Snape, Weasley, and Malfoy

[spicoli323]

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No: HPFGUIDX C7154
From: spicoli323
Subject: Snape, Weasley, and Malfoy
Date: 8/18/00 1:28 am  (ET)

I think it's pretty likely that Snape and Malfoy were very good friends
in the past. The way Snape recoiled when Harry mentioned Malfoy as
one of the Death Eaters indicates that the news affected him strongly
in some way. Of course, if the two of them were Death Eaters together
back when Voldemort first came to power, it would make sense that they
were friends. After Voldemort disappeared, though, my theory is that
Malfoy and Snape remained on good terms, although Malfoy, at least,
might not have been totally sincere. But Snape could have accepted that
Malfoy was "reformed", while Malfoy, at the very least, would think it
advantageous to have a friend inside Hogwarts. Their friendship would
explain Snape's favoritism towards Draco, which went even beyond his
normal bias to Slytherins. If I am right, it will be very interesting
to see in Book 5 if there is any change in the way Snape treats Draco
now that his father has turned to the dark side.
Which brings up another interesting point: The Death Eaters Malfoy,
Crabbe, and Goyle all have children at Hogwarts; probably some of their
other colleagues do, too. So Dumbledore knows where they live, literally,
and they probably wouldn't dare showing their faces back at home. It
will be interesting to see, then, how the children of Death Eaters will
react to this. Will Malfoy become less threatening now that he knows
his father can't back him up at school anymore? Will the children of
Death Eaters be ostracized by the other children? I think we will see
the beginnings of a change in Draco's personality next book. It is up
in the air whether he will choose to follow his father or reject him.
Anyway, I am inclined to believe that Malfoy went to school at the same
time as Snape and the Marauders. This would be where Snape and Malfoy
first became friends. Although the enmity between Malfoy and Arthur
Weasley mirrors that between Jim Potter and Snape (or Sirius Black and
Snape) I don't think they started to feud until Arthur worked at the
Ministry of Magic--most of the friction between Weasley and Malfoy seems
to center around Ministry-related issues, such as Arthur's love of Muggles
and the periodic searches of Malfoy's house. But I notice that Snape and
Weasley do not have a similar hatred of each other (I don't think Snape
picks on Ron any more than the other Gryffindors). So although Malfoy
has a "history" with both Weasley and Snape, the latter two don't seem
to even know each other. So Malfoy probably knew them through separate
channels---Snape through Hogwarts, and Weasley through the Ministry. But
that's just my opinion.