Motivations for Joining DEs (Was: Bullying)

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 140970

Nora wrote: 
> Upthread the idea that Prince relatives could have pushed young 
> Snapey into doing something.  But IMO, something militates against 
> this coming from Eileen or her relatives: there's a wedding 
> announcement in the Prophet.  I don't know how things are done in the 
> WW, or Great Britain (regarding whether the parents or the couple 
> does it), but you don't generally put an announcement in the paper if 
> you're eloping.  Eileen married a Muggle, which speaks to some kind 
> of openness; even if she deceived him about being a witch, she would 
> never have married someone who she thought was 'filthy'.  This all 
> speaks to it being at least reasonably amicable.  Young Snapey as 
> being targeted because his mommy married a filthy Muggle...that has 
> legs.  One does wonder how much he bought into the pureblood ideology.


Potioncat:
JKR has set us up several times where family is concerned. Who expected 
the Tom/Marope dynamic? 

I think it is significant that there is both a Daily Prophet wedding 
announcement and a Daily Prophet birth announcement. Whether or not the 
Prince parents approved, it was at least tolerated. (Waves to Nora, 
glad to know someone else thinks so, too.)

We also have someone (Harry?) presuming that Eileen is a Pureblood. We 
don't know that. Yes, she was a witch. For all we know, she was 
Muggleborn. And while that isn't likely, it's possible. It's also 
possible that if the Prince family was established, that Snape's 
unfortunate circumstances of birth would be somewhat disregarded by 
others. 

But if he has a thirst to prove himself, and if using and creating a 
certain type of magic gained him recognition, then the Death Eaters may 
have appealed to him. 

 And I had a sudden Narnia moment: Digory is tempted to steal a magic 
apple to take back to his sick mother. He resists the tempatation and 
is given an apple to take back to her. I wonder if LV's pursuit of 
immortality interested Snape?