Despised Lackey or Social Equal?: Snape's 'Respectability'

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 90184

Julie wrote:
I've been wondering <snip> where would Snape's position as Head of
Slytherin House place him in the social context of Wizarding Britain
in general? Ignoring Snape's unpleasant appearance and demeanor, what 
type of status does a "job" like Head of House confer as opposed to 
just being a Potions professor/Master?  

Eloise responded:
<snip> Teachers, at least school teachers, must be few of a kind in
the WW. Are they therefore celebrities or > oddballs? Or simply
nonentities?
 
Hogwarts and the WW do to an extent seem to be locked into a somewhat 
> Victorian time warp. <snip> [Teaching] was very much the sort of
career that would (I think) be undertaken by a younger brother, the
one not going to inherit. <snip>Think Nicholas Nickleby where our
hero, fallen on hard times and destitute, takes on a teaching position.

Carol:
I think that's a good analogy. But also consider what working for a
living, even in a "genteel" position like teaching, did to the
person's social status. Lucius Malfoy reminds me of the "gentlemen" in
Jane Austen's novels who consider work of any kind beneath them, and
for that reason I think he would see himself as socially superior to
Snape. Also their relationship when they were both in Slytherin may
affect their current friendship or whatever we should call it. Snape
is considerably younger (four or five years), and that age difference
would have shaped the way Lucius treated Severus in the two years
during which they both attended Hogwarts. Severus would have been a
precocious little boy and Lucius the presumed leader of the gang of
Slytherins which he let Severus join. (I base "leader" on Malfoy's
taking the lead in the Muggle baiting and in the raid on the DoM.) I
think that's where Sirius's snide reference to Snape as Malfoy's "lap
dog" comes in. He can't know how they interact as adults, but he does
apparently know that Severus was Malfoy's "little pet" (which is what
"lap dog" means) when they were boys.

Julie:
Wealth: We don't know from the books whether Snape has any
income beyond what he earns as a potions instructor at Hogwarts (I 
wonder what the remuneration at such an exclusive school would be 
like?). He may have additional income derived from being a Potions 
Master (publication royalties, patents, consultation fees) or an 
inheritance.
> 
Eloise:
No. We know nothing and I would guess that in any case he lives a
fairly frugal life, allowing for investment in exotic Potions
ingredients, that is. We have no idea what the remuneration might be.
Is it pretty poor, as one would  expect for a teacher, or *is* it a
job of high prestige? <snip>

Carol:
I agree that the teachers probably aren't paid a large salary, but
they really don't need one. They have free room and board and no
electric or water bill to pay. In any case, though, Snape and
McGonagall can afford dress robes and Snape evidently has several. He
wears a green one to at least one of the quidditch games and perhaps a
different one to the feast at which the dress robes of the other
teachers were contrasted with Lupin's shabby one. But the mere fact
that he works for a living (setting aside Dumbledore's motives for
wanting him at Hogwarts) seems to indicate that he isn't wealthy. That
fits with the picture of a deprived childhood that we glimpse in the
Pensieve. 

Julie:
Family Background: I tend to agree with whomever said Snape's 
memories indicated a non-elite background <snip>. Since he was a Death
Eater, he surely claims some degree of pure wizardly heritage. 
 
Eloise:
I always envisaged him as coming form a pretty upper class background, 
myself. <snip> But class and money don't always equate. <snip>

Carol:
I'm not sure how you're defining "elite" and "non-elite" here, but my
sense of WW aristocracy is that it's based primarily on blood, though
money matters, especially if it's unearned income based on inheritance
and investments. Monetarily, Snape is clearly not in Malfoy's league,
but in terms of blood he must be at least a "half blood" like Harry
(whose parents were a witch and a wizard even though one of them was 
Muggle-born) or Lucius would not have associated with him at Hogwarts.
Also Draco seems to have a very good idea of who is and who is not
Muggle-born (witness his treatment of Hermione). I don't think he
would treat Snape as respectfully as he does if he didn't know Snape
to be a pureblood like himself.

Julie:
I tend to read Snape (his dress, speech patterns, method of teaching, 
emphysis on respect and obedience) as someone with a chip on his 
shoulder, who's self-made (or re-invented), who has struggled for 
what he has and is very much on guard against loosing it, rather than
born to wealth and power and easy social connections like the 
Malfoys.  

