Voldemort's Intentions & Snape's Expectations

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 189808

> > > Bart:
> > >
> > > OK, did nobody but me read that Sirius Black, in GOF, said
> > > "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half 
> > > the kids in the seventh year"? Snape was a genius, and as 
> > > such, very useful to Morty.

Mike:
I don't know that memorizing a bunch of curses makes Severus a genius. Smart guy I'll grant, and probably powerfully magical; though we really don't get to see him in action other than against kids and that master of showmanship and little else, Gilderoy Lockhart.

He did invent his own spells, well, at least Sectumsempra. But at the time of Snape asking LV to save Lily, I don't see LV recognizing anything out of Snape other than he overheard a prophesy and would probably make a good spy.


> > Shelley:
> > I am really with Mike on this one. Voldemort was nobody's friend.
> > He didn't "do stuff" for other people. Either he was trying to
> > get something to hold over Snape's head, or he never intended to
> > keep that promise and never felt sorry about killing Lily anyway,
> > because that's what he does- murder anyone who stands in his way.
> 
> Bart:
> I never said anything about "friend". The fact that Morty saw 
> people as tools does not mean that he saw them as INTERCHANGEABLE 
> tools. More useful tools deserved better treatment than less 
> useful ones.

Mike:
But Shelley's right, LV didn't "do stuff" for other people. He got other people to "do stuff" for him. Then LV bullied/charmed/convinced those people that whatever "stuff" they were doing was beneficial to them as much as it was beneficial to LV. 

We got to see him up close and personal in chapter 1 of DH and he treated most everyone the same, horrifically. Only Snape, the slayer of Dumbledore, the provider of key information on Harry Potter, manages to escape the LV's torment. And even then, Snape is not treated kindly, just not as badly as the rest of the DEs. 

But look at all that Snape had done for LV at this point. Snape has earned his status, he is pointedly LV's right-hand man. Comparing what he has done for LV by the time of DH to what he had done for LV at the time of the request,... well, there's no comparison, really. And yet, way back then LV was disposed to grant Snape this request, one that had to have been distasteful to Voldemort,... it just doesn't compute. 

Shelley may be right about holding something over Snape's head, but even then, does Voldemort need to have something to hold over anybody's head? Sirius also told us that one doesn't just hand in his resignation papers to Voldemort. Once a Death Eater, you either do what Voldemort tells you to do or you die. Sometimes you die even when you do what Voldemort tells you to do, because dying is what he wanted.

The thing is, this wasn't just a "whoops" on Voldemort's part. This was THE critical mistake. It  allowed the Love Magic to happen. Yes, I know it was the "power the Dark Lord knows not", but it was still so uncharacteristic of him to get himself into that position. And all because he decided to "do stuff" for a recent recruit. It was stupid, and Voldemort is not a stupid person.

Mike, still not convinced that LV was thinking straight when he made that promise to Snape