What's in it for Snape? Finding motive...

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 97141

What motivates Snape?  Is he really working for the Order, 
Voldemort, or himself? Is he good, bad, or neither? 

I have a bad feeling about Snape -- I just can't help it.  He had a 
miserable childhood, was picked on in school, yet, instead of 
learning how not to be, he grows up to become a teacher who bullies 
his students.  (Harry also had a miserable childhood, and was bullied 
by Dudley; yet, he is able to feel compassion for others.) 

Harry is capable of having friends, yet, Snape cannot.

I still feel that Harry's occulmency lessons with Snape were really 
DD's way of letting Harry learn more about "Snape the person." 
I feel that Snape really reveals his himself during these lessons. 
("The Art of War," post # 94893 and 95076.) 

You learn that Snape was an unhappy child, and that he was a victim 
of James's gang -- repeatedly.  You also hear Snape tell Harry: 
"Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot 
control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow 
themselves to be provoked so easily - weak people in other words - 
they stand no chance against his powers!  He will penetrate your mind 
with absurd ease, Potter!" (OOTP)

It seems to me that Snape is the one who wallows in his sad memories -
- why else would he remove them from his mind before teaching Harry? 
And did he have control over his emotions when he realized that Harry 
saw them? I think that the: "Fools who wear their hearts proudly on 
their sleeves" quote, is what happened to Snape. I think that 
Voldemort, realized what Snape's weaknesses were, and used them 
against him. He lured Snape into being a DE. 

Did Voldemort pose as a father figure? Did he tell Snape that he 
understood him, and that he also had an unhappy childhood? 

How long did it take Snape to realize that Voldemort was 
coning/manipulating him?  Snape is a very intelligent person. It 
seems so unlikely that he would ever let someone like Voldemort (or 
anyone for that matter) lord over him.  

Remember when Sirius tells Harry that there were a lot of purebloods 
that at first believed that Voldemort had the right idea?  They 
approved of Voldemort's dislike of mudbloods. I think this is what 
first interested Snape into becoming a DE. 
We know by cannon that Snape is a racist! He calls Lily a nasty name 
in the penseive memory.  He would rather be hung upside down before 
allowing a mudblood come to his defense. 

Here is my problem with Snape.  I find it hard to believe that 
knowing what we know about him that he is working for either 
Voldemort or DD.  He seems to have contempt for both sides.  He also 
craves recognition (obvious when you read PoA). 

I think that Snape is out for himself. He loves to manipulate people
(post # 94176). 
It would be funny if we were to find out that the prophecy was a hoax 
of Snape's.  Maybe he wants the DEs and the Order to self-destruct. 
(post # 97000, and 97079)