his way towards them and Hermione was the only one who had managed to turn vinegar into wine; her glass flask was full of deep crimson liquid, whereas the contents of Harry’s and Ron’s were still murky brown. 
• ‘is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master.’ (Implying it’s a job title. If you had a Potions Mastery, that wouldn’t end in retirement)
• by Rita Skeeter, bestselling author of Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?
• ‘Professor,’ Harry said, approaching the little Charms master, ‘Professor, I’m sorry to interrupt, but this is important.’
• ‘Excuse me,’ said Snape icily, ‘but I believe I am the Potions master at this school.’
• ‘Professor Severus Snape, master of this school, commands you to yield the information you conceal!’ Snape said, hitting the map with his wand.

 

So you don’t have to take my word for it, let’s look at random stuff I found online showing that ‘master’ is an old-fashioned job title in the UK

 

• Alan Rickman: "I think at heart Snape is basically quite an insecure person, he’s always longing to be something else that people will really respect like a black magician not just a school master. That's why he envies the more popular and successful boys like Harry. He does have a positive side though, even though Harry's a thorn in his side he doesn't let it worry him too much." 
• taught by my prep school science master. 
• The teachers – called masters in those days – all had their own tics, peculiarities, accents and distinguishing features that we pupils studied intently
• On 19th February 1940, 182 boys and 12 masters arrived at Kennylands Camp. They were part of a national scheme to set up camps in several places away from the danger of living in large cities which were the target of Nazi bombers.
• served as Senior History Master at Hull Grammar School for Boys
• was promoted from Senior Master to Third Deputy, with special responsibility for assisting the Headmaster in control and management of the school budget, in liaison with the School Governors.
• the raising of £20,000 by parents, masters, boys, Old Boys and friends of the school so that the three-hundredth anniversary might be fittingly celebrated.
• can hardly have been a suitable building for what were virtually three separate establishments; those of the Master, the Matron and the Boys
• Discipline was a very real problem for the Masters 
• Ultimately, however, a master will be judged by his effectiveness in the classroom
• This widening of the syllabus would throw an added burden on the Master and the committee decided that an Assistant Master should be engaged
• Mr. Crofts’s constant complaint in the early years of his mastership was the poor quality of many of the boys he had to teach

 

And I’ll end with a quote from madasafish: ‘He will certainly not, as occasionally seen in fan fiction, be addressed as "Master Snape" since in British English that is an old-fashioned, formal way of addressing a very small male child who is too young to be called "Mister Snape”.’

Does Dumbledore say "my boy"?

 

Dumbledore is constantly saying this in fics. He doesn't have this line in the books, so I widened the net. 

 

Armando Dippet

• ‘My dear boy,’ said Dippet kindly, ‘I cannot possibly let you stay at school over the summer. Surely you want to go home for the holidays?’
• ‘Precisely,’ said the Headmaster. ‘My dear boy, you must see how foolish it would be of me to allow you to remain at the castle when term ends. Particularly in the light of the recent tragedy … the death of that poor little girl … You will be safer by far at your orphanage. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Magic is even now talking about closing the school. We are no nearer locating the – er – source of all this unpleasantness …’

 

 

Elphias Doge

• ‘My dear boy! Arthur told me you were here, disguised … I am so glad, so honoured!’
• ‘Oh, please call me Elphias, dear boy.’

 

 

Albus Dumbledore

• ‘Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times,’ said Dumbledore. ‘Quirrell does not have the Stone.’
• ‘Ah,’ said Dumbledore, smiling still more broadly. ‘That is the question, isn’t it? On the whole, dear boy, I think not.’
• ‘My dear boy, its remarkable effects were directed only at Voldemort, who had tampered so ill-advisedly with the deepest laws of magic. Only towards him was that wand abnormally powerful. Otherwise it was a wand like any other … though a good one, I am sure,’ Dumbledore finished kindly. 
• ‘My dear boy, I have no idea. This is, as they say, your party.’ 
• ‘My dear boy, I do,’ said Dumbledore, while his fellow pictures looked confused and curious. ‘A wise and courageous decision, but no less than I would have expected of you. Does anyone else know where it fell?’
• ‘Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy,’ said Dumbledore softly.
• ‘My dear boy, let us have no more pretence about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first Disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means.’

 

 

Cornelius Fudge

• ‘Oh, my dear boy, we’re not going to punish you for a little thing like that!’ cried Fudge, waving his crumpet impatiently. ‘It was an accident! We don’t send people to Azkaban just for blowing up their aunts!’

 

 

Rubeus Hagrid

• Hagrid’s miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile. ‘Tha’s my boy … You show ’em, Harry, you show ’em. Beat ’em all.’

 

 

 

Gilderoy Lockhart

• ‘My dear boy,’ said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Harry. ‘Do use your common sense. My books wouldn’t have sold half as well if people didn’t think I’d done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He’d look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a hairy chin. I mean, come on …’

 

 

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington

• ‘Harry! My dear boy!’
• ‘My dear boy! Harry Potter, at my Deathday Party! And,’ he hesitated, looking excited, ‘do you think you could possibly mention to Sir Patrick how very frightening and impressive you find me?’

