Snape's Psychology: WAS: More thoughts on the Elder Wand subplot - Owner?

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 187535

Jen responded: 
> > Another minor point about Voldemort: I doubt he felt relief Snape 
> > asked for so little.  That isn't part of his psychological make-
> > up. If a follower dares ask for something, he or she should be 
> > grateful to be alive after the asking.  
 
Carol again:
> That idea that he would reward a particular DE or DEs above all 
> others, repeated by Snape and Narcissa in "Spinner's End" and Barty 
> Jr. in GoF, appears to come from Voldemort himself. 
<snip>
> It certainly appears that Snape was allowed to choose his own 
> reward after "murdering" Dumbledore--becoming headmaster of 
> Hogwarts. 

SSSusan:
I'm with Jen on this one, re: doubting Voldy's psychological makeup would support his feeling relief about what a follower asked for.  There may have been moments of relief in his life as Lord Voldemort, but I suspect they'd have to do with regaining physical form, escaping encounters with DD, or etc., not with anything having to do with his followers, whom I suspect he felt he had *absolute* control over.  Yes, he sometimes rewarded, but I think everyone knew it was all on *his* terms only, not something any of the DEs might have truly expected or been stunned not to have received if denied him/her.

Quick question.  What canon do we have that Snape *requested* becoming Hogwarts headmaster?  I must be missing something.


Carol:
> So I suspect--and admittedly I'm only guessing--that he was asked, 
> perhaps belatedly, to name his own reward for revealing the 
> Prophecy. Maybe he deferred for a time, but came back later and 
> asked for Lily (ostensibly as a prize; really, to save her life) 
> when he found that LV interpreted the Prophecy to mean that Harry 
> Potter was "the one with the power." It makes more sense to me that 
> Snape would have asked it as a reward than as a favor. Or perhaps, 
> having delivered the Prophecy brought him into the "inner circle" 
> where he was in a position to belatedly request the favor/reward at 
> some point when LV was in what passed for a generous mood. 

SSSusan:
While what you suggest is certainly one possibility, I still have no trouble imagining just the asking of a favor.  We saw a *very* distraught Snape appealing to DD, and I can also easily imagine him requesting a flat-out favor of Voldy -- in desperation, rather than awaiting a time when Voldy happened to be in a relatively good mood and Snape thought he'd try cashing in on a stockpiled reward offer.


Carol:
> Obviously, Snape didn't trust him to keep his word or he wouldn't 
> have gone to Dumbledore, but he must have known that he could make 
> the request in the first place without being killed for doing so. 

SSSusan:
I'm not totally sure of this.  Perhaps he knew no such thing.  Perhaps he just felt he simply *had* to try, regardless of what consequence might come.

Siriusly Snapey Susan