What Snape knows; and what he's asked to do

[Hillman, Lee]

No: HPFGUIDX 15274

What Snape knows....:

Amanda wrote a wonderful summary of the Shrieking Shack sequence and many
good thoughts were added by Rebecca and AmyZ. And then Pippin wrote:

> Wonderful, wonderful post Amanda, but you are overlooking one 
> thing...we don't know exactly when Snape arrived at the Shrieking 
> Shack. He could have been listening *outside* the door. 

To which Amanda replied:
 
> Yes, I thought of this, but I considered that (a) he's been  just *dying*
> all year to have something to damn Lupin with, so why would  he hesitate
> to go in, since (b) he's wearing an Invisibility Cloak and can hear
> better *and* see inside?
> 
> (CMC) > Remember, as you pointed out, he has no way of knowing from the
Map
> (CMC) > that Sirius is in the Shack.
> 
> Or the Trio--I don't think he's doing anything but following Lupin at
> first, although he seems to know the Cloak was James' and is now
> Harry's, so presumably when he found the Cloak by the Willow he might
> have figured Harry, at least, was in danger.
> 
> (large snip) 
> Point being, a logician like Snape simply wouldn't limit his 
> options by
> listening outside the door when he could be in a much better 
> position to
> act inside the room. It makes no sense for him to wait outside,
> strategically or given his personality or looking at his advantage
> wearing the Cloak.
>
Also, remember that the _reason_ he saw the map in the first place is
because he was bringing Lupin his potion--which Lupin did not take. So Snape
has further cause for urgency and to NOT wait outside the door because he
knows Lupin will likely turn into a werewolf soon, and if the kids are
nearby, he has to get them out quickly, personal risk be damned.



....And what he's asked to do:
In response to the questions at the end of Chapter 36, Caius wrote:

> > > 8. What do we think about what Dumbledore has asked Snape to do?
> > 
> > I haven't ever been exactly clear on what he intends Snape to do.  I
> > assume he wants Snape to return and infiltrate the Death Eaters, 
> but I'm
> > not sure how he's supposed to manage that, since V. already knows
> > (presumed from his listing of the DEs that aren't in attendance) 
> Snape
> > is no longer faithful to him.
>

There are some factors to consider regarding this problem. First of all,
it's true that Karkaroff tried to name him and Dumbledore publicly stated
that Snape "rejoined our side before Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned
spy for us, at great personal risk." (GoF, Ch. 30) So it's very possible
that many DE's know that this is what Dumbledore believes, and that V has
gathered this intelligence already through Crouch and Wormtail.

However, consider the consequences to Snape if he _doesn't_ try to return to
the DE's. In Ch. 33, Voldemort refers to the missing death eaters:

"And here we have six missing Death Eaters...three dead in my service. One,
too cowardly to return...he will pay. One, who I believe has left me
forever...he will be killed, of course...and one, who remains my most
faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service."

The three dead guys could be Rosier, Wilkes, and someone else unnamed. The
coward is Karkaroff and the faithful servant is of course young Crouch,
leaving Snape the one who has left forever. If V isn't exaggerating (and why
should he do?), the alternative to not returning is death.

Now, could Dumbledore conceivably protect Snape if he didn't go back? Maybe.
But Snape is clearly wedged in a very tight spot: not returning is a huge
risk and a liability to Dumbledore's plans, the School's safety, and not
least Snape's life; while returning is a huge risk and a liability to his
life exclusively. Dumbledore is sensitive to that risk, and therefore asks,
not tells, Snape to undertake it for the greater gain.

Understandably, this has been the subject of much speculation in fanfic as
well. I won't go into the various tortures fans have anticipated for poor
Snape, but I will list what I believe to be the most logical progression of
events:

I feel it's entirely likely that Snape will face a great deal of pain and
tribulation getting back into the DE's good graces, but certainly he is not
the only DE to have gone to lengths to survive in the wake of V's rise and
fall. It's well within the realm of possibility that he can gloss over the
little bits of information he did pass to Dumbledore as "insignificant,"
since who knows the extent to which his work as a mole caused DE attacks to
fail? He can cite other people's maneuvers to cover their butts, not the
least of whom is Lucius Malfoy, who convinced everyone he was acting under
the Imperius curse for years (yeah, right).

Assuming that Snape has the capability to grovel, worm, bully, and lie his
way back in, he still won't have an easy time of it. It's likely that he
will not be trusted; the other DE's will only accept his return grudgingly,
and certainly he's in for a few Cruciatus curses aimed his way. It's
probable that he won't be given any majorly useful information, he may have
to work under "more loyal" supervision, and he'll probably get busted down
to "bad servant" and made to do menial support tasks for some time. The road
back to his former position in the order will be long and arduous, and he
may die before he succeeds. But he at least has to try, because if he
doesn't, he will certainly become a target for revenge.

Gwen