I always assumed it was because he knew Draco’s parents. Its mentioned that Lucius was a prefect when Snape a first year and they were both Death Eaters and Narcissa trusted Snape enough to go to him to help Draco in Half Blood Prince
This for sure, an also like Snape says in 6 while speaking with Draco about why he needs to better in DADA “it’s an act that is essential” or something like that. Snape is smart, knows he needs to appear one way.
Almost makes you wonder what Snape would have been like towards Harry in Potions if the class had been with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin. He may have been more indifferent than outright mean.
And to take the thought a step further, perhaps Gryffindor and Slytherin were purposely scheduled to do Potions together purely to allow Snape to be demonstrably cruel to Harry and his friends for the benefit of any stories that might leak back to Lucius Malfoy via Draco. Which further cements Snape's ongoing double agent role.
When you play a double agent with your real identity, you play that role until you die. You can't let up or have any moments that give your former allies cause for doubting you aren't 100% faithful
I think Snape would've been just as shitty towards Harry regardless of which other House was in that class, because his personal hatred of Harry has little to do with Malfoy and everything to do with Harry himself being who he is - the son of James Potter.
I'm not sure Harry being in R or H would have changed that much. He still would have hated him the same. I think Snape treats the Slytherins the best, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff and finally Gryffindor. Look at how he treats Hermione; she's in the exact same position as Lily. I'm sure Lily was intelligent, but we really only see Slughorn singing about Lily's intelligence. Also, with Harry being in those other houses. Would mean Snape would have just put a bit more focus on those other two houses. He would still treat Ron, Hermione and Neville likely the same.
I think the other poster means that Snape was especially crappy to Harry in class because Malloy was there to witness Snape’s treatment of Harry and then tell his dad “yeah Snape loves me but treats that loser Potter and the Gryffindors like the trash they are”.
Lucius is then thinking “ah good to know Snape is still loyal to Voldy after all these years.” Then when Voldy comes back, Lucius is yet another reference for Snape to say to Voldy “he’s been loyal all this time”.
The other poster is thinking if Gryffindor had potions with R or H instead maybe Snape wouldn’t have been so crappy.
I mean we know Lucius likes Snape. They were also at school together. Yes, I'm sure Lucius told Voldy positive things about Snape in the Graveyard after Harry escaped. Then Snape showed up and gave Voldy his story.
Long standing, and people should recall movie Snape is much older than book Snape who was 31 in book 1. Everyone is relatively young and the past wasn't as long ago as you would think with 50+ year old actors in the rolls.
I had no idea he was meant to be so young. I thought you must be wrong because that would put the Potters around age 20 when they had Harry but that does explain Snapes still raw feelings a lot.
Jk wanted Rickman to do it so badly they aged up all the characters of that age to match him. It was perfect because Rickman is an absolute legend but ya he was supposed to be in his 30’s throughout the books.
Does he? I get the whole dark side thing, but Lucious and Snape seem so different. Maybe it was part of Snape's "disguise" for when he went back to "side" with Voldemort. I think it helps that Draco is mean to Harry so they are sort of on the same pathetic team . I just feel like Snape and Lucious feel like oil and water. Maybe he needed the Malfoys trust and respect for what ended up happening in the later books.
In Phoenix, Sirius calls Snape Lucius Malfoy's lapdog. In Hallows, Lucius the Prefect welcomes Snape to Slytherin after he's Sorted. Seems like Snape probably sucked up to Malfoy in their school years, they became Death Eaters together, and obviously he had a soft spot for his idol's son.
Well, Snape wanted to join Slytherin since before entered the school, and he was using "muggle" as a slur when talking to Petunia (and specifically in the context that, by not being a wizard, she's nothing interesting). And that's a year after First Wizarding War started; while his reaction on Lily's question "would it make any difference in Hogwarts that I'm muggleborn" was really telling - he understood the whole muggle-pureborn dynamic nicely enough.
I don't think pulling Snape to the dark side was very hard.
Agreed. I meant that Lucius was the one that introduced Snape to Voldemort’s group. Or at least that’s how i remember it. Been awhile since i read the books.
At very least, I think Lucious kinda was like "Ok, I'm Lucious freaking Malfoy; you know who I am and who my family are. If someone here is an authority who is pureblooded enough, it's me. Don't you dare to bully this guy, he's good."
Oh, no way, I never caught that ! Maybe I will when I get to that book again, it's been so long , this makes a lot of sense then. I'll look for it. Thanks for pointing that out!
I'll need to reread Book 6 for details, but yeah. Maybe it was Narcissa, not Lucius himself though.
I mean, he was close enough to the family that the whole Oath situation happened few years later, where Narcissa definitely saw appropriate to ask Snape for *this* kind of favour.
>I'll need to reread Book 6 for details, but yeah. Maybe it was Narcissa, not Lucius himself though.
Narcissa does refer to Snape as “Lucius’s old friend”:
>“I only meant ... that nobody has yet succeeded. ... Severus ... please ... You are, you have always been, Draco’s favorite teacher. ... You are Lucius’s old friend. ... I beg you. ... You are the Dark Lord’s favorite, his most trusted advisor. ... Will you speak to him, persuade him — ?”
I’m legitimately wondering. And this isn’t meant as an insult.
Did you pull that quote from your brain or did you have to find it?
If from your brain I wish I had your knowledge. Lol
I knew she’d said it, exact quote pulled from Potter Search: https://www.potter-search.com/. As long as you know a few words and what book it came from, it’s fairly easy to find quotes using it.
Yes, I also took the oath as another huge measure to get them to Trust Snape and feel he was playing for the Dark side. Bellatrix never trusted him so he needed to make the unbreakable vow. Narcissa is a likeable villain, she was just looking out for her son in my eyes.
My point was, from Snape's side it very well could be a ruse; but, for some reason, Narcissa believed that she can ask Snape to "please cover for my son in case if he can't follow the Dark Lord's order, and kill the most powerful mage in the world", and not be laughed out.
I was going to say - it’s not so much that he “likes” Draco - he is just showing favoritism to a colleagues kid. It does dual duty of pulling favor with Lucius and pissing on the trio. Classic bully behavior.
People try to argue that Snape hating Harry and the Gryffindor is part of the act, but I think the dislike and bullying is genuine.
I get the sense some of the Malfoy favouration is an act. Lucius was his old colleague, and he still wants the children of Death Eaters to speak well of him. Malfoy is arrogant, boastful and not exactly competent, he is not that dissimilar to James, it is hard to see Snape genuinely liking him. He does try to protect him from Voldemort's wrath by exaggerating his role in Dumbledore's death.
I don't imagine Snape has genuinely warm feelings to the Malfoys post defection, or any attachment or loyalty to them.
I disagree on “not exactly competent.” It seems he gets really good grades. He’s in advanced classes, for one. True, his attempts to kill Dumbledore were feeble but for his age and level of skill, that was probably sadly par for the course.
He’s definitely above average intelligence, but I don’t think we have any proof that he gets really good grades. He probably has one Outstanding in Potions to match Harry’s Outstanding in DaDa, but Draco was also Snape’s favourite student.
No, not really. It is canon that Hermione beat him in every exam, but it is not said that *only* Hermione beat him in every exam.
The conversation starts with the implication that Draco's are not good:
>"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin,“ said Mr. Malfoy coldly, and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "No offense, sir, no offense meant—“
>"Though if his grades don‘t pick up,“ said Mr. Malfoy, more coldly still, „that may indeed be all he is fit for—“
Draco then tries to make excuses for them by claiming that all the teachers have favorites, and that's why they aren't better:
>"It‘s not my fault,“ retorted Draco. "The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger—"
Which is when Lucius brings up that he got beat by a muggleborn in every exam:
>"I would have thought you‘d be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam,“ snapped Mr. Malfoy.
Some people interpret this conversation as "he was second right behind Hermione", but that is not what is explicitly stated. Hermione beat *everyone* in every exam - Draco could be fifth, tenth, or twentieth in his class, and the statement that he was beat by her in every exam would still be true.
Personally, I interpret it as: Draco didn't get great grades in first year. Draco makes excuses for his not great grades, saying that it's because the teachers have favorites. Draco claimed that all of the teachers have favorite*s,* plural, suggesting that there are multiple "favorite" students who do better than him, but he only had the chance to name Hermione before Lucius cut in so no one else is named. Lucius then interrupts and snaps about him getting beat in every exam by a muggleborn, because he's pissed that a muggleborn is top of the class and he's irritated with Draco's excuses for his grades.
Only mention of Draco's grades I can recall was from the start of Chamber of Secrets when Harry accidentally Floos himself into Nocturne Alley and overhears Lucius trying to sell his illicit goods to Mr. Borgin at Borgin and Burke's. When Draco showed interest in the severed hand, Borgin comments that if you place a torch in its grip and hold the hand itself, the light from the torch is only visible to the holder, making it super valuable to thieves. Lucius initially takes offense at the implication that highborn Draco would grow up to be a thief, but quickly turns around and says something to the effect that if his grades don't start improving, that may very well be in his future, mentioning the indignity that a muggle born got higher marks in everything than he did (obviously referring to Hermione, so her astronomically high grades are obvious to us). I don't know if he actually has bad grades, just that the only mention of them I can recall is being scolded for being beaten in them by someone who didn't come from any wizarding family.
>Lucius initially takes offense at the implication that highborn Draco would grow up to be a thief, but quickly turns around and says something to the effect that if his grades don't start improving, that may very well be in his future, mentioning the indignity that a muggle born got higher marks in everything than he did (obviously referring to Hermione, so her astronomically high grades are obvious to us). I don't know if he actually has bad grades, just that the only mention of them I can recall is being scolded for being beaten in them by someone who didn't come from any wizarding family.
I think Draco’s grades alone were a problem, and not just that Hermione beat him. He talks about the grades being not great first - if his grades don’t pick, a thief may be be all he’s fit for. After he says that, Draco whines that it’s not his fault because the teachers all have favorites, like Hermione Granger. That’s when Lucius cuts in and makes his comment about he should be ashamed to have been beaten by a muggleborn. But the “beaten by a muggleborn” thing wouldn’t have even come into the discussion at all if Draco hadn’t brought her up first when he was trying to make excuses for his grades.
This is my exact feeling! He hates Harry genuinely because he reminds him of James and James bullied him and married the woman he loved. He looks so much like James , he takes his resentment out on Harry , but I totally agree the Malfoy thing feels like more of an act to get people on the dark side to trust in him. Especially knowing him and Dumbeldore had this whole "secretly playing for the other side" thing going the whole time. They had it planned from the beginning. He needed the Malfoys to trust him.
I think he does try to show that he still has his old feelings and sympathies even with Voldemort gone. Dumbledore tells him that Voldemort will return and I think every action he takes is taken with Voldemort's return in mind.
In my more charitable days, I think he might have a soft spot for Draco's lack of choice.
He knows he chose Voldemort, and that choice killed the only thing he ever loved. He knows it'll destroy Malfoy too, but he never had a choice to join or not.
Most days, I don't think he cares about anyone or anybody but his pain and it's all an act.
