[HPforGrownups] New (I hope) Snape thought

[Aberforths_Goat]

No: HPFGUIDX 5162

1) "By no means do I think this means he actually *likes* Draco. Draco
simply serves a purpose, which Snape likes."

2) "Further, Snape might actually *dislike* Draco."

I like it, Amanda. We could call (1) Utilitarian Draconism (UD) (Snape's
using Draco, not being sweet to him) and (2) Covert Antidraconism (CA)
(Snape's puffing up Draco's balloon for the pleasure of popping it).

UD makes a lot of sense. Snape isn't exactly a model Death Eater, so it's
hard to imagine why he'd be genuinely fond of Lucius'son--unless he's ready
to like anyone who hates James' son's guts nearly as much as he does. And
being a Slytherin helps. We haven't really seen anything that would
contradict that: sure he's nice to Draco, but that doesn't mean he really
likes the little cad.

I'm not sure whether CA would survive Occam's razor, though. Why should
Snape be putting so much effort into messing up Lucio's kid? Particularly
with so many other teachers ready, willing and able to show him how dumb he
really is. Buttering up bad guys in hopes of limiting their educational
opportunites seems a pretty complicated sort of antagonism.

An intermdiate position--say "Weak CA"--could work, though: Draco happens to
be useful to Snape, so Snape wines him and dines him. That Snape would
actually like to dice Draco into poisonous little pieces (and make Harry
swallow them) is beside the point. In fact, he may have an even more
important reason for this than bullying Harry: assuming he wants to
infiltrate the Death Eaters, he has to keep his black hat credentials in
good order. Soft soaping Draco would keep the color up.

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray, flaunting that capacity for academic
trivialization upon which an MA in Systematic Theology is contingent.)
http://profiles.yahoo.com/aberforths_goat