death to capslock

I don’t see Voldemort having special respect for the much-younger Severus as his ‘teacher’. Any empathy is more likely to come from seeing Snape as a younger version of himself: a poor half-blood trying to make his way among the snooty purebloods. I think Voldie actually hates purebloods worse than he hates muggles, and takes great joy in exploiting the hell out of them, and making them grovel all-unknowing to a half-blood. I can imagine him seeing a lot of himself in Severus—almost like the son he doesn’t have, and doesn’t need because he’s immortal. But the desire for offspring is irrational, and if Voldemort were to imagine himself having a successor, who would be more natural than the Half-Blood Prince?