Snape's "favoritism" (Was: Snape outing Harry as Parselmouth)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 94105

-S. Mehmood wrote:
> 
> Well.. as for Draco earning his grades in Potions, I tend to 
> disagree. If Snape does not want former DEs to know that he has 
> switched sides, he must still act like he is a DE. It seems as 
> though the DEs stuck together after Voldemorts fall (Malfoy and 
> McNair seemed pretty close, same with Malfoy Crabbe and Goyle). 
> Giving Draco bad grades would have 
> looked pretty suspicious. However, I dont mean does not 
> contradict the claim that Draco is competent, Im just saying he 
> probably doesnt need to be competent to do well in Snapes class. I 
> do, however, agree that Draco is a "very competent yound wizard."
> 
> As for the 2nd year serpensortia thing, I seem to agree with you. It 
> is akin to conjuring, something that 5th years haven't reached. It 
> was also a live animal (a vertebrate no less). I think it may have 
> been a slight flint, because I doubt Malfoy is that skilled, 
> esspecially when it doesnt seem as though he had practiced the spell 
> thoroughly before he used it.

Carol:
We really have no evidence of Snape giving Draco better grades than he
deserved. On one of the essays (it may have been the moonstone one) in
OoP, Snape says that he gave everyone the grades they would have
deserved if it were their OWL exam. Harry received a D ("dreadful")
and probably deserved it, Ron received a P ("poor") and again,
probably deserved it, Hermione received an A ("acceptable") rather
than an "E" ("exceeds espectations" or an O ("outstanding) and doesn't
complain. She sees it as evidence that she needs to work harder to
prepare for her OWLs. We're not told what grade Draco received, but
his snide remark, "You mean some people got D's?" suggests that, like
Ron, he received a P. Surely if he had received anything higher,
particularly an E or an O, he would have said so and flashed the grade
for everyone to see.

Earlier, in CoS, we see Draco in Knockturn Alley with his father, and
it's clear that his father is displeased about Draco's marks, which
are not as high as Hermione's (how Lucius knows Hermione's marks isn't
clear, but probably Draco himself told him). To me it would seem
suspicious if Snape alone gave Draco grades he didn't deserve.
Probably he received better than average but not excellent marks, and
it's clear that Lucius blames Draco himself for not making his best
effort, rather than the teachers who gave him the marks.

One more point. We're constantly told about Harry's mistakes in
Potions (missing a step, or whatever, because his thoughts are
elsewhere), about Neville melting cauldrons, even about one of Goyle's
potions having the consistency of wet cement, but I don't recall a
single instance of Draco's potions going wrong. Admittedly, he doesn't
have the distraction of a teacher who dislikes him constantly
criticizing him, but he does seem to get the potions right. If he
didn't, Harry would notice and gloat about it.

So, yes, Snape has to be on good terms with Lucius Malfoy (at least
until the events at the end of OoP), but I don't think he's resorting
to inflating Draco's grades to do it. Ignoring Draco's misbehavior in
class, booking the Quidditch pitch for the Slytherins at the expense
of the Gryffindors, docking points from the Gryffindors at every
opportunity, yes. But he's a strict teacher with high standards who
can't bear having "dunderheads" in his classes, and I'm willing to bet
that Crabbe and Goyle got the D's they deserved on that essay and that
neither of them will be in Snape's NEWT Potions class next year.

Regarding Serpensortia, I agree that it's an advanced spell for a
second-year student, but if you have Lucius Malfoy for a father, you
probably practice spells (and even some Dark Magic) at home. After
all, there are no Muggles around to witness the underage magic and
Draco's father has influence (spelled g-o-l-d) at the MoM. So I'm not
 surprised about Snape's knowing that the twelve-year-old Draco could
cast a competent Serpensortia. For all we know, he may even have
watched him do it over the summer holidays. (I'm still wavering as to
whether Snape suspected that Harry was a Parselmouth and had Draco
cast that spell to "out" him. I'm leaning toward yes on that one.)

Carol, who wonders where Snape spends his summer holidays