Why did Snape take the UV? / Role of the Malfoys

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 157378

Neri wrote:
> <snip> I actually believed so before HBP, when I thought Lucius's
good word was necessary for Snape to regain his place at the Dark
Lord's side. But I have serious trouble seeing what reason it could be
now. Surely not another Horcrux when Lucius had already lost the first? 

Carol responds:
>From a DDM!Snape perspective, the Malfoys' goodwill would be
necessary, at least until Lucius's arrest, for Snape to keep up the
appearance of loyalty to Voldemort and for him to obtain information
(such as Lucius seeing Sirius Black on Platform 9 3/4) directly from
the Malfoys. But I think that he actually likes them as well, possibly
because Lucius, six years older than Severus, was the first to
recognize the younger boys talents. I take "Lucius's old friend" to be
a statement of the truth, even though I think Snape is, against his
natural inclinations, Dumbledore's man through and through. So maybe
the plan has always been for Snape to convert the Malfoys to
Dumbledore's side when the time came to defeat Voldemort. He can only
do that by being their friend and earning their trust, even, it seems,
their affection. (You don't hold the hands of someone you dislike,
place your face near theirs, and shed tears on their chest. 

IMO, Snape is Narcissa's and Lucius's trusted friend, but he's also
reminding Narcissa what it means to lose the Dark Lord's favor and
what a dangerous position she's placing herself in by trying to thwart
LV's plans for Draco. and yet, Snape, as their friend, cares about
both Narcissa and Draco, and as Dumbledore's man already intends to
watch over and protect Draco. All this to say that a romantic
attachment is unnecessary to explain Snape's reactions. At the same
time, we see his caution, his unwillingness to directly confront LV.
His role as double agent, his loyalty to Dumbledore, and his real
concern for the Malfoys place him in a very uncomfortable position in
this chapter. He makes what he thinks to be the right choice with the
UV finds himself bound with ropes of fire to a weeping Narcissa,
forced by fate or the DADA curse to take that unanticipated third
provision. (It felt to me like Snape's death knell. I think that's
what he thought, too. I don't think he thought that he would kill DD
or that it was even possible--not that DD would kill *him* but that
the vow would.)

> Neri:
<snip>
> And another question I don't remembered being answered: what did
Draco have against Snape during HBP, anyway? Snape *was* Draco's
favorite teacher for five years, more than just a favorite teacher, he
was Draco's constant ally at Hogwarts. And suddenly in HBP, just when
Draco needs Snape the most, he refuses any help? Why does Draco all of
the sudden convince himself that Snape is out "to steal his glory"?
> Draco is desperate, to the point of crying in bathrooms more than
> once. Wouldn't it be worth to share a bit of glory to save his life
> and his family? His own mother wants him to. And Draco does believe
> that Snape was on Voldemort's side, and yet even after Snape saves
his life from the Sectumsempra, he doesn't trust Snape enough to share
his plan with him.  How come? Don't you think that Draco's attitude
> towards Snape in HBP just smacks of teenager hurt feelings? Is this
> because Draco has this uneasy hunch about Snape and his mother? Or
> maybe more than just a hunch?

Carol responds:
First, Draco is not at the point of crying in bathrooms when Snape
confronts him just before Christmas. He's getting desperate enough to
try cursed necklaces and poisoned mead, tactics that Snape warns him
against (he doesn't know about the mead, but he lets Draco know that
he's suspected of involvement with the necklace, and Draco doesn't try
any more tricks of that sort after the mead also fails). 

But things have changed for Draco. First, he's stopped caring about
classes and doesn't even expect to return to Hogwarts next year
because he's a DE now, doing important work for the Dark Lord. And
even Potions, his favorite class till now, has changed, with Slughorn
as teacher. (Can it be that Draco, like Hermione, did better in
Snape's class with Snape's improved Potions directions than with
Slughorn's fifty-year-old textbook? Just a thought.) And Snape is
teaching *Defense Against* the Dark Arts, a class that Draco doesn't
think he needs: "As if we need protection against the Dark Arts!" Just
the fact that Snape would teach such a course probably knocks Snape
down a notch in Draco's estimation.

But the real reason, or the main reason, why Draco no longer trusts
Snape (aside from teenage rebellion against authority and all that) is
almost certainly Bellatrix. She's taught Draco Occlumency (or the
rudiments of it) specifically to keep Snape from interfering with
Draco's plan. She's probably also put the idea into his head that
Snape would want to steal his glory. I doubt that it would have
occurred to him otherwise. Perhaps she's told him that Snape is now
LV's most trusted advisor, the position his father used to hold, which
could be why Draco bursts out of the room in anger when Snape brings
up his feelings about his father, whereas when Snape says that he
promised Draco's mother that he'd protect him, even taking the
Unbreakable Vow, Draco's reaction is that he'd better just break the
vow. Nothing to do with his mother--he just seems indifferent to the
consequences to Snape--the kind of unthinking reaction a teenager
would have to an adult authority figure trying to interfere with his
plans. I don't think he really wants Snape to die, just to leave him
alone and let him do his "job."

So, IMO, Draco's reaction to Snape in HBP, which mirrors Harry's
reaction to Dumbledore in OoP, has nothing to do with uncanonical
suspicions of an attraction between Snape and his mother, lovely as
that idea is as a premise for fanfic. IMO, it boils down chiefly to
adolescent rebellion and the interference of Aunt Bellatrix, who may
well have Imperio'd Rosmerta, if she can disguise herself, or at least
arranged for the Imperius to be performed.

Carol, not at all sure that this is a coherent post but unable to
spend any more time on it