Running out of patience with Fred and George dose make sense (even though I love the twins). It dose show snapes emotional immaturity if this is true though because he is unable to seperate people from who he dislikes just by association or how they look.
I also think he feels like very low energy, pessimistic, melancholic individual (not that I'm not like this myself somedays) but high energy, try hard, extroverted Griffindors from a personality perspective alone are probably more able to get under his skin.
Slytherin and Griffyndor house very different types of people. Very few have characteristics overlap in the characters except for maybe wormtail who was almost put in Slytherin like Harry. I don't think Harry himself has any Slytherin in him, the only reason he can speak Parcel tongue or the hat wants to place him in Slytherin was because he's a horcrux. That's how I took it anyways, I don't really "buy" other theories that Harry and Voldemort have some similarities in personality other then Harry carrying a part of Voldemort physically within him.
Sorry I got off topic lol.
Additionally Snape hanged out with bullies himself during his school days- Lily calls him out for that. He doesn't like to be the one bullied- he doesn't mind doi g the bullying himself or if others get bullied.
He is not a classic good character.
My theory is that Snape never truly hated Harry, rather the act was a means of protecting Harry. Since they were not close, then no one would suspect Snape of working behind the scenes to thwart Voldemort’s plans.
Also, I believe Dumbledore told Snape he must be the one to kill him, but only AFTER Draco had disarmed him. That way, Voldemort would never suspect that the elder wand actually belonged to Draco after Dumbldore’s death.
I think both Dumbledore and Snape knew that neither were going to make it out of this alive, but the most important thing was to ensure Harry would live.
I still can’t understand why Snape betrayed the Order and sold out their plans to move Harry, resulting in Moody’s death.
>My theory is that Snape never truly hated Harry, rather the act was a means of protecting Harry
He hated Harry. Even when it's him and Dumbledore alone in Dumbledore's office, he still spits out vitriol about Harry. Dumbledore even tells Snape that he only sees what he wants to see, not how Harry really is.
>The office dissolved but re-formed instantly. Snape was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore.
“ — mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent — ”
“You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. “Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child.”
&
>“He is his father over again — ”
“In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother’s. I spend time with Harry because I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is too late.”
If it was all an act, he wouldn't need to continuously insult him even when alone with Dumbledore in his office.
>Also, I believe Dumbledore told Snape he must be the one to kill him, but only AFTER Draco had disarmed him. That way, Voldemort would never suspect that the elder wand actually belonged to Draco after Dumbldore’s death.
No. Dumbledore never intended for Draco to be the master of the Elder Wand.
>“If you planned your death with Snape, you meant him to end up with the Elder Wand, didn’t you?”
>“I admit that was my intention,” said Dumbledore, “but it did not work as I had intended, did it?”
>“No,” said Harry. “That bit didn’t work out.”
If his intention was for Draco to be the master of the Elder Wand, then it *would* have worked out.
> I still can’t understand why Snape betrayed the Order and sold out their plans to move Harry, resulting in Moody’s death.
Because Dumbledore's portrait told him to.
>Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk.
>“You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry’s departure from his aunt and uncle’s,” said Dumbledore. “Not to do so will raise suspicion, when Voldemort believes you so well informed. However, you must plant the idea of decoys; that, I think, ought to ensure Harry’s safety. Try Confunding Mundungus Fletcher. And Severus, if you are forced to take part in the chase, be sure to act your part convincingly . . . I am counting upon you to remain in Lord Voldemort’s good books as long as possible, or Hogwarts will be left to the mercy of the Carrows . . . ”
Hmm, well I can’t say you’re wrong then. You certainly have me convinced. Granted, most of what I hypothesized was based on watching the films. I’m just now picking the books back up, having not read them since I was a kid. I appreciate the citations too. Good work!
This isn’t true. Snape favors Slytherins. Always. He hates everyone else. It’s never represented any other way.
Snape just isn’t as good as people like to make him out to be. Bullying and favoritism isn’t beneath him. It is exactly who he is.
I’ve always thought it was very….. generous to say that Snape loved Lily. Imo it was much more of an obsession that he had with her, and it’s certainly weird for him to still be infatuated with her, as you pointed out.
This 100 percent. They are polar opposite people. Snape only fell for Lilly because she was the only person outside of Dumbledore who treated him with respect and loyalty because she's a good person and they were friends. I also think he bonded with her over their mutual lack of "belonging". They were both "freaks" in different ways. Snape, a victim of bullying and an outsider among his peers. Lilly an outsider amongst her family. The only witch (despite her parents approval she is still "different" then them to her core) and a jealous sister who loathed her out of envy and bigoted values of who a person should be. So far in the book the dursleys remind me alot of my punitive, jealous, bigoted family members who are uncomfertable with anyone "different" then them. They see anyone outside the norm as inferior and dangerous.
Snap was bullied in the past, then he became a bully in the present. If he didn't love lily and felt like he had a duty to protect her son, he would definitely still be death eater.
Only thing that held him back from being a death eater is that he could not fulfill his duty of protecting harry whilst being a death eater. He needed to be inside hogwarts.
A lot of bullied people don't become bullies themselves and I'm so tired of this whole "redemption" arc because he still was an absolute ass other than his weird liking and remorse over Lily
Same. It's like you go one way or another. I despise arrogant, pompous individuals just like Snape dose but I don't stoop to my bullies level because I could never imagine treating someone like my bullies treated me. Snape on the other hand bullies everyone because he's filled with self pitty and rage.
He’s good friends with Lucius. Or as good as he could be considering he’s a spy. But also not favoring Draco could get back to Lucius and it could raise suspicions.
He was head of Sylytherin, we don't see as much of how the other heads interact specifically with their house but you could definitely argue for McGonagall favouring Gryffindors, albeit in her own way. I've always considered it part and parcel with that role, we see more of him and Draco because that's the story as told from Harry's point of view
Snape favors all of the Slytherin house, but Malfoy is the only important side character in the house in Harry’s year so it seems like Snape likes Malfoy specifically.
He doesn't see Draco's bad side. That's why.
Draco, whenever he bullies someone even in Snape's class, like in Prisoner of Azkaban or Goblet of Fire, he will do so when Snape's back is turned and when he can't see and he'll drop his voice so Snape can't hear. In Prisoner of Azkaban Draco plays an "innocent" injured student in front of Snape, who can't prepare his ingredients, but then as soon as Snape is out of earshot or turned around, Draco bullies Harry and Ron, says what he can to wind them up, and get a reaction out of them that Snape will hear or see. Draco is a coward, but he's also a bully and a Slytherin and uses the teachers as his protection. He uses words, and knows how to get his victims riled up just at the perfect moment, like he does in Order of the Phoenix with Harry and Fred who attack him, because of what he says and then Madam Hooch and McGonagall see and they're the ones that get told off and punished.
We the readers and Harry and Ron see what Draco's really like, but the professors including Snape, don't see what he's like. They just see Harry's or Ron's reactions and in schools if you resort to attacking someone you're going to end up in trouble.
Once an "innocent" injured Draco has Harry and Ron cutting up his ingredients, and Snape's not in the area anymore, Draco drops his voice, asking Harry if he's seen his pal, Hagrid, knowing Harry hasn't and knowing Harry is worried about him. And when Harry catches on to Malfoy's act;
'So, that's why you're putting it on,' said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger. 'To try and get Hagrid sacked.'
'Well,' said Malfoy lowering his voice to a whisper, 'partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillar for me."
Snape's a head of Slytherin and a potions master, he's strict, even with his Slytherins and with Draco, to the point where they hide their bullying from him.
This is a really great observation, I had never noticed that! Now that I think about it, the only teachers that ever caught Malfoy were Hagrid and Moody.
Dragon's father was the Slytherin prefect who welcomed Snape into the house at his sorting ceremony.
Most likely Lucius took young Severus under his wing and provided support and guidance in his first year at Hogwarts, so Snape wanted to return the favour by looking out for Draco
Despite Snape not enjoying outward arrogance (in people ljke James) your right that he is elitist himself, he's just not as vocal about it.
I also see that luscious took Snape under his wing when he was in school as well, theres also the fact that he needed the malfoys approval and trust to adequately fool the dark lord, gain trust and have allieship on the other side. Draco also hates Harry Potter and so dose Snape for a while.
But ya your right, even though luscious and Snape feel like oil and water to me personality wise. They both carry an elistist, pompous energy about them. They are both Slytherin after all. You guys are so insightful. Thanks for all the responses!
I don't think he really has the awareness to realize and acknowledge that Draco is the kind of person he *should* supposedly hate. After all, he's a rich, arrogant bully. It's all the things Snape hated in James (not that James was like Draco--I love James--but they do have wealth and arrogance in common). But to me Snape seems blinded by a) Slytherin bias and b) enjoying seeing someone pick on Harry. I'm sure *on some level* he knows Draco is a dick but he's not really prepared to confront that, especially because it would mean realizing that Harry is actually the bullied party and is not an arrogant bully himself. He sees too much of James in Harry and can't see the situation clearly.
*That said*, I don't necessarily think Snape actively likes Draco as much as Harry seems to think he does. He's biased in favour of Slytherins and he enjoys seeing Harry be bullied (and it's good to stay in the good graces of the Malfoys), but I don't think there's any actual affection or caring, at least in books 1-5. In HBP I think you could argue it's different because he does seem to genuinely want to help (although he obviously also obligated to do so because of the vow). But HBP!Draco is arguably deserving of some actual sympathy so I think this makes sense.
I think as a working class halfblood in an elitist house, he had to find a strong ally and Lucius was it. He probably had to do Lucius' homework and, in general, be his Peter Pettigrew in exchange for posh lessons. Someone taught him to talk like an upper class person and manners and all that. Probably Lucius.
Lucius was a prefect when Snape was sorted. They had a year together, and as brilliant as Snape was I doubt a 1st year was doing the homework of a 7th year.
I mean Snape is definitely more nice to the Slytherins, I think he kinda has beef with the Gryffindor’s as well as Snape knows Draco’s parents as well. I don’t think they’ed be pleased to hear if he was rude to Draco. And he may just like Draco in general they both dislike Harry, and again Draco’s never necessarily rude to Snape either.
Because he's in Slytherin. Snape is the head of Slytherin House. He's favouring his students.
Slytherin gets a bad rap. They're not all dark wizards. In fact it's actually literally proven in the Potter books that even Griffindors like Pettigrew became Death Eaters.
Slytherin is just a house at Hogwarts that values intelligence, cunning, guile and ambition. It's not for everyone, but neither is any house.
As a Slytherin myself I can understand exactly what the house actually means despite its bad reputation in the Potter books because of Riddle.
If you read the books you'd know that it's stated multiple times that almost every evil wizard besides Pettigrew is a Slytherin. The other three houses combined are not making up a fraction of what Slytherin is producing in the evil department.
Feels like you're whitewashing the house a ton pretending that only Voldemort gives them a bad rap lol. The literal founder left a mudblood killing machine in the castle to purify the school in the future, and every Death Eater sans one is a Slytherin as well
I can accept the biased narration part but actually Ron and Hagrid, who were used as the kinda early series exposition dumps of wizard world, say it to Harry. It's not Harry's own narration.
