Occlumency: Relax or resist? Does Snape really favor Draco?

[kgpopp]

No: HPFGUIDX 117721


Kathryn:
> > >  Snape might not be a nice person, but he is the only 
> character who  is  perfect for this kind of training.  <<
 
Lupinlore:
> > And yet, Dumbledore says, "It was a mistake not to teach you 
> > myself."  I'm inclined to take Dumbledore at his word, that he 
> would  have taught Harry himself had he not feared for Harry's 
> safety, and  that he feels Snape was the second best choice....
 
> Hopefully when the next book comes out Harry will have a 
> different Occlumency teacher and we can see if Snape's method 
> is universal or  idiosyncratic to him.<
 
Pippin:
 
> I think we've established that there are different educational 
> philosophies and that Snape's method is  used and accepted in 
> the Real World, though some find it abhorrent and question its 
> effectiveness. That being the case, the question for me is not 
> whether this is idiosyncratic to Snape, because apparently it 
> isn't. The question is whether he chose this method regardless 
> of its chances of success because it would give him an excuse 
> to attack Harry, or because it is the one he knows best and uses 
> most effectively. 
> 
> We'd have to see him teaching occlumency to someone else to 
> know that -- Draco, perhaps?

Pippin's question or suggestion to compare how Snape would teach 
Draco vs Harry got me thinking
.. does Snape really favor Draco?

I'm of 2 minds on this. 

Part of me thinks it could be an act.  We know Snape is capable of 
hiding his feelings and since he has renounced the dark arts it seems 
odd that he'd really like Draco.  I mean Draco makes not bones about 
his dislike of muggles, and muggle borns.   Draco is  also a bully 
and show-off  which is what Snape disliked about James.   Plus Snape 
knows Malfoys have bought into the pure-blood nonsense, and that LM 
was a death eater.   So perhaps the favoritism is an act.   Or maybe 
a way to stay in LM's good graces for when VD returns.

On the other hand one of the big themes in Harry Potter is to judge 
an individual for their own actions and not by those of their 
family.   So perhaps Dumbledore's philosophy has rubbed off on 
Snape.   Perhaps Snape see's some of himself in Draco.  Both come 
from family's that seem to have a bully for a father.   I'm making a 
little bit of a leap here, but it also seems both familys dislike 
muggles and muggle borns.  So maybe Snape hopes to be a role model 
for Draco.   You known, steer him away from the death eaters, teach 
him to respect knowledge, to not be confined by your families 
expectations.   

Kristen