[HPforGrownups] Draco & Snape

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 11685

Catlady wrote:

> Snape sure does a terrible job of controlling his face in canon, but
> he must have been able to do so back when he was spying on the Dark
> Side.

But where, so far, has there been any *reason* for him to control his
reactions? There has been no need; in fact, he uses his facial
expressions and voice modulations, it seems to me, quite deliberately to
influence others. That he has totally let himself go when enraged is
unsurprising; there wasn't any particular reason not to, and in front of
students, a good reason *to* ("don't make me mad").

Snape, in fact, strikes me as the sort who has all sorts of reactions
and connections going on beneath the surface, and it's been tantalizing,
the hints of more. I think he has been, and will be again, a
tremendously effective spy.

> I believe that Draco feels both affection and respect for Snape, and
> Snape feels affection for Draco.

Hah. I think that Snape sees himself in Draco, and so gives him the
breaks that he himself feels he didn't get. But I don't think Snape's
all that fond of himself, so I wouldn't take it to affection at all. [On
a related note, I think one reason Snape abuses Harry & Co. is that he
sees the Marauders in them, and is giving them the hell he thinks the
Marauders deserved and didn't get.]

In an earlier post, many eons ago (October? November?) I posited that
Snape is actually not that fond of Draco, and is doing him no favors by
favoring him so much. Harry and his friends will know how to deal with
adversity when they need to. Draco will not. What a wonderful,
double-edged stroke at the Malfoys. [I think this thread was called
something like "A New (I Hope) Snape Theory" or something, if anyone
cares enough to look it up.]

I don't think these two ideas are mutually exclusive, either; they
involve totally different parts of Snape's psyche--the associations back
to when he was young, and the DeathEater involvement as an adult--so
both could be operating. But I don't think he particularly likes Draco.

--Amanda



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