 

 

Garrick Ollivander

• ‘My dear boy.’ Ollivander’s voice was feeble. ‘You rescued us. I thought we would die in that place. I can never thank you … never thank you … enough.’

 

 

Tom Riddle

• ‘Ah, yes, I remember,’ said Voldemort, looking down at Neville, who was struggling back to his feet, unarmed and unprotected, standing in the no-man’s-land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. ‘But you are a pure-blood, aren’t you, my brave boy?’ Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands curled in fists.

 

 

Rufus Scrimgeour

• ‘My dear boy … even Dumbledore cannot return from the –’

 

 

Horace Slughorn

• ‘Harry, m’boy!’ said Slughorn, jumping up at the sight of him so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and great silver moustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the golden buttons on his waistcoat. 
• ‘Harry, m’boy?’
• ‘Ah yes, Professor McGonagall did mention … not to worry, my dear boy, not to worry at all. You can use ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I’m sure we can lend you some scales, and we’ve got a small stock of old books here, they’ll do until you can write to Flourish and Blotts …’
• ‘Harry, m’boy!’ said a booming voice from behind them.
• ‘Harry, that’s three of my little suppers you’ve missed now!’ said Slughorn, poking him genially in the chest. ‘It won’t do, m’boy, I’m determined to have you! Miss Granger loves them, don’t you?’
• ‘Harry, m’boy!’ boomed Slughorn, almost as soon as Harry and Luna had squeezed in through the door. ‘Come in, come in, so many people I’d like you to meet!’
• ‘Ask away, then, m’boy, ask away …’
• ‘Don’t mention it, m’boy, don’t mention it,’ said Slughorn, as Ron collapsed into a nearby armchair, looking devastated.
• ‘Euphoria, I take it? And what’s that I smell? Mmmm … you’ve added just a sprig of peppermint, haven’t you? Unorthodox, but what a stroke of inspiration, Harry. Of course, that would tend to counterbalance the occasional side-effects of excessive singing and nose-tweaking … I really don’t know where you get these brainwaves, my boy … unless –’
• ‘That’s enough!’ said Slughorn suddenly, raising a shaking hand. ‘Really, my dear boy, enough … I’m an old man … I don’t need to hear … I don’t want to hear …’
• ‘But then … my dear boy … you’re asking a great deal … you’re asking me, in fact, to aid you in your attempt to destroy –’
• ‘Harry!’ he panted, massaging his immense chest beneath his emerald-green silk pyjamas. ‘My dear boy … what a surprise … Minerva, do please explain … Severus … what …?’

 

 

Hepzibah Smith

• ‘Lean in a little, dear boy, so you can see … of course, Burke knows I’ve got this one, I bought it from him, and I daresay he’d love to get it back when I’m gone …’

 

 

Sybill Trelawney 

• ‘My dear boy – my poor dear boy – no – it is kinder not to say – no – don’t ask me …’
• ‘The Grim, my dear, the Grim!’ cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry hadn’t understood. ‘The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen – the worst omen – of death!’
• ‘Indeed!’ whispered Professor Trelawney, scribbling keenly on the parchment perched upon her knees. ‘My boy, you may well be seeing the outcome of poor Hagrid’s trouble with the Ministry of Magic! Look closer … does the Hippogriff appear to … have its head?’
• ‘I’m so sorry, dear boy,’ she said dreamily. ‘The heat of the day, you know … I drifted off for a moment …’
• ‘My dear boy!’ she said in a very carrying whisper. ‘The rumours! The stories! The Chosen One! Of course, I have known for a very long time … the omens were never good, Harry … but why have you not returned to Divination? For you, of all people, the subject is of the utmost importance!’

 

 

Fred Weasley

• ‘Harry!’ said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. ‘Simply splendid to see you, old boy –’

 

 

Oliver Wood

• ‘That’s my boy!’ Wood kept yelling. Alicia, Angelina and Katie had all kissed Harry, and Fred had him in a grip so tight Harry felt as though his head would come off. In complete disarray, the team managed to make its way back to the ground. Harry got off his broom and looked up to see a gaggle of Gryffindor supporters sprinting onto the pitch, Ron in the lead. Before he knew it, he had been engulfed by the cheering crowd.

 

 

Eldred Worple

• ‘Just as modest as Horace described!’ said Worple. ‘But seriously –’ his manner changed; it became suddenly businesslike, ‘I would be delighted to write it myself – people are craving to know more about you, dear boy, craving! If you were prepared to grant me a few interviews, say in four- or five-hour sessions, why, we could have the book finished within months. And all with very little effort on your part, I assure you – ask Sanguini here if it isn’t quite – Sanguini, stay here!’ added Worple, suddenly stern, for the vampire had been edging towards the nearby group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. ‘Here, have a pasty,’ said Worple, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it into Sanguini’s hand before turning his attention back to Harry.
• ‘My dear boy, the gold you could make, you have no idea –’