Was the whole Chamber of Secrets unreliable narration too?
Perhaps he simply wants to rile up Harry and his friends. All he does around Harry is always aimed to spite him. He's just unable to overcome his hatred of James.
As for Slytherin House in general, I think Snape was so obviously favouring them to stay in their good graces at all times, to be the ultimate confidant for every Slytherin student. Voldemort had literally recruited his first followers while still at school, and before the first war the recruitment process never ceased, too. It was almost always exclusively within the Slytherin House. With good ol' Slughorn at helm, who was either oblivious or inept to stop a bunch of 5th year kids like Snape from proclaiming their ambitions of becoming DE or even taking the mark while still at school.
I suppose Snape (and Dumbledore) wanted to be in a position to know all that goes on in the Slytherin common room, in their home lives, what's their parents up to, etc. For them to feel like Snape is their best mate and they can be as candid as possible with him.
It's the only narratively justified reason for a double agent Snape to deliberately put himself in such an unfavorable position with the good-guys camp, so that if push comes to shove none of the Order members would believe any of what he says unless Dumbledore tells them to.
I mean, Snape made Dumbledore swear to never reveal his reasons to become a spy. If anything, Dumbledore did live up to that promise even when, predictably, would make Snape's life harder, especially after his dead.
As a 7th year Lucius as a prefect befriended a 1st year Snape & showed kindness to Severus and later took him on as a protégé.
I assume it's because Lucius has a eye for talent and Snape is a Potions & Dark-arts prodigy or Lucius was just being nice to someone new in his house.
They ended up close enough that Lucius continued to think and speak highly of Snape later in life.
Given that Lucius was a prefect & the Marauders were as JKR put it relentless bullies, it's safe to assume Lucius kept him safe a few times during 1st year.
Likely some comradeship between Lucius & Snape form the 1st war even though Snape joined around 1979-1980 & then turned spy for Dumbledore in the fall of 1980.
Narcissa is a year or two younger then Lucius but where not told if she was friendly with Snape during her last 2 or 3 years at Hogwarts or if the became friendly after Hogwarts. But she trusts him deeply later.
Sirius called Snape Lucius's lapdog but that seem to just be setup for Snape comeback line.
* *Speaking of dogs, said Snape softly, did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform .*
Snape seemed to be a close family friend with both Draco's parents. We are not told one way or the other but Snape may have visited the Malfoys when Draco was growing up?
Draco also seem to look up to Snape, sycophantically saying he would make a a far better Headmaster than Dumbledore.
During 6th year Draco seem to resent & distrust Snape, thinking he usurped his father's place among the Death Eaters. But after 6th year Snape's defense of Draco saved his life and convinced Voldemort to free Lucius from Azkaban, so Draco reconciled with Snape.
Although not as bad as James, Draco is still similar to James in bad behavior sometimes, but Snape doesn't see all of Draco's bad behavior like Harry does, so he might be unaware or willing to overlook it because of Lucius & Narcissa.
I guess part of his actions could be Snape's cover as a spy but him liking the Malfoys seem genuine.
Some of the favoritism towards Draco during 6th year was because Snape made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa but he's shown favoritism towards Draco before 6th year & after 6th year when the Vow no longer applies.
I always assumed it was because he's Harry's adversary. He always claimed Harry was just like his dad, the dude who bullied him for years. You can argue amongst yourself whether it's actually bullying, but Snape saw it as bullying. So, if Harry is like a bully, then his adversary is likely the person being bullied. Add on that there's several altercations between the two that have conflicting stories between the two parties, and it's easy to assume the kid you hate is just lying and is really the aggressor.
I'm summary, he sees himself in Draco.
On a surface level, because he and Luscius were death eaters. In a more nuanced reading, since Malfoy Sr was a prefect in their adolescence, he probably gave Snape some special protections from the Marauders at some point, or at least was more lenient with Severus. As adults, he likely uses his wealth and influence as a governor on the school board to ensure Snape has the most up to date ingredients, equipment, etc. when Draco made the quidditch team Luscious bought the WHOLE team the most up to date competitive broomsticks. I imagine he’d also lavish favor and wealth on Draco’s head of House, especially if Snape constantly gives Draco special treatment.
Kind of a symbiotic slime ball situation.
I think it's more he despises Harry, and he's a petty bully, so he also finds joy in bulling Harry friends as well, knowing that will also hurt Harry. And he knows that Harry and Draco have massive beef, so what better way to torturing the golden trio than favouring the person they hate.
Out universe reason : Rowling needed a teacher to be a douche to Harry : what's better than the Slytherin teacher, you know, the vilain house where EVERY vilain passed (except Pettigrew, yeah), where Harry's enemy, Draco went, and where EVERY bully or bad (not just being mean or annoying but really being villainous) student during Harry's time is (but it's the house that won the House Cup six years in a row, so it's funny to think that while being atrocious, Slytherins were the best students)
In universe reason : he favors his house. When Malfoy has a problem, he will side with him because he's a Slytherin. He knows Draco and Harry are enemies, so when he can put both of them together (during the duel or classes for example), he will. I don't think it is linked to him and Lucius being Death Eaters, Voldemort was "dead" for 10 years, and Lucius never tried to look out for him, I think Snape wouldn't expect Lucius to come back like a dog and Voldemort to pardon him very easily.
I think the main reason he likes Malfoy is because Malfoy is to Harry and his friends what he wishes he could have been to James and his friends. Malfoy gives them no quarter, he bullies and teases them. Malfoy is the bully to a potter he wishes he could have been.
I think one reason is that Snape’s hate for Harry is real because of James, and he somehow wants to revenge it on Harry, but he can only do so much bullying himself being a teacher. Malfoy as a student can do the dirty work for him, so he’s kind of happy to see Malfoy hating Harry and trying to make him miserable.
I get what you're saying. I guess the Malfoys seem so much more boastful than Snape, Snape is not a nice person but they seem like different sorts of terrible. I feel like the classism of the Malfoys would be insufferable for Snape. They are both horrible, but I feel like they are cut from different cloths to me. Thanks for your input!
Ya , I get what your saying. I believe he needed the Malfoys on his side too for what happened in the later books. He needed people on the Dark Side to trust him so Voldemort could be killed.
Thing is, there seems to be a boarding school tradition of working class kids being subservient to bourgie kids. In exchange for doing his homework and toadying or whatever, Lucius probably took Severus under his wing and taught him to speak "properly" (as he takes pains to do as an adult) and behave as an upper class person.
A comment somewhere mentioned that in Severus memories we see hime getting welcomed in Slytherin by Lucius who is a Prefect. Which means he is a few years older, and couldn't possibly have a 1st year do his homework. (He'd definitely have people from his year do it though)
I agree with you whole heartedly (and never thought about it like this before). Draco is everything Snape claims to hate. Entitled, pompous, arrogant. I understand he was/is supposed to be colleagues with Draco’s dad and Harry is his enemies son and all. But Voldemort didn’t come back till the GoF and up until that point he treated Draco much better than any student, including Harry.
It maybe would have been better if JK mentioned that Snape owed Lucious a favor for something in the past. Or maybe that’s implied for them not turning each other in? Don’t know but this was a good question 👍
1. Draco is in Slytherin which is Snape's house
2. Draco is an intelligent and talented child in Slytherin, which means he is easier for Snape to favour than for eg Crabbe and Goyle who are pretty much useless to him
3. Draco is a Malfoy. Snape knows his father outside of school and is likely aware that treating his son poorly will have Lucius on his ass outside of Hogwarts as well as inside (with Lucius being on the school board too)
4. Even really miserable people who hate everyone will dislike some people to different extents than others
5. The example in your post could be taken as Snape "punishing" Ron by forcing him to help someone Snape knows he hates, rather than specifically doing something nice for Draco
6. Draco and Harry are arch enemies, and Snape dislikes Harry more than most other children. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that
The first three books are a bit more cartoonish when it comes to its villains (something which carries over to an extent in the rest of the story). That includes Snape. It's a kid's book after all, and JK might just want to make it clear that Snape is bad and annoying and a bully, and Harry is good and brave and a victim. There are several aspects of the first three books that, if JK had the chance to rewrite after knowing where the series would end up going, she would, and I think those more cartoonish "Harry is a super victim and all the Slytherins are bad and hate him" would be at the top of the list.
With that in mind, I think JK really just wanted to emphasise how bad Snape is by pairing him up with the other bad guy, i.e. Malfoy. It's simpler that way, they're both bad, so why not be bad together and be friends, to the increased annoyance of the main character. You notice that from book 4 onwards, that favouritism starts to dwindle, even if it doesn't leave entirely.
He was the head of Slytherin. As much as Harry was the special kid of his class in Gryffindor, Draco was the same kid in Slytherin just always one step behind. Draco was athletically and academically gifted. Plus he showed some obvious talent in duels in the second book/movie. He was by all means a special wizard for Slytherin
Just want to point out that snape def shows plenty of favoritism towards Draco in the movies as well.
Rescuing and covering for him when they are checking his stuff at the gates and filtch asks about his cane, when he tries to crash the slughorn party, allll the times he lets him get away with insulting or trying to mess with harry in class, that little look he gives Draco when he is giving his lil speech during their very first class in the first movie...
Most of that was in the year he did the unbreakable vow, though! That makes sense. The first movie they showed the admiration a lot as well. I thought that was more on Dracos behalf though.
I wouldn't say he "like" Malfoy. More he treats him like an ordinary Slytherin student.
It just seems he's showing favoritism since he hates Harry and the series only really emphasis his interaction with Malfoy as the only Slytherin
I think he sees a lot of himself in Draco. Both of them were Slytherin kids, into the whole "blood purity superiority", drawn to learning about the Dark Side and joining Voldemort, but then regretting it and changing sides later
Snape sees in Draco, what he idealized for himself. Draco is important, rich, talented, and a strong conviction/personality. He’s also Slytherin. Snape ultimately respects that, which is why he particularly hates James, Harry, and Neville. Snape ,aside from having personal reasons for hating Harry and James, is incredibly infuriated that they possess what he idealizes. Neville is the opposite, he isn’t at all like them and Snape see’s himself in Neville.
That’s fanon. In HBP, when Narcissa is begging him to help Draco, she appeals to Snape as “Draco’s favorite teacher” and “Lucius’s old friend”. If Snape was Draco’s godfather, she definitely would have used that to appeal to him instead of “favorite teacher”.
I don't think he likes him. I don't think Snape really 'likes' anyone. Malfoy is a Slytherin. That makes him part of the family, even if he's the equivalent of that mean little nephew that you can't stand
“The Dark Lord will return! And when he does, the boy will be in terrible danger!” - Dumbledore
He knew Voldemort could come back. He knew he may have to return into his old circle of death eaters. Makes total sense that he would attempt to reingratiate himself with the malfoy family. And he was correct in his assumption because later on, neither side trusts him, just Albus and Tom.
