More talented friends and other questions

[ginny343]

No: HPFGUIDX 142884

Okay, I have a thought, and then about a thousand questions . . . 

"He has fought his way out of a number of tight corners by a simple 
combination of sheer luck and more talented friends.  He is mediocre 
to the last degree . . . "

I have considered for a long time that ONE reason Snape is bad to 
Harry is for Malfoy and the other Slytherins' benefit.  Malfoy going 
home and telling his dad how awful Snape is to Harry and how poor 
Harry's skills are, must earn Snape points with this DE family 
(assuming Narcissa is a DE) and give them a feeling that Harry is 
not so big of a problem.  

So, is Snape also telling LV that Harry is mediocre and gets out of 
situations by luck and more talented friends?  

-Wouldn't this make LV take Harry less seriously than if Snape was 
telling LV that Harry is growing to be a skilled wizard?  I wonder 
what Snape REALLY thinks?  

-Who exactly are the more talented friend"s"?  Obviously Hermione is 
very talented.  But who else?  Ron helped in PS with the chess game, 
and I think we all hope to see him use his logic/battle skills in 
the future, but how else have we seen him "talented"?  It seems his 
study skills are as bad, possible worse, than Harry's.  Thinking 
about the people in the DA and those fighting with him at the MoM.  
Maybe Ginny, we don't know much about her skills.  But Luna?  
Neville?   If anything, we could say he has gotten out of most his 
serious situations with luck and help from Hermione and DD.  

-Is this statement putting in danger Harry's close friends, who LV 
might be seeing as future threats.

Other questions:
Does Snape walk around 24/7 practicing occlumency?  In PS/SS, when 
Harry was with Quirrel/LV in front of the mirror, LV stated that 
Harry was lying, even before Quirrel took off the turban.  Was he 
just guessing?  Was LV able to practice legilimency that whole year 
when he was part of Quirrel? 

Does Snape know about the horcruxes?  Is it possible that he was the 
one who first told DD about LV having a horcrux?  Obviously RAB knew 
he had one, so maybe Snape did too?  This would mean Snape would 
feel confident that LV would be able to come back.  This could keep 
him on guard and working at Hogwarts for all those years.  Whether 
Snape is evil or not, I don't think he truly wanted LV to return.  I 
think he, Lucius and some of the other DEs have their own agendas 
and were privately relieved when LV disappeared and they were not 
thrown in Azkaban.

On the other hand, what exactly was Lucius trying to accomplish when 
he gave Ginny Riddle's diary?  Did he know what it would do?  Did he 
just want to open the chamber and get people killed or was he 
looking for a way to get LV revived?  Did Lucius know it was a 
horcrux?

So many questions . . . :) I had better stop there.  

Ginny343