[HPforGrownups] Does Snape have a life-debt to Harry? (was: Who was witne...

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 42294

Sorry, this is a bit late. Unfortunately the computer I was working on died 
(temporarily, I hope!) last night and I've had to reconnect via a second one.

Richelle:
> Eloise writes:
> 
> > Which leads me to wonder.....*did* Harry hear Voldemort trying to convert
> the
> > Potters before killing them (I think the time-scale probably precludes
> this)?
> 
> I don't really think Voldemort tried to convert the Potters.  Hagrid says 
> he
> never did, 
> 
> 
> Eloise:
> Actually, Hagrid *doesn't* say this, which was precisely the point I made 
in my previous post. He says,

"Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get them on his side 
*before*..." (my emphasis). 

Now I know that my use of English and Hagrid's are a little different, but if 
I were to say that, it would contain the definite implication that he hadn't 
*before*, but he did *then*.

I concede that in his next sentence he suggests the alternative that 
Voldemort just wanted them 'outta' the way, but I would suggest that although 
Hagrid is a central, trusted figure, involved enough to know a fair deal, he 
is not 100% in the know.

Richelle:

and we have Lily's plea before she is AK'd, "I'll do anything."> 
> Which pretty much sounds like, if you'll spare my child I'll become your
> follower.  But converting them was not his intention apparently.

Eloise:
Not his primary intention, perhaps. I think the implication is that he 
certainly wanted to take out Harry at that point and that his vendetta 
against him isn't just revenge for his being the agent of his (Voldemort's) 
downfall.

So a possible scenario is this:
He wants the Potters on his side for some specific reason we don't yet know, 
'Join my side and I will spare your lives, but the child must die,' being the 
conditions.

Lily's statement and Voldemort's actions then become compatible. She will do 
anything but sacrifice her child, which is the condition of becoming his 
follower. James, of course, has already refused and died.

There. I don't think it's necessarily so, but I do think it's a workable 
theory. And flooding the kitchen in pursuit of a theory (I now have to 
repaint the ceiling!) has to be worth something. Although that post was 
really about the working of the Fidelius Charm and the fact that my 
understanding of it implied that Snape could only have been at the Potters' 
if he were there with Voldemort. This was a bit of a side-issue and the part 
I said at the time was least likely, although I think I've strengthened the 
argument now. Thanks!

Eloise

> 
> 



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