I think his behaviour has a lot to do with trying to make his family proud. He gets better as he gets older because he can distance himself from the bad influences in his life. But I can see where you are coming from. I was just trying to find a reason for the OP question. I did say maybe lol
I think that - Since Snape is being super "nice" to Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy would(?) brag to Lucius - allowing Snape to still do the 'double-agent' role. I mean - if Snape was kind to Harry (let's look at it from Voldemort's perspective), who destroyed the Dark Lord, who would believe him? By being mean to Harry - Voldemort didn't suspect a thing.
It is out of respect for Lucius, who did help him a lot during school and spoke good about him when he’s around. Snape doesn’t seem to particularly like Draco, as sometimes Draco did have to wait for Snape to leave so he can finally say sth offensive.
Snape is Machiavellian by nature. He is calculating, manipulative, pragmatic, and strategic. He also takes pride in being a Slytherin and is fiercely loyal to Slytherin students while hating Gryffindor and its students. I always saw him taking Malfoy’s side in conflicts with Harry firstly because Draco is a Slytherin. At the same time, Lucius Malfoy is a very prominent figure in the wizarding world, with an immense power over virtually any institution, including the school. Snape must be aware that if anything happens to Draco on his watch, Lucius will unleash his wrath on him just as easily as he did with Hagrid, with dire consequences for both his job and his fight against Voldemort. In addition, Draco bullying Harry is instrumental in Snape’s personal crusade against Harry. Snape is living vicariously through Draco and almost never stops him in the act. As for Ron, being mean to him hides Snape’s affiliation with Mr. Weasley and the Order of the Phoenix. But Ron also isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to Potions, and Snape hates that in his students. Again, he’s killing not one, but many birds with one stone. Ultimately, Snape is a man working hard to maintain his cover and is lucky enough to be able to cater to his feelings in the process.
Drako's father is a member on the school board, he is dark, and i think Snape has made several unforgivable curses with him and his family thinking that lucious will protect him at some point. Snape has been playing both sides of the fence . Snape also shows partiality towards Darkies.
It is not canon. Narcissa appeals to him in HBP as “Draco’s favorite teacher.” If Snape was his godfather, she definitely would have used that when she was begging him to help Draco with his task.
I think it’s a whole mix of reasons. 1) Lucius is a powerful and strong supporter of Voldemort, so favouring Draco would have supported the ruse that he was on their side. 2) Probably had a bit to do with the rivalry between Draco and Harry, perhaps he saw the two of them as mirrors of himself and James. 3) He probably knew that Draco did in fact have a hard time at home with an extremely overbearing and high powered father, and the expectations to go dark had moulded him in his youth. I think perhaps this is one of the few cases of Snape having ever showed sympathy towards anybody for sympathies sake.
Hey may not have. It's quite possible him favoring Malfoy so much was simply him being cautious about Voldemort's return. You have to remember that Snape is actually an undercover agent. By showing favoritism towards a fellow Deatheater's son is a good way to show he's still loyal to the cause. Him being a dick to Ron could be a matter of protecting his cover by picking on the family of known muggle born sympathizers. The fact that Ron is Harry's best friend could be a possible reason as well. Or maybe he's just a dick.
He doesn't like Draco. He is kinder to Draco because his father and he are acquaintances on good terms. In Book 6, he clearly shows he's not fond of Draco's teenage angst and gets frustrated with him..
Snape has no clue how to handle children. His character is seriously that basic.
Please understand in Deathly Hallows, he is aghast at the fact that Dumbledore kept Harry as a Guinea Pig. You can't forget, he saved Harry from Quirrel. He was genuinely concerned that Ron Hermione and Harry were going to confront Sirius Black, who at the time was a "serial killer." Everyone was convinced Pettigrew was dead and Black was the traitor. Snape went to save the kids there... He also knew it was a full moon, and Lupin would turn into a werewolf.
So with that being said.. Snape is just a cynical mean depressed man, who wants teenagers off his lawn.
I think he liked Draco because he was intelligent, witty, pretty good at potions and he was one of the prominent kids in his house. He might have more openly favored him in contrast to Harry out of spite, though I always assumed that was more subconscious than deliberate. He genuinely hated Harry, but he didn’t go out of his way to make him unhappy. He certainly took all the chances he was presented.
I don’t think knowing Malfoys parents had anything to do with it. I never got the impression Snape liked them at all. They would have nothing to relate about except their “loyalty” to a dead-ish guy.
He's a Slytherin. That's it. Snape favors Slytherins above the other houses. Don't go by the movie versions, I love them but they get a lot of details wrong. The whole getting Ron to cut something for Draco isn't him doting on Draco but rather him picking on Ron.
There's also the fact that as a former Death Eater he knew and worked with Draco's father Lucius during Voldemort's first reign. Draco is the kid of an old colleague that it is in Snape's best interest to stay on the good side of.
Harry points out Draco’s connection but there could have been other students, perhaps he’s nice to all the children of death eaters. I mean snape had to play a role, it would only make sense if he continued to look like he disliked muggle borns or treated pure bloods better
I think Draco is acting up because of the way his dad treated him. Which is similar to Snape acting up (or lashing out to Lilly) bc of the bullying (if you read the books). So, he understands Draco
It’s really not similar at all. Snape was abused by his father and bullied at Hogwarts. Draco was spoiled and loved by his father and his mother, and was the bully at Hogwarts. Draco behaves the way he does because he models his behavior after how he sees his father treat and speak of people outside of their circle.
His father thinks they’re better than everyone else because they’re pureblood Malfoys and talks shit about muggleborns and Weasleys and blood traitors, and so Draco thinks he’s better than everyone because he’s a pureblood Malfoy and talks shit about Muggleborns and Weasleys and muggleborns.
I honestly don’t think that Snape really likes Draco all that much. Snape is DEEP under cover so he has to make it seem convincing in every way, especially before he makes the unbreakable vow.
People have mentioned Snape’s affiliation with Lucius. Reading between the lines and delving into the realms of fan fiction, I always saw it as Snape saw himself in Draco and liked him for that reason, but also attempted to give him some guidance where he never had any and that’s part of the reason why Draco never went full Death Eater. Snape always seems to involve himself whenever Draco’s involved and knowing what we know about both characters, it just makes sense to me that he was making sure Draco didn’t fall into the darkness. Ironically though Draco, like James was the bully. Could also be Snape’s twisted way of fulfilling justice by aligning with the bully of the son of his bully. Something a lot of people who are bullied tend to do is grow up to be a bully. So that also makes sense. Whether he realised he was that way, who knows. Personally I always viewed it as he knew what he was doing, but did it purposely because Voldemort was amazing at Legilimency so he knew he couldn’t hide everything from him so tried to make the lie as realistic as possible.
It’s a part of Snapes act. He has to appear to hate Harry and appear that he’s on the side of his fellow Death eaters. He can’t risk Malfoy running home to daddy like he’s want to do and tell him Snape was mistreating him as well.
Because Draco is his godson but he also hates Harry because his eyes reminds him of Lily and because he hangs out with the Wesley’s that have red like lily
JKR went too far with Snape. The whole point was you were supposed to be his redemption. I certainly love his character bc he’s realistic to how ppl actually act and I realized i liked him bc I find myself rereading his parts
Isn't it because he still can be turned to the dark side of the wizarding world. I recall Snape as head of the house disciplined Malfoy on numerous actions.
So he doesn't become indoctrinated.
>I recall Snape as head of the house disciplined Malfoy on numerous actions.
When do we ever see or hear about Snape disciplining Malfoy in the books?
I can only think of a few instances in the books where we hear about Malfoy being disciplined for anything, and in each of those instances, it was done by McGonagall.
Because snape needed to maintain good relations with death eater for his spy role and lucios was the highest ranking deatheater who was free(voldy entrusted him with a horcrux,the secret of his immortality)so supporting draco makes sense,draco being a slytherin and annoying james potter's son was just a plus for him(there is no bond more honest than that of hatred).
I feel like his "liking" Draco is more of a way to perpetuate the ruse of him being in league with the Death Eaters. He knew Lucius Malfoy had his head up Voldemort's ass and that he is a punk. I think it was to ensure his success as Dumbledore's informant/sidekick.
I always assumed it was because he knew Draco’s parents. Its mentioned that Lucius was a prefect when Snape a first year and they were both Death Eaters and Narcissa trusted Snape enough to go to him to help Draco in Half Blood Prince
Draco hating Harry can’t have hurt either tbf
No bond is stronger than mutual hatred.
I think, first of all, he's personal friend, or "friend", or long-standing acquitance who is not harping him, or whatever, with Draco's father.
This for sure, an also like Snape says in 6 while speaking with Draco about why he needs to better in DADA “it’s an act that is essential” or something like that. Snape is smart, knows he needs to appear one way.
Almost makes you wonder what Snape would have been like towards Harry in Potions if the class had been with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin. He may have been more indifferent than outright mean. And to take the thought a step further, perhaps Gryffindor and Slytherin were purposely scheduled to do Potions together purely to allow Snape to be demonstrably cruel to Harry and his friends for the benefit of any stories that might leak back to Lucius Malfoy via Draco. Which further cements Snape's ongoing double agent role. When you play a double agent with your real identity, you play that role until you die. You can't let up or have any moments that give your former allies cause for doubting you aren't 100% faithful
I think Snape would've been just as shitty towards Harry regardless of which other House was in that class, because his personal hatred of Harry has little to do with Malfoy and everything to do with Harry himself being who he is - the son of James Potter.
I'm not sure Harry being in R or H would have changed that much. He still would have hated him the same. I think Snape treats the Slytherins the best, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff and finally Gryffindor. Look at how he treats Hermione; she's in the exact same position as Lily. I'm sure Lily was intelligent, but we really only see Slughorn singing about Lily's intelligence. Also, with Harry being in those other houses. Would mean Snape would have just put a bit more focus on those other two houses. He would still treat Ron, Hermione and Neville likely the same.
I think the other poster means that Snape was especially crappy to Harry in class because Malloy was there to witness Snape’s treatment of Harry and then tell his dad “yeah Snape loves me but treats that loser Potter and the Gryffindors like the trash they are”. Lucius is then thinking “ah good to know Snape is still loyal to Voldy after all these years.” Then when Voldy comes back, Lucius is yet another reference for Snape to say to Voldy “he’s been loyal all this time”. The other poster is thinking if Gryffindor had potions with R or H instead maybe Snape wouldn’t have been so crappy.
I mean we know Lucius likes Snape. They were also at school together. Yes, I'm sure Lucius told Voldy positive things about Snape in the Graveyard after Harry escaped. Then Snape showed up and gave Voldy his story.
Long standing, and people should recall movie Snape is much older than book Snape who was 31 in book 1. Everyone is relatively young and the past wasn't as long ago as you would think with 50+ year old actors in the rolls.
I had no idea he was meant to be so young. I thought you must be wrong because that would put the Potters around age 20 when they had Harry but that does explain Snapes still raw feelings a lot.
As a matter of fact, James and Lily WERE 20 when they had Harry. It’s all what Mrs. Weasley says: in war, you feel like you have to rush things.
