Fandom Discussion and Poll: Snape and His Accursed Bloodline

[themostepotente]

sinick and I had a discussion not too long ago on Snape's bloodline and whether or not his bloodline was truly a secret.

I can buy that Dumbledore and McGonagall were privy to his familial bloodline, but anyone else? I think Snape being as unpopular as he was would have done just about anything to make certain his background was kept as secret as possible. It's been suggested that a lot of the kids sorted into Slytherin were actually half-bloods masquerading as pure-bloods to escape scrutiny or worse. This makes a lot of sense to me.

I guess the crux of our debate was whether or not Lucius knew Severus was a half-blood. I maintain that Lucius did not. I can't imagine Lucius would have had much to do with him otherwise, but then Lucius doesn't seem to mind that Voldemort isn't of pure blood.

sinick maintains that because pure-bloods are fewer in numbers than half-bloods and Muggle-borns, Lucius would be familiar with family names in conjunction with bloodlines. Goddess forbid, he would rub cocks noses with anyone of inferior status.

I must also stress that because Snape is an accomplished Occlumens, wouldn't he be able to keep his skeletons closeted? Well, maybe not from Voldemort. He, of course, is a skilled Legilimens.

Fuck, I'm confused :P

And while I'm on the subject of Snape's bloodline, there are ticky boxes to check regarding your thoughts...

[Poll #557878]

Lastly (I'm making this an essay style question :P), who might have been aware of Snape's bloodline? How did they come to find out?

--P

Comments

[cordelia_v]

Well, that's a very good question, isn't it? I honestly can't guess how Lucius would feel about it. But I do think he would have to have known, because we now know that "Snape" just isn't on the (apparently limited) list of pureblood family names.

How close are they? Dunno. Narcissa talks in chapter 2 of HBP about how Snape is Lucius' friend, of course. But she's there, begging for a favor. And Dumbledore (in his discussions with Harry) seems fairly well informed about Lucius' standing and interactions with Voldemort, which means that Snape is reporting on Lucius to the Order.

So, I'd say we just don't have the evidence to say exactly what the nature of Snape's relationship with Lucius is, although clearly they must know each other and have some sort of history together. But it might be that Snape was always one down to Lucius, and fagged for him at school, because he was younger and a half-blood. Perhaps he was so clever and useful that Lucius was willing to overlook Snape's ancestry, as long as Lucius was the dominant partner.

But that's all speculation. The only thing I'm pretty sure about is that Lucius has to have known that Snape's not a pureblood.