Severus Snape & Lucius Malfoy
A thread to discuss the strange friendship between Severus Snape and fellow Slytherin, Lucius Malfoy, which evidently casues Snape to like and protect Draco Malfoy throughout his years in Hogwarts. You can also add in artwork, videos, and fanfiction recommendations relating to this friendship.
There are a few different ways I see the relationship between them, but neither are healthy:
- Grooming. The most obvious aspect of the relationship is that, as Voldemort would want to recruit fresh blood into his following, The best way would be to target the highly impressionable population of the wizarding world (the children), and older students at Hogwarts, or students who already have family as Death Eaters, would be perfect to act as said groomers. While Lucius may have seen Severus as vulnerable and perfect for lower ranks, I believe his interest grew in him the more Severus showed his talents with potions and the Dark Arts, and it could be this appreciation that causes Severus to favor Draco.
- Fagging. For those unfamiliar with the term, it's used in relation to a hierarchy between younger and older students, where younger students are expected to perform services for older students (usually, it may depend on the social hierarchy as well). This can range from fairly innocent tasks (carrying books, cleaning the dorm room, etc.) to blatant abuse. The system was first noted in the late 17th century, which was around the time the Statute of Secrecy was adopted, so it's possible that this system could have been introduced into Hogwarts before the Statute came into effect. And as the system fell out of practice between the '60s and '80s, it's possible that Hogwarts still had it, only it was frowned upon.
- One possible point of evidence that it was present at the time Severus was in school is when Sirius refers to him as Lucius's lapdog, which carries the connotation of the system.
- If Severus and Lucius were involved in this system, then it's possible that Lucius was fair and "appreciative" with what he had Severus do for him. If he was abusive, Severus would have rejected him outright and gravitated towards anyone who wasn't Lucius (or as much as he could).
- Narcissa. When Narcissa comes to visit Severus, the two of them get along fairly well, and they seem to be close enough that Severus tolerates it when she touches him in a fairly intimate manner (I realize that she was upset, but the point stands).
This is pretty much all I can think of between the two of them.
During their school years, I'm sure Severus looked up to Lucius. I also believe their relationship was unhealthy or even exploitative to some degree. I doubt it was abusive, though I don't think Severus would've necessarily rejected him even if it was. Mistreatment from older, dominant male figures (i.e. his father) was very much the norm for him. It takes time and experience to recognize/break those patterns… I don't see that happening for a vulnerable, insecure teenager.
That said, I don't think Lucius abused him. Why? Because there would've been no reason or advantage in doing so. Treating him with respect would make more sense – that would've been the easiest, most effective way to earn his loyalty/trust.
To me, their relationship as adults (after Severus switches sides) is much more unclear. That's true for Lucius, as well as Narcissa and Draco. On the surface, he does appear to have a good relationship with all of them. But how much of that is a true reflection of his feelings, and how much is part of the act? It's impossible to know, because the fact is, he needs to give off the impression that he's on their side. That's crucial for gathering information/exercising power… it's also necessary for appearances. The Malfoys (and Voldemort) need to believe he's an ally. Anything short of that would be counterproductive, highly suspicious, perhaps even dangerous.
In other words, it doesn't matter if he cared about the Malfoys or absolutely despised them. He would've behaved the same way, regardless.
Of course, this is also true for Harry, albeit in the other direction. I won't get into that here as it's off-topic, but yeah… it's never as simple as "Severus feels X so he does Y".
Back to Lucius…
Maybe Severus genuinely cares about/feels sorry for him. Maybe he resents him, considering that Lucius obviously played a role in recruiting him, and we all know what that led to. He might hate all Death Eaters on principle, or (I think this is the most likely option), it could be a combination of all three of those things.
Draco? I'd imagine there are conflicted feelings there, too, though I'd lean more toward pity in his case. He is a kid, after all, and I'm sure Severus can't help but see glimpses of his younger self. He knows that Draco is misguided and naïve, and of course, he is a victim of Lucius's bad influence just like Severus was. I can see Severus blaming Lucius for that, and rightly so. It proves that Lucius has learned nothing, to the point that he'd subject his own son to Voldemort's madness.
I already talked about Narcissa in another thread, but yeah… I think in all three cases, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
I agree that Severus probably cares about Lucius, and that there's some resentment towards him for influencing him into becoming a Death Eater.
I think the grooming system for future Death Eaters, especially when targeting younger prospects, would be similar to cult indoctrination; an older or more experienced member would take interest in a prospect and then start the process of conditioning them (love-bombing and validating them in the beginning and making them receptive to new ideas, and then revealing more and more as time went on). And Severus is a near-perfect candidate, which is extremely ironic given what ultimately happens.
I don't think Narcissa was too much part of that process, as the only real thing she could contribute to would be the anti-Muggle doctrine (which Severus was already subscribed to, albeit in a milder form); maybe she was involved in love-bombing, but I'm not confident enough on that point to have a definitive opinion on it. I think she may have genuinely cared about Severus, but perhaps partly because of Lucius's opinion of him.
That sounds 100% legit to me. I'd love to read a fanfiction that does a deep dive into that topic, particularly the grooming process.
Interesting analysis, I find it fascinating that we actually have two pieces of canon evidence for them having a close relationship: the lapdog comment, and that little dig from Umbridge where she says Lucius speaks highly of him. This is a huge amount of evidence for two reasonably minor characters!
That last one in particular - how much does Lucius have to genuinely like Severus to be known to talk up a frankly antisocial and unlikable half-blood accused of being a death eater at the ministry of magic in front of Dolores Umbridge who hates all of those things.
I can't really imagine Lucius liking someone who didn't like him back, he's not desperate for friends, so this really indicates a reciprocal friendship to me.
Whether it's artifice on the part of Severus? I don't really subscribe to the idea that he's a great actor. He's too unstable in my opinion. I think he's good at selective truths rather than total fabrications. I think they were genuinely friends at some point and maybe still are if you (using occlumency) ignore all the reasons that Severus probably dislikes him now.
Quote from Logan on December 22, 2022, 5:19 pmInteresting analysis, I find it fascinating that we actually have two pieces of canon evidence for them having a close relationship: the lapdog comment, and that little dig from Umbridge where she says Lucius speaks highly of him. This is a huge amount of evidence for two reasonably minor characters!
That last one in particular - how much does Lucius have to genuinely like Severus to be known to talk up a frankly antisocial and unlikable half-blood accused of being a death eater at the ministry of magic in front of Dolores Umbridge who hates all of those things.
I can't really imagine Lucius liking someone who didn't like him back, he's not desperate for friends, so this really indicates a reciprocal friendship to me.
Whether it's artifice on the part of Severus? I don't really subscribe to the idea that he's a great actor. He's too unstable in my opinion. I think he's good at selective truths rather than total fabrications. I think they were genuinely friends at some point and maybe still are if you (using occlumency) ignore all the reasons that Severus probably dislikes him now.
On the point of Lucius being willing to talk up Severus, I think Severus may have reconnected with Voldemort fairly soon after the latter's return, and Severus just so happens to be as close to Dumbledore as Voldemort could hope for. So, it's possible that Voldemort has made Severus's position within their ranks explicitly clear, which Lucius would know about.
On whether or not Lucius likes Severus, that may not be the main thing to focus on. If he's grooming Severus, even if he's a half-blood, his goal would be to make Severus as receptive and malleable as possible.
I think the reason that Severus is such a good spy is due to the fact that he uses some truth to obscure the big picture, as the best lies tend to involve enough truth to be believable.