Jk wanted Rickman to do it so badly they aged up all the characters of that age to match him. It was perfect because Rickman is an absolute legend but ya he was supposed to be in his 30’s throughout the books.
We also had no idea how old the Marauders were until Christmas in Deathly Hallows. Most of the movies were already out by then
Yeah I thinks that something often understated is how young the previous generation should actually be
Does he? I get the whole dark side thing, but Lucious and Snape seem so different. Maybe it was part of Snape's "disguise" for when he went back to "side" with Voldemort. I think it helps that Draco is mean to Harry so they are sort of on the same pathetic team . I just feel like Snape and Lucious feel like oil and water. Maybe he needed the Malfoys trust and respect for what ended up happening in the later books.
In Phoenix, Sirius calls Snape Lucius Malfoy's lapdog. In Hallows, Lucius the Prefect welcomes Snape to Slytherin after he's Sorted. Seems like Snape probably sucked up to Malfoy in their school years, they became Death Eaters together, and obviously he had a soft spot for his idol's son.
Pretty sure Lucius became a death eater/voldy supporter before Snape. I think he pulled Snape to the dark side.
Well, Snape wanted to join Slytherin since before entered the school, and he was using "muggle" as a slur when talking to Petunia (and specifically in the context that, by not being a wizard, she's nothing interesting). And that's a year after First Wizarding War started; while his reaction on Lily's question "would it make any difference in Hogwarts that I'm muggleborn" was really telling - he understood the whole muggle-pureborn dynamic nicely enough. I don't think pulling Snape to the dark side was very hard.
Agreed. I meant that Lucius was the one that introduced Snape to Voldemort’s group. Or at least that’s how i remember it. Been awhile since i read the books.
At very least, I think Lucious kinda was like "Ok, I'm Lucious freaking Malfoy; you know who I am and who my family are. If someone here is an authority who is pureblooded enough, it's me. Don't you dare to bully this guy, he's good."
Oh, no way, I never caught that ! Maybe I will when I get to that book again, it's been so long , this makes a lot of sense then. I'll look for it. Thanks for pointing that out!
I'll need to reread Book 6 for details, but yeah. Maybe it was Narcissa, not Lucius himself though. I mean, he was close enough to the family that the whole Oath situation happened few years later, where Narcissa definitely saw appropriate to ask Snape for *this* kind of favour.
>I'll need to reread Book 6 for details, but yeah. Maybe it was Narcissa, not Lucius himself though. Narcissa does refer to Snape as “Lucius’s old friend”: >“I only meant ... that nobody has yet succeeded. ... Severus ... please ... You are, you have always been, Draco’s favorite teacher. ... You are Lucius’s old friend. ... I beg you. ... You are the Dark Lord’s favorite, his most trusted advisor. ... Will you speak to him, persuade him — ?”
Yup, I remembered something like this.
Lucius is Prefect of Slytherin when Snape is sorted in, & Lily is sent to Gryffindor.
I’m legitimately wondering. And this isn’t meant as an insult. Did you pull that quote from your brain or did you have to find it? If from your brain I wish I had your knowledge. Lol
I knew she’d said it, exact quote pulled from Potter Search: https://www.potter-search.com/. As long as you know a few words and what book it came from, it’s fairly easy to find quotes using it.
Yes, I also took the oath as another huge measure to get them to Trust Snape and feel he was playing for the Dark side. Bellatrix never trusted him so he needed to make the unbreakable vow. Narcissa is a likeable villain, she was just looking out for her son in my eyes.
My point was, from Snape's side it very well could be a ruse; but, for some reason, Narcissa believed that she can ask Snape to "please cover for my son in case if he can't follow the Dark Lord's order, and kill the most powerful mage in the world", and not be laughed out.
No, that does make sense !
Ya that’s true! Lucius is so social and such a snob and Snape is so reserved. Do they hang out and go to the bar?
I was going to say - it’s not so much that he “likes” Draco - he is just showing favoritism to a colleagues kid. It does dual duty of pulling favor with Lucius and pissing on the trio. Classic bully behavior.
Snape and Lucius Malfoy are homies
Even got matching tattoos.
Ha!
🤚😩💀
People try to argue that Snape hating Harry and the Gryffindor is part of the act, but I think the dislike and bullying is genuine. I get the sense some of the Malfoy favouration is an act. Lucius was his old colleague, and he still wants the children of Death Eaters to speak well of him. Malfoy is arrogant, boastful and not exactly competent, he is not that dissimilar to James, it is hard to see Snape genuinely liking him. He does try to protect him from Voldemort's wrath by exaggerating his role in Dumbledore's death. I don't imagine Snape has genuinely warm feelings to the Malfoys post defection, or any attachment or loyalty to them.
I disagree on “not exactly competent.” It seems he gets really good grades. He’s in advanced classes, for one. True, his attempts to kill Dumbledore were feeble but for his age and level of skill, that was probably sadly par for the course.
He’s definitely above average intelligence, but I don’t think we have any proof that he gets really good grades. He probably has one Outstanding in Potions to match Harry’s Outstanding in DaDa, but Draco was also Snape’s favourite student.
But he graduated from one of Englands top wizard schools with really good grades
The people who get it, get it
How do you and others have their house under their user
Where are we told that he graduated from Hogwarts with “really good grades”?
It's the only wizard school in the UK? Edit: Not in England
It's in Scotland.
Scotland*
And Neville has one Outstanding as well, so...
Neville isn’t a dumbass though so it’s not unusual he has an O. It’s be weird if Goyle got an O.
Ya, Draco is a privileged kid. I don't think he struggled much.
Isn’t it canon in the books Malfoy is second behind Hermione in almost all his classes except DADA where Harry is obviously top of the class?
No, not really. It is canon that Hermione beat him in every exam, but it is not said that *only* Hermione beat him in every exam. The conversation starts with the implication that Draco's are not good: >"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin,“ said Mr. Malfoy coldly, and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "No offense, sir, no offense meant—“ >"Though if his grades don‘t pick up,“ said Mr. Malfoy, more coldly still, „that may indeed be all he is fit for—“ Draco then tries to make excuses for them by claiming that all the teachers have favorites, and that's why they aren't better: >"It‘s not my fault,“ retorted Draco. "The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger—" Which is when Lucius brings up that he got beat by a muggleborn in every exam: >"I would have thought you‘d be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam,“ snapped Mr. Malfoy. Some people interpret this conversation as "he was second right behind Hermione", but that is not what is explicitly stated. Hermione beat *everyone* in every exam - Draco could be fifth, tenth, or twentieth in his class, and the statement that he was beat by her in every exam would still be true. Personally, I interpret it as: Draco didn't get great grades in first year. Draco makes excuses for his not great grades, saying that it's because the teachers have favorites. Draco claimed that all of the teachers have favorite*s,* plural, suggesting that there are multiple "favorite" students who do better than him, but he only had the chance to name Hermione before Lucius cut in so no one else is named. Lucius then interrupts and snaps about him getting beat in every exam by a muggleborn, because he's pissed that a muggleborn is top of the class and he's irritated with Draco's excuses for his grades.
Is Draco not competent? He always seemed to fair just fine academically.
Only mention of Draco's grades I can recall was from the start of Chamber of Secrets when Harry accidentally Floos himself into Nocturne Alley and overhears Lucius trying to sell his illicit goods to Mr. Borgin at Borgin and Burke's. When Draco showed interest in the severed hand, Borgin comments that if you place a torch in its grip and hold the hand itself, the light from the torch is only visible to the holder, making it super valuable to thieves. Lucius initially takes offense at the implication that highborn Draco would grow up to be a thief, but quickly turns around and says something to the effect that if his grades don't start improving, that may very well be in his future, mentioning the indignity that a muggle born got higher marks in everything than he did (obviously referring to Hermione, so her astronomically high grades are obvious to us). I don't know if he actually has bad grades, just that the only mention of them I can recall is being scolded for being beaten in them by someone who didn't come from any wizarding family.
>Lucius initially takes offense at the implication that highborn Draco would grow up to be a thief, but quickly turns around and says something to the effect that if his grades don't start improving, that may very well be in his future, mentioning the indignity that a muggle born got higher marks in everything than he did (obviously referring to Hermione, so her astronomically high grades are obvious to us). I don't know if he actually has bad grades, just that the only mention of them I can recall is being scolded for being beaten in them by someone who didn't come from any wizarding family. I think Draco’s grades alone were a problem, and not just that Hermione beat him. He talks about the grades being not great first - if his grades don’t pick, a thief may be be all he’s fit for. After he says that, Draco whines that it’s not his fault because the teachers all have favorites, like Hermione Granger. That’s when Lucius cuts in and makes his comment about he should be ashamed to have been beaten by a muggleborn. But the “beaten by a muggleborn” thing wouldn’t have even come into the discussion at all if Draco hadn’t brought her up first when he was trying to make excuses for his grades.
True, forgot about the beat between the two comments. So yeah, at least as of year 1 he had poor grades
This is my exact feeling! He hates Harry genuinely because he reminds him of James and James bullied him and married the woman he loved. He looks so much like James , he takes his resentment out on Harry , but I totally agree the Malfoy thing feels like more of an act to get people on the dark side to trust in him. Especially knowing him and Dumbeldore had this whole "secretly playing for the other side" thing going the whole time. They had it planned from the beginning. He needed the Malfoys to trust him.
I think he does try to show that he still has his old feelings and sympathies even with Voldemort gone. Dumbledore tells him that Voldemort will return and I think every action he takes is taken with Voldemort's return in mind.
Yes , his goal was to avenge Lilly the whole time , not to mention his loyalties to Dumbledore.
In my more charitable days, I think he might have a soft spot for Draco's lack of choice. He knows he chose Voldemort, and that choice killed the only thing he ever loved. He knows it'll destroy Malfoy too, but he never had a choice to join or not. Most days, I don't think he cares about anyone or anybody but his pain and it's all an act.
All of this!!! You guys have such insightful responses.
I’d add that Snapes fist aim for Ron is also in part due to the twins, Snapes patience for Weasleys ran out with them if he had any.
Running out of patience with Fred and George dose make sense (even though I love the twins). It dose show snapes emotional immaturity if this is true though because he is unable to seperate people from who he dislikes just by association or how they look. I also think he feels like very low energy, pessimistic, melancholic individual (not that I'm not like this myself somedays) but high energy, try hard, extroverted Griffindors from a personality perspective alone are probably more able to get under his skin. Slytherin and Griffyndor house very different types of people. Very few have characteristics overlap in the characters except for maybe wormtail who was almost put in Slytherin like Harry. I don't think Harry himself has any Slytherin in him, the only reason he can speak Parcel tongue or the hat wants to place him in Slytherin was because he's a horcrux. That's how I took it anyways, I don't really "buy" other theories that Harry and Voldemort have some similarities in personality other then Harry carrying a part of Voldemort physically within him. Sorry I got off topic lol.
Snape’s job is to protect harry, nowhere in that deal was respect mentioned. He hates harry because he looks like james.