Eloise:
Well, he's certainly struggled. It seems very clear that his family 
> background was less than ideal, both in terms of relationships and
material comfort. And of course, he *has* reinvented himself, from
ex-DE to Dumbledore's right hand man. <snip>. 
I think a lot of the chip is to do with Harry, a lot to do with the
fact that so much of what he has done has been in secret and has
necessarily gone unrecognised.<snip>

Carol:
I agree. But I think the re-invention goes further back. Professor
Snape, with his sweeping grace and stern arrogance is very different
from the skinny, stoop-shouldered teenager who was tormented by MWPP
and went around throwing hexes at his enemies (who threw them at him,
as well). He has learned to control his emotions (except on rare
occasions when he allows the rage to boil over) and to control others.
The re-invention began with becoming a DE and continued with becoming
a spy and then a teacher and, as you say, Dumbledore's righthand man.
The elevation to Head of Slytherin House probably completed his
evolution in terms of personality. We also have to factor in
occlumency and "mastery" of Potions, whether or not the title "Potions
Master" is intended to reflect that mastery.
 
Julie:
Magical Ability:  We've been told Severus Snape is a very powerful 
wizard, and at a fairly young age--he's not yet forty in a potentially
150+ life span--so we can probably safely assume that he's not yet 
reached his peak ability. He is also one of an exclusive and limited 
number of specialists in his field in Britain.  Snape lacks the 
trappings of pretigious power that Lucius Malfoy displays, yet we 
really don't know how the two compare magically.  
 
Eloise:
No, we don't (though I'd put my money on Severus any day). And we
don't know  how many people are aware of his ability, either. He
specialises in a rather unshowy and apparently undervalued field of
magic. 


Carol:
My money is also on Snape, who clearly excels at DADA as well as
Potions. Whatever his opinion of Charms and Transfiguration, I doubt
that he really considers curses and countercurses to be "silly wand
waving."

Julie: 
So taking any combination of the sources of status where does that 
leave Snape?

Eloise:
Frustrated, I think. ;-)

Carol:
LOL. He's highly gifted and craves recognition (the DADA position, the
Order of Merlin that he came so close to receiving). I hope his time
will come.

Eloise:
If Dumbledore didn't appoint Snape to DADA because he thought it would
bring out the worst in him (*if* that's the reason), then what exactly
did he think making him Head of Slytherin House would do for him? But
perhaps it's that he *does* understand him so well. Here is one place
where he can have the recognition he so craves and in a pretty public 
form.

Carol:
Yes. But he does seem young for the position, so it's possible that he
was the only professor from Slytherin House after his predecessor died
or retired. Still, I agree that Dumbledore understands him and wants
him to be relatively contented in what amounts to protective custody
in Hogwarts. I also think that it serves Dumbledore's needs to have
the Slytherin students respect Snape, regardless of how the others
feel about him. 

Eloise: 
I also think that Lucius would support Snape as Head of House because
he either knows or suspects that he may be a fellow DE or be
sympathetic to the cause. I don't think that's ever been made clear.

Carol:
I'm almost certain that he thinks Snape is still a loyal Death Eater
(Snape must have explained to him why he couldn't be at the graveyard
in GoF) and that Malfoy is the means by which Snape finds out what LV
is telling his Death Eaters. I don't have any proof of this, but I'm
thinking of Snape's mission at the end of GoF and his words to Harry
in one of the occlumency scenes in OoP.

Julie:
So I wonder. Would a combination of magical abilities, and what must 
be at least a respectable bloodline <snip> plus Head of House be
enough to place Severus Snape on equal footing with someone 
like Lucius Malfoy?  

Eloise:
<snip> So if Snape is from a respectable, purebloodline and he's
apparently not betraying that inheritance, then I think that Lucius
would treat him pretty much as an equal on that level. However 
even within that parity of social standing, money or the lack of it
would play a part. For instance, regarding marriage, then I would
expect Lucius to want his family to marry into other wealthy pure
blood families, rather than into poor ones (unless there was a good
political reason for it). I couldn't see Severus being Lucius' first
choice to marry his (notional) sister, for instance, if a wealthier
wizard with similar credentials came along.

