LOLLIPOPS, Timeline, WL3 (Why let Lily live?)

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 34857

Marina wrote, regards to the theory that Snape left the DEs because of 
Lily:
> > There's also a timing problem: Snape was a spy for some time 
> > before James and Lily died, so for a threat to Lily's life to 
> > become a motivator for Snape changing sides, there would have to 
> > be a lengthy gap between Voldemort deciding to kill the Potters 
> > and actually doing it. 

In response, Cindy proposed an extensive timeline to get around this 
problem.

But, before we go any further on this timeline discusison, let me 
point out that, as far as I can recall, we actually have no info on 
how long Snape spied for Dumbledore.  Sirius says that Peter spied for 
a year (I don't know why the Lexicon would have it as two years), but 
I'm fairly sure there is nothing about how long Snape spied.  
Dumbledore says Snape turned to the "light side" before the fall of 
Voldy.  I took that to mean *right before* the fall of Voldy, but 
that's just my interpretation. 


Mahoney said:
> Petty and mean [Snape] may be on an everyday basis, but when it 
> comes to the *big* stuff, you don't have to bribe him with the 
> object of his obsession to do the right thing, you know? 

Well, I certainly think Snape turned to Dumbledore's side because of 
some altruistic reason, otherwise why would Dumbledore trust him?  And 
I am a big subscriber both to the basic LOILLIPOPS theory (which is 
that Snape was in love with Lily), and the idea that it was this love 
of Lily that brought Snape to Dumbledore's side.  However, as I've 
said before, I *don't* think Snape actually expected any sort of 
relationship with Lily as his reward for turning to Dumbledore's side. 
 I think he just finally realized how evil the DEs were, when he had 
to think about their effects on someone he actually cared about.  

In fact, let me now theorize that Snape *gave up* the chance to be 
with Lily when he switched to Dumbeldore's side.  Suppose Voldy has  
a strong reason to kill James and Harry (I like the theory that they 
are the last descendents of Godric Gryffindor.)  He doesn't have a 
real reason to kill Lily, but then, when does Voldy need a reason to 
kill someone?  However, Voldy discovers that one of his followers 
[Snape] is in love with her.  We know that Voldy believes in rewarding 
his followers (and if he didn't, he probably wouldn't have any.)  So, 
he tells Snape that he plans to kill James and Harry, put Lily under 
Imperio (or give her an amnesia potion or something), and make her 
think she's married to Snape.  

At this point, let me say that even as someone who is infatuated with 
Snape, this theory has a very strong eewwwww factor.  It just seems 
like an absolutely awful thing to do, kill a woman's husband and child 
and make her think she's married to a man who is, in fact, an enemy of 
her real husband.  Let's suppose it also bothers Snape, who already 
was quite distressed at the thought of killing Lily's family.  So, he 
doesn't go along with it, but of course he can't tell Voldy that. 
Instead, Snape goes to Dumbledore to protect the Potters, but his 
efforts come to naught because of Wormtail.

This theory, has some advantages, even if it is too ewww to be trewww 
[great name, Tabouli!]  It gives a reason for Voldy to try to spare 
Lily's life.  (Of course, he doesn't try all that hard, but why offer 
her a chance to live at all?  Won't she dedicate her life to stopping 
him, if he kills her family and leaves her memory intact?)  It also is 
a strong enough test of Snape's character that Dumbledore would later 
trust him.  I mean, if Snape just said "You know, I finally decided I 
don't like this whole muggle-killing thing, can I join you?" wouldn't 
Dumbledore have thought Snape was trying to infiltrate his side?

On the subject of whether LOLLIPOPS, in general, is "ewwww", let me 
say that I've never imagined Snape pining away in his dungeon, writing 
 "SS & LE 4-ever" all over the walls.  If fact, I imagine him as 
showing no outward signs of his unrequited love at all, throwing 
himself into his work.  Of course, he'd still have undying hatred for 
the man who killed Lily (not that Voldy is a *man*, exactly.)  Snape 
is good at the whole undying hatred thing.

By the way, on the topic of "Why did Lily's love protect Harry", let 
me theorize that it was because Lily gave up a chance to survive.  
Yes, Voldy probably attacked whole families before, and other parents 
died to protect their children, but Voldy was going to kill the 
parents *anyway*, so their deaths did not constitute a voluntary 
sacrifice.  Lily may have been one of the few people on the opposing 
side of a battle with Voldy, whom Voldy was willing to spare. 


On another topic, Cindy said she was "going on record to agree with 
Judy that Mrs. Crouch never *did* her son."

Thanks, Cindy!  I needed the show of support!

-- Judy