Let’s not forget that Cannon!Snape was writing instructions for sectumsempra in the margins of his potions textbook when he was a child—a textbook he incidentally rewrote while he was taking the class. Since then he has been rubbing shoulders with Voldemort and Dumbledore. That said he is more powerful than McGonagall then something has changed rather drastically. That girl is badass.
I have to agree that ‘only three’ is surprising. Dumbledore himself and Quirrel leave only one extra spot...
Cannon!Snape is definitely badass, but I always figured that given Hogwarts’ eminent reputation and the size of their faculty, their standards for anyone holding a professorship are probably extremely high, barring positions people don’t want to fill (Defense Against the Dark Arts and possibly Care of Magical Creatures) and pity jobs like Trelawney.
In a setting where the academic and practical are so closely intertwined, I imagine holding professorship at Hogwarts as being something like being a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Green Beret combined, probably topped off with an Eagle Scout.
It is a damn high bar and I think you mentioned the big players. Dumbledore → McGonagall is easy. Then it is Snape vs Flittwick for No.3. It wouldn’t seem unreasonable to place Snape higher than the gnome illusionist given that Snape is the one with dark secrets that no doubt include all sorts of badass juice. The problem with the ‘3’ figure in MoR is that Quirrel comes in as a wild card and you would be reckless place him anywhere below second. And as you say, Snape > McGonagall doesn’t seem right!
This. I feel like Quirrell would never fight completely fairly against anyone and so he basically can only lose against the unbeatable power of the elder wand. In a fair fight Snape and McGonagall together might be able to take Quirrell but doesn’t fight fair.
Let’s not forget that Cannon!Snape was writing instructions for sectumsempra in the margins of his potions textbook when he was a child—a textbook he incidentally rewrote while he was taking the class. Since then he has been rubbing shoulders with Voldemort and Dumbledore. That said he is more powerful than McGonagall then something has changed rather drastically. That girl is badass.
I have to agree that ‘only three’ is surprising. Dumbledore himself and Quirrel leave only one extra spot...
Cannon!Snape is definitely badass, but I always figured that given Hogwarts’ eminent reputation and the size of their faculty, their standards for anyone holding a professorship are probably extremely high, barring positions people don’t want to fill (Defense Against the Dark Arts and possibly Care of Magical Creatures) and pity jobs like Trelawney.
In a setting where the academic and practical are so closely intertwined, I imagine holding professorship at Hogwarts as being something like being a member of the National Academy of Sciences and Green Beret combined, probably topped off with an Eagle Scout.
It is a damn high bar and I think you mentioned the big players. Dumbledore → McGonagall is easy. Then it is Snape vs Flittwick for No.3. It wouldn’t seem unreasonable to place Snape higher than the gnome illusionist given that Snape is the one with dark secrets that no doubt include all sorts of badass juice. The problem with the ‘3’ figure in MoR is that Quirrel comes in as a wild card and you would be reckless place him anywhere below second. And as you say, Snape > McGonagall doesn’t seem right!
This. I feel like Quirrell would never fight completely fairly against anyone and so he basically can only lose against the unbeatable power of the elder wand. In a fair fight Snape and McGonagall together might be able to take Quirrell but doesn’t fight fair.