Snape the spy-- the play so far...

[MMMfanfic at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 18196

It's time for a useful summary on the Spy theory and the arguments 
for and against since I have a compulsion of doing literature 
review/summary.  Personally, I couldn't decide whether he's going to 
be a spy or not.
The argument for:
1. What else could it be?
2. It's a job that makes Snape pale; Dumbledore speechless for 
several minutes.  Unlikely to be, 'Severus, go to Peabody Institute 
and inform them that Voldemort has returned.'
3. There's a plan that Snape and Dumbledore have devised together 
prior.
4. Whatever he did, it was partly accomplished by the Leaving Feast.
5. Explains a lot as to his attitude towards the Slytherins -- he 
needs them to tell their DE fathers that he is on their side, when 
the time is here.
6. I just thought of something.  Remember how Harry has to drain a 
dreamless sleep potion near the end of GoF, right after Snape set off 
for his *mission*?  Hence, if Snape did went back to Voldie that 
night, Harry couldn't see Voldie having his little fun in his dream.  
Could the dreamless sleep potion be significant?

The argument against:
These are more complex...
1. The whole plot of PS/SS does not fit in.  It could not be easily 
explained away.  Especially the line -- 'When you have time to decide 
where your loyalty lies' seems to suggest strongly that Snape did 
know that the Dark side was involved in some way.  Secondly, 
Voldemort didn't trust Snape enough in PS/SS to let him learn the 
fact that he's occupying Quirrel's body, suggesting that Voldemort is 
at least uncertain about Snape's loyalty.
2. The three missing DE: The coward, the left forever and the Most 
faithful servant.  The automatic fit would be: Karkaroff--the coward; 
Crouch jr.--MFS; Snape--left forever.  
3. Harry has openly mused about the possibility.  According to MMM's 
third rule of HP, Harry or Ron's speculation about Snape is always 
wrong because JKR gets her kick out of misleading us about Snape 
through Harry.
 (BTW, the first rule is NEVER, NEVER under any circumstances, name 
or allow your son to be named after yourself.  Witness Tom Riddle, 
Barty Crouch.)

Spy enthusiasts's rebuttal
1. It is possible for Snape to plea ignorance.  He can claim he was 
pretending to be loyal to Dumbledore, playing his part as the spy and 
thought Quirrel wanted the stone for himself.  (You should have told 
me, master...)  It still looks bad but nothing a few 'crucio' can't 
take care of.
2. Someone has suggested that Karkaroff could be the one who has left 
forever.  Other suggest that Voldemort was not entirely certain 
about 'the one who has left forever' because he only said 'he 
believed'.  There is an unconfirmed report that JKR has pretty much 
implied that the one who has left forever was Snape.
3. So Harry could be right about Snape once in a while ... or once 
every four years.

I'm sitting on the fence on this one ...

I think it is very, very likely that Snape was the one informing 
Dumbledore about the Potters. (Wait till Harry finds out, can you 
imagine the shock?)
This also raises an interesting problem.  Fudge did know about 
Dumbledore's spys but in GoF he seems to be completely shock when 
Snape showed him the Dark Mark.  Does that mean that even Fudge 
doesn't know exactly who those spys were?  How does it reconcile with 
the scene in the Pensieve, when Dumbledore disclosed Snape's 
identity?  Does this mean that even the future MoM don't get invited 
to these trials?  Who are these people in the audience then?  
Dumbledore, Moody and Crouch were part of it.  It seems that it was 
not common knowledge that Snape and Karkaroff were DE.  (Harry only 
found out from Sirius.)  200 people and not a word leaked out is kind 
of hard to believe.