Yet Another Snape Theory

[brewpub44]

No: HPFGUIDX 34821

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., alexpie at a... wrote:
> Apologies if something similar has appeared; I have trouble reading 
the 
> digest when it appears as a download.
>   JKR stated that she envisioned Snape in SS as "35 or 36."  Now, 
then, that 
> would make him about 14 years old at the time of Voldemort's rise 
to power.  
> That, coupled with his knowledge of the dark arts upon his arrival 
at 
> Hogwarts, leads me to believe that he came from a family of Death 
Eaters, a 
> la Malfoy and his cohorts.  Thus, one could say he didn't 
necessarily make a 
> conscious choice (except for the choice to leave V).  

I, for one, really like your theory, on two levels. First of all, it 
sounds like pretty good deductive logic, and secondly, it lends 
credence to my own Snape theory re: Draco Malfoy.

We all know Snape favors Draco in potions class, and probably 
elsewhere. Why? Until GoF, I assumed it was because Draco came from a 
powerful family for which Snape either admires, or which he owes 
allegiance. Yet in GoF, we find the Malfoys and Snape are on opposite 
sides of the over-arcing conflict. So why still support Draco?

I see two possibilities: one, he is trying to still act as a DE and 
is giving Draco a leg-up anyway, but this just doesn't seem to fit.

The more likely possibility, IMHO, is that Snape sees himself in 
Draco: a victim of his parentage. We know nothing of Snape's family 
AFAIK, perhaps they too are LV followers who dragged Snape along. So 
Snape not only betrayed LV & the DEs but also his own family. But he 
feels better for it, for he was nothing but a pawn in a larger game 
and he is much more intelligent and talented to be someone else's 
pawn.

So along comes Draco, a talented and perhaps intelligent (his talent 
shows more often than his intelligence). And Snape sees a kinship 
with the boy. He doesn't want Draco sucked in along with the DEs. So 
Snape befriends him, tries to show him that another adult (father 
figure?) can be trusted.

Then, when the chips are down and Draco has to choose, he actually 
has a choice. Then perhaps Snape becomes for Draco what Sirius is for 
Harry.

For those who see symmetry in literature, there you have a nice 
example.

A Barkeep in Diagon Alley