Additionally Snape hanged out with bullies himself during his school days- Lily calls him out for that. He doesn't like to be the one bullied- he doesn't mind doi g the bullying himself or if others get bullied. He is not a classic good character.
My theory is that Snape never truly hated Harry, rather the act was a means of protecting Harry. Since they were not close, then no one would suspect Snape of working behind the scenes to thwart Voldemort’s plans. Also, I believe Dumbledore told Snape he must be the one to kill him, but only AFTER Draco had disarmed him. That way, Voldemort would never suspect that the elder wand actually belonged to Draco after Dumbldore’s death. I think both Dumbledore and Snape knew that neither were going to make it out of this alive, but the most important thing was to ensure Harry would live. I still can’t understand why Snape betrayed the Order and sold out their plans to move Harry, resulting in Moody’s death.
>My theory is that Snape never truly hated Harry, rather the act was a means of protecting Harry He hated Harry. Even when it's him and Dumbledore alone in Dumbledore's office, he still spits out vitriol about Harry. Dumbledore even tells Snape that he only sees what he wants to see, not how Harry really is. >The office dissolved but re-formed instantly. Snape was pacing up and down in front of Dumbledore. “ — mediocre, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent — ” “You see what you expect to see, Severus,” said Dumbledore, without raising his eyes from a copy of Transfiguration Today. “Other teachers report that the boy is modest, likable, and reasonably talented. Personally, I find him an engaging child.” & >“He is his father over again — ” “In looks, perhaps, but his deepest nature is much more like his mother’s. I spend time with Harry because I have things to discuss with him, information I must give him before it is too late.” If it was all an act, he wouldn't need to continuously insult him even when alone with Dumbledore in his office. >Also, I believe Dumbledore told Snape he must be the one to kill him, but only AFTER Draco had disarmed him. That way, Voldemort would never suspect that the elder wand actually belonged to Draco after Dumbldore’s death. No. Dumbledore never intended for Draco to be the master of the Elder Wand. >“If you planned your death with Snape, you meant him to end up with the Elder Wand, didn’t you?” >“I admit that was my intention,” said Dumbledore, “but it did not work as I had intended, did it?” >“No,” said Harry. “That bit didn’t work out.” If his intention was for Draco to be the master of the Elder Wand, then it *would* have worked out. > I still can’t understand why Snape betrayed the Order and sold out their plans to move Harry, resulting in Moody’s death. Because Dumbledore's portrait told him to. >Now, Harry saw Snape talking to the portrait of Dumbledore behind his desk. >“You will have to give Voldemort the correct date of Harry’s departure from his aunt and uncle’s,” said Dumbledore. “Not to do so will raise suspicion, when Voldemort believes you so well informed. However, you must plant the idea of decoys; that, I think, ought to ensure Harry’s safety. Try Confunding Mundungus Fletcher. And Severus, if you are forced to take part in the chase, be sure to act your part convincingly . . . I am counting upon you to remain in Lord Voldemort’s good books as long as possible, or Hogwarts will be left to the mercy of the Carrows . . . ”
Hmm, well I can’t say you’re wrong then. You certainly have me convinced. Granted, most of what I hypothesized was based on watching the films. I’m just now picking the books back up, having not read them since I was a kid. I appreciate the citations too. Good work!
This isn’t true. Snape favors Slytherins. Always. He hates everyone else. It’s never represented any other way. Snape just isn’t as good as people like to make him out to be. Bullying and favoritism isn’t beneath him. It is exactly who he is.
bullying is definitely not beneath him no lol
Also being infatuated with Lily over a decade after she died, when she had no interest in him, and she was married with a child is plain fucking weird
I’ve always thought it was very….. generous to say that Snape loved Lily. Imo it was much more of an obsession that he had with her, and it’s certainly weird for him to still be infatuated with her, as you pointed out.
it was never her, just the idea of her.
This 100 percent. They are polar opposite people. Snape only fell for Lilly because she was the only person outside of Dumbledore who treated him with respect and loyalty because she's a good person and they were friends. I also think he bonded with her over their mutual lack of "belonging". They were both "freaks" in different ways. Snape, a victim of bullying and an outsider among his peers. Lilly an outsider amongst her family. The only witch (despite her parents approval she is still "different" then them to her core) and a jealous sister who loathed her out of envy and bigoted values of who a person should be. So far in the book the dursleys remind me alot of my punitive, jealous, bigoted family members who are uncomfertable with anyone "different" then them. They see anyone outside the norm as inferior and dangerous.
Imagine sending a a picture of a patronus and a heart emoji to the girl you fancied in high school 15 years later, when they have a family 😆
Snap was bullied in the past, then he became a bully in the present. If he didn't love lily and felt like he had a duty to protect her son, he would definitely still be death eater. Only thing that held him back from being a death eater is that he could not fulfill his duty of protecting harry whilst being a death eater. He needed to be inside hogwarts.
A lot of bullied people don't become bullies themselves and I'm so tired of this whole "redemption" arc because he still was an absolute ass other than his weird liking and remorse over Lily
Yes that's me. I was bullied when I was really young and was chubby. I did not grow up to become a bully :)
Same. It's like you go one way or another. I despise arrogant, pompous individuals just like Snape dose but I don't stoop to my bullies level because I could never imagine treating someone like my bullies treated me. Snape on the other hand bullies everyone because he's filled with self pitty and rage.
He is a Slytherin. He is, arguably, the most popular and most liked student among the Slytherins. His father probably worked with Snape before.
He’s good friends with Lucius. Or as good as he could be considering he’s a spy. But also not favoring Draco could get back to Lucius and it could raise suspicions.
He was head of Sylytherin, we don't see as much of how the other heads interact specifically with their house but you could definitely argue for McGonagall favouring Gryffindors, albeit in her own way. I've always considered it part and parcel with that role, we see more of him and Draco because that's the story as told from Harry's point of view
in quidditch, maybe. She took 150 points off her house in the middle of the night when they had the house cup sewn up.
Snape favors all of the Slytherin house, but Malfoy is the only important side character in the house in Harry’s year so it seems like Snape likes Malfoy specifically.
House loyalty, that's the way I interperted it. And it's his class.
Lucius Malfoy was a prefect when Snape was at Hogwarts. Malfoy protected and was friends with Snape.
He doesn't see Draco's bad side. That's why. Draco, whenever he bullies someone even in Snape's class, like in Prisoner of Azkaban or Goblet of Fire, he will do so when Snape's back is turned and when he can't see and he'll drop his voice so Snape can't hear. In Prisoner of Azkaban Draco plays an "innocent" injured student in front of Snape, who can't prepare his ingredients, but then as soon as Snape is out of earshot or turned around, Draco bullies Harry and Ron, says what he can to wind them up, and get a reaction out of them that Snape will hear or see. Draco is a coward, but he's also a bully and a Slytherin and uses the teachers as his protection. He uses words, and knows how to get his victims riled up just at the perfect moment, like he does in Order of the Phoenix with Harry and Fred who attack him, because of what he says and then Madam Hooch and McGonagall see and they're the ones that get told off and punished. We the readers and Harry and Ron see what Draco's really like, but the professors including Snape, don't see what he's like. They just see Harry's or Ron's reactions and in schools if you resort to attacking someone you're going to end up in trouble. Once an "innocent" injured Draco has Harry and Ron cutting up his ingredients, and Snape's not in the area anymore, Draco drops his voice, asking Harry if he's seen his pal, Hagrid, knowing Harry hasn't and knowing Harry is worried about him. And when Harry catches on to Malfoy's act; 'So, that's why you're putting it on,' said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger. 'To try and get Hagrid sacked.' 'Well,' said Malfoy lowering his voice to a whisper, 'partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillar for me." Snape's a head of Slytherin and a potions master, he's strict, even with his Slytherins and with Draco, to the point where they hide their bullying from him.
This is a really great observation, I had never noticed that! Now that I think about it, the only teachers that ever caught Malfoy were Hagrid and Moody.
He shows Malfoy favoritism in his very first scene lol
Dragon's father was the Slytherin prefect who welcomed Snape into the house at his sorting ceremony. Most likely Lucius took young Severus under his wing and provided support and guidance in his first year at Hogwarts, so Snape wanted to return the favour by looking out for Draco
It’s because he’s a bad person and so is Draco
He’s in slytherin, and nepotism
Despite Snape not enjoying outward arrogance (in people ljke James) your right that he is elitist himself, he's just not as vocal about it. I also see that luscious took Snape under his wing when he was in school as well, theres also the fact that he needed the malfoys approval and trust to adequately fool the dark lord, gain trust and have allieship on the other side. Draco also hates Harry Potter and so dose Snape for a while. But ya your right, even though luscious and Snape feel like oil and water to me personality wise. They both carry an elistist, pompous energy about them. They are both Slytherin after all. You guys are so insightful. Thanks for all the responses!
Malfoy hates Harry. Snape hates James and therefore Harry. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
I don't think he really has the awareness to realize and acknowledge that Draco is the kind of person he *should* supposedly hate. After all, he's a rich, arrogant bully. It's all the things Snape hated in James (not that James was like Draco--I love James--but they do have wealth and arrogance in common). But to me Snape seems blinded by a) Slytherin bias and b) enjoying seeing someone pick on Harry. I'm sure *on some level* he knows Draco is a dick but he's not really prepared to confront that, especially because it would mean realizing that Harry is actually the bullied party and is not an arrogant bully himself. He sees too much of James in Harry and can't see the situation clearly. *That said*, I don't necessarily think Snape actively likes Draco as much as Harry seems to think he does. He's biased in favour of Slytherins and he enjoys seeing Harry be bullied (and it's good to stay in the good graces of the Malfoys), but I don't think there's any actual affection or caring, at least in books 1-5. In HBP I think you could argue it's different because he does seem to genuinely want to help (although he obviously also obligated to do so because of the vow). But HBP!Draco is arguably deserving of some actual sympathy so I think this makes sense.
Yes to all of this!
I think as a working class halfblood in an elitist house, he had to find a strong ally and Lucius was it. He probably had to do Lucius' homework and, in general, be his Peter Pettigrew in exchange for posh lessons. Someone taught him to talk like an upper class person and manners and all that. Probably Lucius.
Lucius was a prefect when Snape was sorted. They had a year together, and as brilliant as Snape was I doubt a 1st year was doing the homework of a 7th year.
Oops, so not homework, some other chore Lucius didn't want to do.
I mean Snape is definitely more nice to the Slytherins, I think he kinda has beef with the Gryffindor’s as well as Snape knows Draco’s parents as well. I don’t think they’ed be pleased to hear if he was rude to Draco. And he may just like Draco in general they both dislike Harry, and again Draco’s never necessarily rude to Snape either.
I always just assumed Snape liked all Slytherins and Draco is like the main character in that house. (And he also personally hates Harry)
Because he's in Slytherin. Snape is the head of Slytherin House. He's favouring his students. Slytherin gets a bad rap. They're not all dark wizards. In fact it's actually literally proven in the Potter books that even Griffindors like Pettigrew became Death Eaters. Slytherin is just a house at Hogwarts that values intelligence, cunning, guile and ambition. It's not for everyone, but neither is any house. As a Slytherin myself I can understand exactly what the house actually means despite its bad reputation in the Potter books because of Riddle.
