[HPforGrownups] Re: Spy/Snape

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 47715

Porphyria provided us with the following canon (thanks - I wasn't sure if I was
suffering from movie tainting):
> "But Snape tried to kill me!"
> 
> "No, no, no. I tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger 
> accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at 
> that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few 
> seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it 
> before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a countercurse, trying to 
> save you."
> </PS/SS>
> 
> He goes on to remark about how Snape was also trying to protect Harry 
> by refereeing the next Quidditch match.

So yes, QuirrelMort knows that Snape was protecting Harry from him.  But does
that preclude Snape from going back to spying for Dumbledore (in the more
obvious sense of posing as a DE)?  I say it doesn't.

The very nature of "double agents" makes their loyalties difficult to pin down.
 Is Snape spying on Dumbledore for Voldemort, or is he spying on Voldemort for
Dumbledore?  Frankly, we don't know, but Dumbledore believes (or claims to
believe) the latter.

I think that all of the issues that have been brought up regarding Voldemort's
acceptance of Snape can be explained away by Snape with the double-agent role. 
Many DEs stayed out of Azkaban by providing a convenient explanation - Imperius
or whatever.  Some of these claimed to do this for Voldemort's benefit: they
would be more use to him if they were free.  Snape could easily use the same
argument about his defense.  He convinced the old fool Dumbledore that he was
spying on Voldemort (and it's entirely possible that, during VoldeWar I, Snape
had Voldemort convinced that he was spying for *him*).  He tried to stop
Quirrell because he didn't know he was working for Voldemort, and Snape also
wanted the Stone for Voldemort and saw Quirrell as an obstacle to this plan. 
He protected Harry (this is the one I haven't seen explained) because he feared
that the Stone was too well protected, and he (Snape, the Potions Master) had a
backup plan that required Harry to be alive: the very potion Voldemort ended up
using!

I don't know if I believe that going back to the double agent role is the task
Dumbledore sends Snape on, but I don't think he is precluded from doing so by
his "cover story" or by his behaviour toward Quirrell.

Sherry


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

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