More On Snape's Backstory

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 34727

Cindysphynx wrote:
> One of the biggest remaining mysteries about Snape is why he decided 
> to work for Voldemort, and equally important, why he decided to come 
> back to Dumbledore....
> OK, here's a theory (using as much canon as I can), and it all turns 
> on The Prank.
> ...the Marauders are making Snape's life miserable.  They 
> bewitch parchment to insult Snape. ....
> Then Sirius plays The Prank, almost getting Snape killed....
> Snape tells this to Dumbledore, demanding an apology and hoping for 
> expulsion.  Dumbledore, however, wants to protect Lupin...
> This is just too much for Snape to take.  Dumbledore has shown who 
> he favors and where his loyalties lie -- the Gryffindors and the 
> Marauders.  This solidifies Snape's relationships with the DE 
> Slytherins...< 

Cindy, despite your inexplicable lack of affection for Severus, I like 
this part of your theory.  I, like you, have wondered if maybe the 
Marauder's Map was specifically bewitched to insult *Snape* and no one 
else. 

I also definitely agree that the Prank could have been the catalyst 
that made Snape turn to the Death eaters.  However, I see it in even 
stronger terms than you.  Remember, there was a war on between 
Gryffindor and Slytherin at the time.  As far as Snape could tell, 4 
Gryffindors had tried to murder him, and the headmaster, a Gryffindor, 
 had sided with them.  Forget about wanting power or prestige -- Snape 
may have felt he that he needed Voldemort's help just to stay alive. 

Cindy continued:
> Once Snape becomes a DE, he finds it is not all it was cracked up to 
> be.... Snape is just a journeyman DE, outside the outer outskirts 
> of Voldemort's inner circle, hardly in a position of power.... 
> Voldemort, believing that Snape isn't trying hard enough 
> and needs some motivation, punishes Snape with several protracted 
> Cruciatus Curses and a substantial tongue-lashing....<

This is pure speculation.  We have no idea what position Snape had 
among Voldemort's circle (although he was certainly younger than some 
of the other followers.)  I actually think Snape has the sort of 
personality that Voldemort would like, and Snape also has skills that 
are apparently not very common.  

Cindy continues on:
> And that is the moment when Snape decides to defect back to 
> Dumbledore's camp.  .... Snape lures his old friends (Travers, 
> Mulciber, Dolohoff, Rosier, Crouch Jr., the Lestranges) to a trap in 
> which a certain talented Auror (Moody) kills some and takes the rest 
> into custody.<

Now, this part is directly contradicted by cannon.  Of Snape's 5 
closest friends (all of whom were Death Eaters), three got through the 
fall of Voldemort without being apprehended.  These include Avery 
(still free) and the Lestranges, who were only apprehended 
substantially later, after they attacked the Longbottoms. (Ditto for 
Crouch Jr., although we don't know if he was Snape's friend.)  We 
know Snape worked for Dumbledore before the fall of Voldemort; 
Dumbledore says so.  If Snape had turned in all his friends before the 
fall of Voldemort, how come three out of five went free?

By the way, there is nothing to indicate that Snape even knew 
Mulciber, Dolohoff, or Travers; the Death Eaters didn't know all of 
each others' identities.

Further reasons to think that Snape didn't turn in any Death Eaters -- 
when Sirius was in Azkaban, he heard Death Eaters ranting about those 
who betrayed them, and Snape wasn't one of them.  And, Karkaroff 
seemed surprised that Snape was a spy.  So, at the very least, none of 
the Death Eaters thought Snape had turned them in. 

Cindy had one last point:

> ...Snape despises Sirius because The Prank was the catalyst for 
> Snape's decision to become a DE and all of the pain Snape suffered 
> as a result.

Quite possible.  I think, though, that the main reason Snape hates 
Sirius is that he blames Sirius for Lily's death.