Did Snape betray his friends? Round 2

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 34747


> If Snape turned against the Death Eaters once he realized just how 
> much evil they were doing, out of a genuine desire to prevent them 
> from doing further evil, then that might be a good reason to trust 
> him.  However, Cindy's theory was more along the lines of Snape
going 
> to Dumbledore and saying "Hey, I don't like my position in Voldy's 
> organization.  Will you give me a better deal if I turn in all my 
> friends?"  This would definitely *not* be a reason to trust him.  

True.  My theory does not fit in either with your theory, or with
Cindy's.  It is my own, my very own, and I will love it and hug it and
call it George.

>
> Marina didn't like my theory, saying:
> > "I don't care how many innocents they kill, it's only if they hurt
> > my girl that I object" just doesn't cut it.
> > And look at it from Dumbledore's point of view. Snape falls for 
> > Lily, the DEs want to hurt Lily, so Snape defects? Well, bully for 
> > him. And what happens if, a little down the line, he falls for 
> > another girl and she's on the DEs side? I wouldn't trust a spy
like 
> > that any further than I could throw him. 
> > No, I think that somewhere down the line Snape came to genuinely 
> > hate Voldy and everything the DEs stood for....<
> 
> I think I haven't made my theory clear.  It's not that Snape
thought  
> "Hey, I'll join whatever side has the girl I like on it!"  It's that 
> for the first time, Snape truly empathized with one of Voldy's 
> potential victims.  Voldy always dehumanized his victims and
presented 
> them as just a bunch of worthless muggles, mud-bloods, and 
> muggle-lovers, but this time the intended victim was someone Snape 
> knew well and cared about.  This brought home the fact that the
Death 
> Eaters were in fact killing good, worthwhile people, not just
faceless 
> scum.  

Hmm.  Well, that does make a lot more sense to me, though I'm  still
not a fan of the Tru Luv angle.  Of course, this theory doesn't
require Tru Luv -- it only requires that Snape care about Lily enough
to emphasize with her suffering (and to extend that empathy to Voldy's
other victims).  That could've happened if Lily was a very good friend
whose judgement he valued.  In the end, I don't think I can make a
final decision on this until we learn something meaningful about Lily
and what sort of person she was.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com