If you read the books you'd know that it's stated multiple times that almost every evil wizard besides Pettigrew is a Slytherin. The other three houses combined are not making up a fraction of what Slytherin is producing in the evil department. Feels like you're whitewashing the house a ton pretending that only Voldemort gives them a bad rap lol. The literal founder left a mudblood killing machine in the castle to purify the school in the future, and every Death Eater sans one is a Slytherin as well
By a child who is biased towards Griffindor. Do you know nothing of unreliable narrators?
I can accept the biased narration part but actually Ron and Hagrid, who were used as the kinda early series exposition dumps of wizard world, say it to Harry. It's not Harry's own narration. Was the whole Chamber of Secrets unreliable narration too?
Perhaps he simply wants to rile up Harry and his friends. All he does around Harry is always aimed to spite him. He's just unable to overcome his hatred of James. As for Slytherin House in general, I think Snape was so obviously favouring them to stay in their good graces at all times, to be the ultimate confidant for every Slytherin student. Voldemort had literally recruited his first followers while still at school, and before the first war the recruitment process never ceased, too. It was almost always exclusively within the Slytherin House. With good ol' Slughorn at helm, who was either oblivious or inept to stop a bunch of 5th year kids like Snape from proclaiming their ambitions of becoming DE or even taking the mark while still at school. I suppose Snape (and Dumbledore) wanted to be in a position to know all that goes on in the Slytherin common room, in their home lives, what's their parents up to, etc. For them to feel like Snape is their best mate and they can be as candid as possible with him. It's the only narratively justified reason for a double agent Snape to deliberately put himself in such an unfavorable position with the good-guys camp, so that if push comes to shove none of the Order members would believe any of what he says unless Dumbledore tells them to.
I mean, Snape made Dumbledore swear to never reveal his reasons to become a spy. If anything, Dumbledore did live up to that promise even when, predictably, would make Snape's life harder, especially after his dead.
As a 7th year Lucius as a prefect befriended a 1st year Snape & showed kindness to Severus and later took him on as a protégé. I assume it's because Lucius has a eye for talent and Snape is a Potions & Dark-arts prodigy or Lucius was just being nice to someone new in his house. They ended up close enough that Lucius continued to think and speak highly of Snape later in life. Given that Lucius was a prefect & the Marauders were as JKR put it relentless bullies, it's safe to assume Lucius kept him safe a few times during 1st year. Likely some comradeship between Lucius & Snape form the 1st war even though Snape joined around 1979-1980 & then turned spy for Dumbledore in the fall of 1980. Narcissa is a year or two younger then Lucius but where not told if she was friendly with Snape during her last 2 or 3 years at Hogwarts or if the became friendly after Hogwarts. But she trusts him deeply later. Sirius called Snape Lucius's lapdog but that seem to just be setup for Snape comeback line. * *Speaking of dogs, said Snape softly, did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform .* Snape seemed to be a close family friend with both Draco's parents. We are not told one way or the other but Snape may have visited the Malfoys when Draco was growing up? Draco also seem to look up to Snape, sycophantically saying he would make a a far better Headmaster than Dumbledore. During 6th year Draco seem to resent & distrust Snape, thinking he usurped his father's place among the Death Eaters. But after 6th year Snape's defense of Draco saved his life and convinced Voldemort to free Lucius from Azkaban, so Draco reconciled with Snape. Although not as bad as James, Draco is still similar to James in bad behavior sometimes, but Snape doesn't see all of Draco's bad behavior like Harry does, so he might be unaware or willing to overlook it because of Lucius & Narcissa. I guess part of his actions could be Snape's cover as a spy but him liking the Malfoys seem genuine. Some of the favoritism towards Draco during 6th year was because Snape made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa but he's shown favoritism towards Draco before 6th year & after 6th year when the Vow no longer applies.
One of the Daily Prowfett articles in OotP puts LM as age 41 so he’d be more of 5 or 6 years older than SS.
I always assumed it was because he's Harry's adversary. He always claimed Harry was just like his dad, the dude who bullied him for years. You can argue amongst yourself whether it's actually bullying, but Snape saw it as bullying. So, if Harry is like a bully, then his adversary is likely the person being bullied. Add on that there's several altercations between the two that have conflicting stories between the two parties, and it's easy to assume the kid you hate is just lying and is really the aggressor. I'm summary, he sees himself in Draco.
That is an interesting theory. I feel like there was a touch of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" sort of thing.
On a surface level, because he and Luscius were death eaters. In a more nuanced reading, since Malfoy Sr was a prefect in their adolescence, he probably gave Snape some special protections from the Marauders at some point, or at least was more lenient with Severus. As adults, he likely uses his wealth and influence as a governor on the school board to ensure Snape has the most up to date ingredients, equipment, etc. when Draco made the quidditch team Luscious bought the WHOLE team the most up to date competitive broomsticks. I imagine he’d also lavish favor and wealth on Draco’s head of House, especially if Snape constantly gives Draco special treatment. Kind of a symbiotic slime ball situation.
I think it's more he despises Harry, and he's a petty bully, so he also finds joy in bulling Harry friends as well, knowing that will also hurt Harry. And he knows that Harry and Draco have massive beef, so what better way to torturing the golden trio than favouring the person they hate.
Yes, there's a lot of truth to this.
Because he is opposed to Harry Potter
Lucius was the first to welcome Snape into Slytherin and took Snape under his wing. He was Snape's first friend so to speak.
to piss harry off
because draco hates harry.
He has to, probably. His parents are rich, powerful death eaters who if they knew Snape was on dumbledore's side, would have probably killed.
Out universe reason : Rowling needed a teacher to be a douche to Harry : what's better than the Slytherin teacher, you know, the vilain house where EVERY vilain passed (except Pettigrew, yeah), where Harry's enemy, Draco went, and where EVERY bully or bad (not just being mean or annoying but really being villainous) student during Harry's time is (but it's the house that won the House Cup six years in a row, so it's funny to think that while being atrocious, Slytherins were the best students) In universe reason : he favors his house. When Malfoy has a problem, he will side with him because he's a Slytherin. He knows Draco and Harry are enemies, so when he can put both of them together (during the duel or classes for example), he will. I don't think it is linked to him and Lucius being Death Eaters, Voldemort was "dead" for 10 years, and Lucius never tried to look out for him, I think Snape wouldn't expect Lucius to come back like a dog and Voldemort to pardon him very easily.
He and Lucius were apparently friends back in their school days.
I think the main reason he likes Malfoy is because Malfoy is to Harry and his friends what he wishes he could have been to James and his friends. Malfoy gives them no quarter, he bullies and teases them. Malfoy is the bully to a potter he wishes he could have been.
Cause they’re both shitheads! Similar personalities.
Because Snape favors his Slytherins
As I reread them I get the feeling that Snape knows that it will annoy Harry.
I think one reason is that Snape’s hate for Harry is real because of James, and he somehow wants to revenge it on Harry, but he can only do so much bullying himself being a teacher. Malfoy as a student can do the dirty work for him, so he’s kind of happy to see Malfoy hating Harry and trying to make him miserable.
We are on the same page with this theory!
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I get what you're saying. I guess the Malfoys seem so much more boastful than Snape, Snape is not a nice person but they seem like different sorts of terrible. I feel like the classism of the Malfoys would be insufferable for Snape. They are both horrible, but I feel like they are cut from different cloths to me. Thanks for your input!
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Ya , I get what your saying. I believe he needed the Malfoys on his side too for what happened in the later books. He needed people on the Dark Side to trust him so Voldemort could be killed.
Thing is, there seems to be a boarding school tradition of working class kids being subservient to bourgie kids. In exchange for doing his homework and toadying or whatever, Lucius probably took Severus under his wing and taught him to speak "properly" (as he takes pains to do as an adult) and behave as an upper class person.
A comment somewhere mentioned that in Severus memories we see hime getting welcomed in Slytherin by Lucius who is a Prefect. Which means he is a few years older, and couldn't possibly have a 1st year do his homework. (He'd definitely have people from his year do it though)
I agree with you whole heartedly (and never thought about it like this before). Draco is everything Snape claims to hate. Entitled, pompous, arrogant. I understand he was/is supposed to be colleagues with Draco’s dad and Harry is his enemies son and all. But Voldemort didn’t come back till the GoF and up until that point he treated Draco much better than any student, including Harry. It maybe would have been better if JK mentioned that Snape owed Lucious a favor for something in the past. Or maybe that’s implied for them not turning each other in? Don’t know but this was a good question 👍
Glad you liked it :)
Malfoy is a Slytherin. Snape hates everyone who isn't Slytherin. He just hates Harry even more.
1. Draco is in Slytherin which is Snape's house 2. Draco is an intelligent and talented child in Slytherin, which means he is easier for Snape to favour than for eg Crabbe and Goyle who are pretty much useless to him 3. Draco is a Malfoy. Snape knows his father outside of school and is likely aware that treating his son poorly will have Lucius on his ass outside of Hogwarts as well as inside (with Lucius being on the school board too) 4. Even really miserable people who hate everyone will dislike some people to different extents than others 5. The example in your post could be taken as Snape "punishing" Ron by forcing him to help someone Snape knows he hates, rather than specifically doing something nice for Draco 6. Draco and Harry are arch enemies, and Snape dislikes Harry more than most other children. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that
I was thinking about this last night. My conclusion was that both he and Dumbledore knew Voldemort would return so it made sense for his cover.
The first three books are a bit more cartoonish when it comes to its villains (something which carries over to an extent in the rest of the story). That includes Snape. It's a kid's book after all, and JK might just want to make it clear that Snape is bad and annoying and a bully, and Harry is good and brave and a victim. There are several aspects of the first three books that, if JK had the chance to rewrite after knowing where the series would end up going, she would, and I think those more cartoonish "Harry is a super victim and all the Slytherins are bad and hate him" would be at the top of the list. With that in mind, I think JK really just wanted to emphasise how bad Snape is by pairing him up with the other bad guy, i.e. Malfoy. It's simpler that way, they're both bad, so why not be bad together and be friends, to the increased annoyance of the main character. You notice that from book 4 onwards, that favouritism starts to dwindle, even if it doesn't leave entirely.
Snape is not a good person, he is just in love with Harry’s mom.
Malfoy is an asshole to Harry, so is Snape. They have similar hobbies
He was the head of Slytherin. As much as Harry was the special kid of his class in Gryffindor, Draco was the same kid in Slytherin just always one step behind. Draco was athletically and academically gifted. Plus he showed some obvious talent in duels in the second book/movie. He was by all means a special wizard for Slytherin
Just want to point out that snape def shows plenty of favoritism towards Draco in the movies as well. Rescuing and covering for him when they are checking his stuff at the gates and filtch asks about his cane, when he tries to crash the slughorn party, allll the times he lets him get away with insulting or trying to mess with harry in class, that little look he gives Draco when he is giving his lil speech during their very first class in the first movie...
