spoiler warning: Twitchy, prowling Snape?

[Angel Moules]

No: HPFGUIDX 86155

Actually, seeing the opinions that have been mooted on this thread about
the effect the DEs had on Snape, I would say that the opposite was the
case. I don't think the DEs gave him confidence, I believe that they
sapped him of it entirely.

This is why:
In an organisation such as the DEs the value that would be placed on the
life of a human being is arbitrary, and solely based on his/her
usefulness at the point in time that a decision would be made. For
example, look at Edmund in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

If you've not read LW&W then the next bit is a spoiler
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He's wooed by the White Witch, and given all the candy he wants, and left
gasping for more. He would hand over his family, just for that candy.

She would make him a prince, Aslan a King. And therein lies the
difference.In parallel: to Voldemort, SS is merely a servant, to
AD a master.

To continue. Edmund doesn't know Aslan, and therefore goes along with
the White WItch, rather than trusting his sister. He is redeemed
by Aslan, but always knows that he is a traitor. The impression that
we're given of SS is similar. He's had a miserable childhood, and rather
than trusting the Headmaster he's seen at a distance, he goes with what
he knows how to do, and where he thinks he will be valued.

The DEs at first let him think he's valuable, until he starts to realise
he's only as good as the next potion, the next kill. Whatever artificial
confidence he has been given deserts him, and he's left even worse off
than he was before. Dumbledore finds him, and rescues him, and
infuses him with the confidence that is needed. That hard won confidence
is brittle, so Snape is either a bully, or ignores Harry (end of
OOTP).

Against someone who really has confidence, Snape is shown up as a
fraud. For example, take a look at the film, where you get a shot of
Lucius and SS watching Quidditch. LM is poised, SS is twitchy, edgy by
contrast. Yet he still has an air of effortless malevolence, that is
intensified by the presence of his one-time mentor.
On the other hand, we see Snape with AD at the beginning of Snape II,
and there he is confident, the strength is drawn from AD. He is
cowed slightly by being told that the matter of expulsion is not in his
hands, but he keeps a poise there.

Angel