Re: Where Snape belongs on the family tree

[laylalast]

No: HPFGUIDX 79062

Funny how people can independently come up with a theory with great 
similarities.....Almost magic! <g> I had been making up a theory like 
that of evangelina839 but with some differences. I'll explain these 
on the way.

evangelina839wrote:
> This will for always be my dear, but sort of silly, little fanfic 
speculati=
> on, but I'm still 
> going to ruthlessly expose the poor little thing to the public. 
I've never =
> seen this 
> theory anywhere, so even if someone else has already suggested the 
possibil=
> ity, I still 
> claim ownership. :)

Lilian:
No problem.

>Evangelina839:
> Here goes: Severus Snape is the son of Lucius Malfoy's =
> sister. I'll explain how it works.

<snip>

Lilian:
My idea is that Snape's mother is the sister of Lucius'father. That 
explains the age difference rather neatly. It also makes Lucius and 
Severus cousins, which I like better, especially when regarding the 
way the two will behave towards each other. In your case is Lucius in 
fact the uncle of Severus, which gives a different kind of authority 
between the two of them, even if the age difference is rather small.


> Evangelina839:. Alright, 
> next:
> 
> I believe that Snape is a halfblood, as was suggested on the list a 
while back (sorry I can't give credit; I thought I had the number of 
the post, but it turned out to be the 
> wrong one). Making the safe assumption that the Malfoys are 
purebloods, that means that Snape's father was a muggle or a 
muggleborn, possibly squib. It fits my theory, 
> though, that the man has no magical powers, so disregard the 
possiblity of a muggleborn for a minute. I also think it's pretty 
safe to assume that the parents of 
> Lucius and his sister are not much unlike the Blacks: proud 
purebloods, dark arts 
> enthusiasts, bigots and racists.

Lilian:
Snape's father can still be a pureblood. My idea is that he is but 
from a very poor family, so not in the same class (by a long way) as 
the Malfoys. Snape sr. saw a chance of marrying wealth and perhaps 
power through Miss Malfoy, but after their marriage (by elopement?) 
she was disinherited and disclaimed by the Malfoys. So Snape sr. was 
worse of then before as he now also had to provide for his wife and 
child which was by then probably on the way. To say at least, not 
such a great start for a relationship.
 
> Snape's childhood memory shows him as the small boy crying in a 
corner while his father is shouting at his mother. I, for one, am 
sure that Harry's assumption was right 
> and Snape is in fact the little boy; if he was the grown man, Harry 
would have 
> recognised him. That obviously means his parents did not have a 
healthy relationship.

Lilian:
If you marry for money and power and end up with less, it's not 
unexpected that you shout at your wife. It was all her fault of 
course. Nope, no healthy relationship, if ever there was one.

Evangelina83"9: 
> Snape addressed Draco Malfoy as "Draco" in his office when Draco 
interrupts the Occlumency lesson (the "Snape's worst memory" 
chapter). Of course he does, they're cousins!

Lilian:
It's also possible if Draco's father and Snape are cousins, their 
familyrelationship is close enough. Especially if you take into mind 
that Snape has most contact with LV and the DE's through Lucius.

<snips the events> 

Evangelina839:
> Okay. So why is Lucius Malfoy so friendly with Severus Snape today? 
I see two possibilites. 
> A: Lucius Malfoy is only about six years old when his older 
> sister  disappears from the family. It's possible he never even 
found out what really 
> happened to her, let alone her new surname. So if that's the case, 
he's not aware of his relationship to Snape.
> B: Lucius and Severus met each other via the Slytherin gang 
> or at a DE meeting, Lucius realised that his nephew had the "right 
values",=
>  and they 
> became friends on the basis of common interests.
> 
> And that's the theory. Let's call it Lucia. Am I nuts? Let me 
know. :)
> 
> evangelina, who had to turn her lights back on during AM hours last 
night j=
> ust to 
> write this down
 yawn

Lilian:
No, you're not nuts at all IMO.
I would even like to go a bit further and give Miss Malfoy (now Mrs. 
Snape) a first name.... Agnes, perhaps? The lady with her head 
covered in fur in St. Mungo's?

Why, you might ask? Well, ever since reading the end of GOF 
(especially Snape's sudden movement) I have been  wondering if a 
close relative of Snape would be in St. Mungo's. Although what we 
know of this Agnes is not much to conclude that she is Snape's 
mother, still there are a few things.....

1) It would give JKR (or Snape or both) a first rate legitimate 
reason to let Snape go to St. Mungo's on a regular basis. The only 
difficulty that I have with this is why hasn't Neville ever met him? 
Oh well.... But having Snape go to St. Mungo's could tie in with the 
continuous incapacity of the Longbottoms.... He is a potion master, 
after all.

2) I have no idea how a long-term stay in St. Mungo's is financed but 
I can imagine that relatives will have to pay and that is not cheap. 
So Lucius Malfoy is paying for his aunt's upkeep, by donating large 
sums to St. Mungo's, and Snape is in his debt, in addition to their 
familyrelation. Could give another twist to the coming stories.
As additional proof that the upkeep is (partly) paid by relatives I 
offer the description of the clothes that Neville's gran wears, which 
sounds to me as impovered gentility. Most likely because paying the 
St. Mungo's bills is becoming rather difficult.

3) In the Pensieve-scene Snape sees the dog chasing Harry, but Harry 
also remembers Hermione while in the hospital with her head covered 
in fur. My take is that Snape makes a subconscious connection with 
his own mother and therefore makes the otherwise irrelevant question 
about who the dog belonged to.

Lilian, who really had to get this out of her system as well, 
although she ought to work....