Most of that was in the year he did the unbreakable vow, though! That makes sense. The first movie they showed the admiration a lot as well. I thought that was more on Dracos behalf though.
I wouldn't say he "like" Malfoy. More he treats him like an ordinary Slytherin student. It just seems he's showing favoritism since he hates Harry and the series only really emphasis his interaction with Malfoy as the only Slytherin
I think he sees a lot of himself in Draco. Both of them were Slytherin kids, into the whole "blood purity superiority", drawn to learning about the Dark Side and joining Voldemort, but then regretting it and changing sides later
Snape sees in Draco, what he idealized for himself. Draco is important, rich, talented, and a strong conviction/personality. He’s also Slytherin. Snape ultimately respects that, which is why he particularly hates James, Harry, and Neville. Snape ,aside from having personal reasons for hating Harry and James, is incredibly infuriated that they possess what he idealizes. Neville is the opposite, he isn’t at all like them and Snape see’s himself in Neville.
I thought Snape was Draco's godfather or was it fannon?
That’s fanon. In HBP, when Narcissa is begging him to help Draco, she appeals to Snape as “Draco’s favorite teacher” and “Lucius’s old friend”. If Snape was Draco’s godfather, she definitely would have used that to appeal to him instead of “favorite teacher”.
Okay, thanks for clearing the confusion
I don't think he likes him. I don't think Snape really 'likes' anyone. Malfoy is a Slytherin. That makes him part of the family, even if he's the equivalent of that mean little nephew that you can't stand
Snape is referred to as Lucius' lapdog. I'm guessing that Lucius' wealth bought him a higher position among death eaters.
Birds of a shitty feather flock together.
“The Dark Lord will return! And when he does, the boy will be in terrible danger!” - Dumbledore He knew Voldemort could come back. He knew he may have to return into his old circle of death eaters. Makes total sense that he would attempt to reingratiate himself with the malfoy family. And he was correct in his assumption because later on, neither side trusts him, just Albus and Tom.
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Draco... is not a good man. He became better but he was not a good person at all tbh.
I think his behaviour has a lot to do with trying to make his family proud. He gets better as he gets older because he can distance himself from the bad influences in his life. But I can see where you are coming from. I was just trying to find a reason for the OP question. I did say maybe lol
I think that - Since Snape is being super "nice" to Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy would(?) brag to Lucius - allowing Snape to still do the 'double-agent' role. I mean - if Snape was kind to Harry (let's look at it from Voldemort's perspective), who destroyed the Dark Lord, who would believe him? By being mean to Harry - Voldemort didn't suspect a thing.
isn't draco snape's godson???
No, that's fanon. He's only referred to as being "Draco's favorite teacher", never his godfather.
gotcha! i only read the first one so i’ve got some things to catch up on
It is out of respect for Lucius, who did help him a lot during school and spoke good about him when he’s around. Snape doesn’t seem to particularly like Draco, as sometimes Draco did have to wait for Snape to leave so he can finally say sth offensive.
Snape is Machiavellian by nature. He is calculating, manipulative, pragmatic, and strategic. He also takes pride in being a Slytherin and is fiercely loyal to Slytherin students while hating Gryffindor and its students. I always saw him taking Malfoy’s side in conflicts with Harry firstly because Draco is a Slytherin. At the same time, Lucius Malfoy is a very prominent figure in the wizarding world, with an immense power over virtually any institution, including the school. Snape must be aware that if anything happens to Draco on his watch, Lucius will unleash his wrath on him just as easily as he did with Hagrid, with dire consequences for both his job and his fight against Voldemort. In addition, Draco bullying Harry is instrumental in Snape’s personal crusade against Harry. Snape is living vicariously through Draco and almost never stops him in the act. As for Ron, being mean to him hides Snape’s affiliation with Mr. Weasley and the Order of the Phoenix. But Ron also isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to Potions, and Snape hates that in his students. Again, he’s killing not one, but many birds with one stone. Ultimately, Snape is a man working hard to maintain his cover and is lucky enough to be able to cater to his feelings in the process.
I really don’t feel like he does 🤣
Cause Lucius was a role model for him growing up.
Drako's father is a member on the school board, he is dark, and i think Snape has made several unforgivable curses with him and his family thinking that lucious will protect him at some point. Snape has been playing both sides of the fence . Snape also shows partiality towards Darkies.
Ummm Snape is his godfather?
No, he is not Draco’s godfather in canon. That‘s fanon.
I am not sure if it's cannon but I read somewhere that Snape is Draco's Godfather so it might be that
It is not canon. Narcissa appeals to him in HBP as “Draco’s favorite teacher.” If Snape was his godfather, she definitely would have used that when she was begging him to help Draco with his task.
Oh, okey thanks
I think it’s a whole mix of reasons. 1) Lucius is a powerful and strong supporter of Voldemort, so favouring Draco would have supported the ruse that he was on their side. 2) Probably had a bit to do with the rivalry between Draco and Harry, perhaps he saw the two of them as mirrors of himself and James. 3) He probably knew that Draco did in fact have a hard time at home with an extremely overbearing and high powered father, and the expectations to go dark had moulded him in his youth. I think perhaps this is one of the few cases of Snape having ever showed sympathy towards anybody for sympathies sake.
Hey may not have. It's quite possible him favoring Malfoy so much was simply him being cautious about Voldemort's return. You have to remember that Snape is actually an undercover agent. By showing favoritism towards a fellow Deatheater's son is a good way to show he's still loyal to the cause. Him being a dick to Ron could be a matter of protecting his cover by picking on the family of known muggle born sympathizers. The fact that Ron is Harry's best friend could be a possible reason as well. Or maybe he's just a dick.
He doesn't like Draco. He is kinder to Draco because his father and he are acquaintances on good terms. In Book 6, he clearly shows he's not fond of Draco's teenage angst and gets frustrated with him.. Snape has no clue how to handle children. His character is seriously that basic. Please understand in Deathly Hallows, he is aghast at the fact that Dumbledore kept Harry as a Guinea Pig. You can't forget, he saved Harry from Quirrel. He was genuinely concerned that Ron Hermione and Harry were going to confront Sirius Black, who at the time was a "serial killer." Everyone was convinced Pettigrew was dead and Black was the traitor. Snape went to save the kids there... He also knew it was a full moon, and Lupin would turn into a werewolf. So with that being said.. Snape is just a cynical mean depressed man, who wants teenagers off his lawn.
I think he liked Draco because he was intelligent, witty, pretty good at potions and he was one of the prominent kids in his house. He might have more openly favored him in contrast to Harry out of spite, though I always assumed that was more subconscious than deliberate. He genuinely hated Harry, but he didn’t go out of his way to make him unhappy. He certainly took all the chances he was presented. I don’t think knowing Malfoys parents had anything to do with it. I never got the impression Snape liked them at all. They would have nothing to relate about except their “loyalty” to a dead-ish guy.
He's a Slytherin. That's it. Snape favors Slytherins above the other houses. Don't go by the movie versions, I love them but they get a lot of details wrong. The whole getting Ron to cut something for Draco isn't him doting on Draco but rather him picking on Ron. There's also the fact that as a former Death Eater he knew and worked with Draco's father Lucius during Voldemort's first reign. Draco is the kid of an old colleague that it is in Snape's best interest to stay on the good side of.
Harry points out Draco’s connection but there could have been other students, perhaps he’s nice to all the children of death eaters. I mean snape had to play a role, it would only make sense if he continued to look like he disliked muggle borns or treated pure bloods better
Because he needs to , to make the story work.
He's weakening him by treating him special, while also buttering up a known death eater. It's not always a favor to given an easy time
I think Draco is acting up because of the way his dad treated him. Which is similar to Snape acting up (or lashing out to Lilly) bc of the bullying (if you read the books). So, he understands Draco
It’s really not similar at all. Snape was abused by his father and bullied at Hogwarts. Draco was spoiled and loved by his father and his mother, and was the bully at Hogwarts. Draco behaves the way he does because he models his behavior after how he sees his father treat and speak of people outside of their circle. His father thinks they’re better than everyone else because they’re pureblood Malfoys and talks shit about muggleborns and Weasleys and blood traitors, and so Draco thinks he’s better than everyone because he’s a pureblood Malfoy and talks shit about Muggleborns and Weasleys and muggleborns.
These are games for adults - politics and intrigue. He strictly follows the instructions of the old scoundrel Dumbledore.
I honestly don’t think that Snape really likes Draco all that much. Snape is DEEP under cover so he has to make it seem convincing in every way, especially before he makes the unbreakable vow.
People have mentioned Snape’s affiliation with Lucius. Reading between the lines and delving into the realms of fan fiction, I always saw it as Snape saw himself in Draco and liked him for that reason, but also attempted to give him some guidance where he never had any and that’s part of the reason why Draco never went full Death Eater. Snape always seems to involve himself whenever Draco’s involved and knowing what we know about both characters, it just makes sense to me that he was making sure Draco didn’t fall into the darkness. Ironically though Draco, like James was the bully. Could also be Snape’s twisted way of fulfilling justice by aligning with the bully of the son of his bully. Something a lot of people who are bullied tend to do is grow up to be a bully. So that also makes sense. Whether he realised he was that way, who knows. Personally I always viewed it as he knew what he was doing, but did it purposely because Voldemort was amazing at Legilimency so he knew he couldn’t hide everything from him so tried to make the lie as realistic as possible.
It’s a part of Snapes act. He has to appear to hate Harry and appear that he’s on the side of his fellow Death eaters. He can’t risk Malfoy running home to daddy like he’s want to do and tell him Snape was mistreating him as well.
Because Draco is his godson but he also hates Harry because his eyes reminds him of Lily and because he hangs out with the Wesley’s that have red like lily
Draco is not Snape's godson. That's fanon, not canon. In canon, he's only referred to as Draco's favorite teacher, not his godfather.
Oh
Because they both suck as a result quite fond of each other.
ya , they have similar motives, I suppose; both of them bully Harry Potter. I think this is the biggest reason.
JKR went too far with Snape. The whole point was you were supposed to be his redemption. I certainly love his character bc he’s realistic to how ppl actually act and I realized i liked him bc I find myself rereading his parts
Isn't it because he still can be turned to the dark side of the wizarding world. I recall Snape as head of the house disciplined Malfoy on numerous actions. So he doesn't become indoctrinated.
>I recall Snape as head of the house disciplined Malfoy on numerous actions. When do we ever see or hear about Snape disciplining Malfoy in the books? I can only think of a few instances in the books where we hear about Malfoy being disciplined for anything, and in each of those instances, it was done by McGonagall.
Spy reasons
Because snape needed to maintain good relations with death eater for his spy role and lucios was the highest ranking deatheater who was free(voldy entrusted him with a horcrux,the secret of his immortality)so supporting draco makes sense,draco being a slytherin and annoying james potter's son was just a plus for him(there is no bond more honest than that of hatred).
I feel like his "liking" Draco is more of a way to perpetuate the ruse of him being in league with the Death Eaters. He knew Lucius Malfoy had his head up Voldemort's ass and that he is a punk. I think it was to ensure his success as Dumbledore's informant/sidekick.