Snape and Draco again was I see no difference

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 160909

Magpie wrote:
<snip>
> It's a little different for Snape in that usually I think what bugs
him about Hermione is her being a know-it-all so he goes after that,
but I don't think, as some others do, that Snape would never have
noticed this issue of Hermione's.  I'm sure he's seen Draco do
buck-tooth impressions plenty of times and noticed the resemblance. 
He may usually not go for looks because he himself was sensitive about
his own in high school, but given the obvious set up of the charm he'd
make the connection. <snip>

Carol responds:
I'm a bit puzzled by your last sentence. the Densuageo hex was aimed
at Harry, just as the fungus-boil hex (at least as nasty, BTW) was
aimed at Draco. The hexes were deflected onto Goyle and Hermione when
the spells collided in midair. So the Densuageo hex landing on
Hermione is both fortuitous and felicitous--it, ironically, gives her
the opportunity to have her front teeth shortened (and straightened)?
But the "set up" or intention of the spell was to lengthen *Harry's*
teeth. As for Snape's reaction, I'm sure he did intend a gratuitous
insult to Hermione (but he also expected her to rush to the hospital
wing for help since he didn't reprimand or punish her for it), but I
think his primary intention was to antagonize Ron and Harry. Why, I
don't know. Maybe he suspected that the confrontation was Harry's
fault and he deserved detention for *something*? A lot of people were
at fault here, BTW, not just Snape, and good came out of "evil"
(Hermione got her teeth fixed). It was actually lucky for her that the
 hex was deflected onto her. The same can't be said for poor Goyle,
who merely got in the way.

> 
> Magpie:
<snip> with Snape and Draco one of my main issues is just that I don't
see scenes where Draco is playing Snape and Snape is falling for it.
He seems like up until HBP he was pretty consistently behaving in a
way Snape liked and not getting so very much in return besides Snape's
favor. I think Draco can pester his parents for presents and still
genuinely love them as well.  It's not all or nothing, and Snape seems
to me anyway to see Draco for who he really is.
> 
> The creative solution, I thought, was that instead of having Draco
shocked and betrayed that Snape is really on the other side and so
playing him (which often goes along with the interpretation that he
never really liked him at all and it was all an act, though I'm not
sure if you're giving that interpretation here), Draco himself began
to have trouble with DE!Snape and had trouble with that side on his
own. Now they're potentially both on the same page about Voldemort so
Snape's being a spy for Dumbledore isn't as much of a betrayal.  Snape
can be genuinely on Draco's side and also on Dumbledore's.  Since
Draco himself faced a similar situation in the Tower, I think he could
understand that now.

Carol responds:
I agree that Snape's affection and concern for Draco and Draco's
respect and liking for Snape are genuine and, IMO, they probably
predate the teacher/student relationship. IOW, I think they that Snape
has been a friend of the family ("Lucius's old friend") since before
Draco was born. (How else would he know that Draco could successfully
cast Serpensortia, for example?) I also agree that the friction
between them in HBP is adolescent rebellion against a father figure
compounded by Draco's fears and doubts as he discovers the reality of
being a DE. Bellatrix's distrust of Snape, which has led her to teach
Draco a rudimentary version of Occlumency, can't help. It's even
possible that he's not sure himself which side Snape is on, which
would explain his sneers at DADA, which "we" don't need. (Their
relationship was much better when Snape was Potions master, but that's
only one minor factor in what's going on in Draco's head in HBP.) Just
like a teenager who rebels against his parents in RL, Draco is trying
to become a "man," resisting Snape's efforts to "help" him, especially
since he knows that Snape has promised Narcissa to protect Draco.
(Draco ditches his mother in Diagon Alley, not wanting her to know
what he's up to. He doesn't want Snape to know, either, partly because
he wants to do it himself and partly because either Voldemort or
Bellatrix doesn't want Snape to know--probably both.)

As you say, Snape and Draco seem to have arrived at similar positions
regarding Voldemort and the reality of being a Death Eater, or at
least Draco is teetering on the verge of a position similar to the one
young snape arrived at when he discovered how Voldemort interpreted
the Prophecy (the necessity of murdering a child and perhaps its
parents). I think the fact that Snape saved Draco's life twice in HBP
could influence his decision to trust Snape. I think it's also likely
that he protected him from a Crucio, or at least from an AK, when they
returned to Voldemort by pointing out that Draco did fix the Vanishing
Cabinet and in so doing made it possible for Snape to kill Dumbledore.
And Snape's ability to use Legilimency, getting in a glimpse of
Draco's thoughts before he musters his clumsy defenses ("I know what
you're doing@ I can stop you!") could help as well in enabling snape
to determine that they were on the same page. (IMO, Snape could push
past Draco's all-too obvious Occlumency if he wanted to, but that
would violate Draco's trust and permanently damage their relationship.)

Carol, whose "I agree" post came out a bit longer than she anticipated