Carol:
I think the whole concept of working for a living is at least as
important to snobby Lucius as money per se--the old prejudice of the
aristocracy against the bourgeoisie, in Muggle terms. I think there's
a touch of patronization (is that a word?) in Malfoy's attitude toward
Snape, though the only evidence I have for that is Sirius's catty
reference to Snape as Malfoy's lap dog. (Okay. I know "catty" usually
refers to women, but I think it fits her. "Doggy" won't do the trick.)
We've never seen Snape and Malfoy together (movie contamination aside).

Eloise:
I think that basically the two of them would treat each other with the
utmost respect and caution. I think their mutual history of which
Snape definitely knows and Lucius might either know or else suspect is
more important to their relationship than their respective positions
in society.

Carol:
And there's also a mutual history at Hogwarts, which I envision as a
little boy and the teenage mentor/protector who disappeared from his
life at the end of his (Severus's) second year. I think that Malfoy
influenced young Snape's decision to join the Death Eaters. He may
even have engineered it. If so, then Snape assuredly has mixed
feelings for Malfoy--the friend who tempted him with recognition for
his talents and in so doing ruined his life.

Julie:
Snape is able to project a strong aura of power and intimidation in 
the books, besides the added impression of residual DE nastiness that 
Harry and gang know about from his past, but set that aside (and it 
can be as he was very careful, almost meek, in his dealings with 
Doris Umbridge).

Carol:
Meek? That's not how I read the scene. He clearly has as much contempt
for Delores Umbridge as McGonagall does and is not about to let her
control his class or to give her information that he regards as onone
of her business. ("I suggest you ask Professor Dumbledore.") Umbridge
intimidates Trelawney and confuses Hagrid, giving her grounds to
report them as incompetent and suggest their removal. Snape gives her
no such ammunition.

Julie:
Unaware of any Death Eater connections or Snape's reputation as a cold
and nasty character, would someone like Lucius Malfoy or Neville's
Grandmother, or Amelia Bones consider Snape of 'respectable' or
'proper' social standing?

Carol:
Malfoy doesn't belong in this list, as he knows Snape personally. As
for Neville's grandmother, who has reason to hate the DEs for what
they did to her son and daughter-in-law, I think the mere fact that
he's Head of Slytherin House would be enough to alienate her. Amelia
Bones also has reason to hate the DEs. I'm not saying that Slytherin =
Death Eater, but I think the WW makes that connection. Now if he were
Head of Gryffindor House (same blood, same money, same social
standing) I think Neville's gran would treat him with distant
politeness, not as a social equal but as a respectable person with
whom she could sit down to tea without embarrassment.

Julie:
Or would he only be held in respect by other Slytherins (whose
children he is overseeing/training, and even post-Hogwarts he would
retain some power as Head of House for things like references and
word-of-mouth recommendations)?
 
Eloise:
I would imagine that some non-Slytherins would hold him in a degree of 
suspicion as anti-Slytherin prejudice seems fairly strong among those
from other houses, especially as a result of the last Voldemort war.
<snip>

Carol:
And as for recommendations, remember his words to Crabbe in OoP
(something like allowing Neville to suffocate might prevent Snape from
giving Crabbe a job recommendation--bad paraphrase and no time to look
it up!)

Julie:
Regardless of how Lucius and Severus interacted in school or as 
fellow Death Eaters (or spies), Lucius has a child who is sorted into 
Snape's House. I would assume that regardless of how the two men 
personally get along, Lucius would at least feign cordiality while 
Draco was in school, and somewhat vulnerable to his Head of
House's wrath or interference.
  
Eloise:
Oh definitely. And Snape's treatment of Draco surely has something to
do with the impression he wants to convey to Lucius.

Carol:
I agree. IMO, Snape's favoritism, especially toward Draco, has nothing
to do with affection and everything to do with how he wants to be
perceived by the parents of his Slytherin students, especially the
DEs. Otherwise the sarcasm he reserves for Neville would be aimed at
Crabbe and Goyle as well. I have no doubt that he privately holds them
(and their fathers) in contempt for their incompetence and stupidity.

Carol