Even More LOLLIPOPS & WL3, Omniscience

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 34875

In regards to the "Eeewww" theory (that Voldy was saving Lily for 
Snape), Ana said:
> > Oops, Judy. I honestly thought it was Pippin's theory.
And Pippin replied:
> Er, well, I hadn't read Judy's theory when I posted, due to posting 
> delay. So please don't think I was trying to steal Judy's thunder. 
> Great minds think alike :-) 

Hey, no problem!  Actually, considering the "adult nature" of this 
theory, maybe I should be glad I wasn't the only one who thought of 
it!  

Actually, Pippin, we simultaneously came up with two unrelated 
theories:
1) That Voldy planned to spare Lily because Snape was in love with 
her, and
2) That Lily was able to save Harry because she had a real chance to 
survive, thus making the magic of her sacrifice more powerfiul. (This 
can be true regardless of whether Snape had anything to do with Lily.)

So, shall we publish together? 
 

Pippin also said:
> I would never imagine Snape even trying to convince 
> Voldemort that he would use Imperius or potions to coerce a 
> woman.

Me neither; rather, I'd theorize that Voldy found out about Snape's 
feelings for Lily, and just (incorrectly) *thought* Snape would want 
this. 
 
Ana added:
> Anyhow I still think that this theory is too *ahem* adult. Remember 
> JKR's musing on Hermione's going and getting pregnant at the age of 
> fourteen: it wouldn't work in this kind of story. 

True; it would have to be implied.  (By the way, in response to 
Pippin's comments about Mrts. Roberts being turned upside down: I 
think what happened to the Roberts was quite bad enough, especially 
since the DEs were likely to drop them at some point, without more 
being implied.)  When did JKR muse about Hermione getting pregnant, by 
the way? 



Now, on to Omniscience:

Cindy asked: >>>Why does [Dumbledore] just take Snape's word? 

And I replied: >>Dumbledore peers over his glasses at Snape, his light 
>>blue eyes twinkling, and decides Snape is telling the truth.

Katze added:
> Harry has mentioned that it feels like D is
> examining him when D looks at him. D also saw through Tom Riddle.
> Perhaps he was able to peer into Snape and see who he is, much like 
> the sorting hat with the children?

Yep, that is exactly was I was getting at; Harry keep saying he thinks 
Dumbledore can tell when he's lying. 

Cindy objected:
> The idea is tempting (er, let's call it Omnicient Dumbledore), but 
> there are too many instances in which Dumbledore has no ability to 
> peer into people's eyes and see if they are telling the truth. 

I had also said:
>> Well, at some point, maybe Voldy asks Snape "Why 
>> do you hate James Potter so much", and since Voldy can detect lies, 
>> Snape has to fess up that he loves Lily. 

Cindy points out:
> Hmmm. Now we have Omnicient Voldemort battling Omnicient 
> Dumbledore. :-)
> Boy, I don't know. If Voldemort can detect lies, then why is he so 
> darn, well, stupid? He has his radar set to pick up that Snape loves 
> Lily, but he never changes the channel to pick up that Snape is 
> spying for Dumbledore? 

OK, let me clarify.  First, I think there is no question that Voldy at 
least *believes* himself to have the ability to detect outright lies; 
he repeatedly says so.  If so, why can't he figure out that *someone* 
is spying on him?  (We know for sure that at least Snape spied on him, 
and maybe others.)  Well, maybe he never asks the right questions. In 
other words, maybe it's the same problem as the whole overconfidence, 
can't-even-kill-a-little-boy-because-I'm-too-busy-ranting-and-raving 
thing.  In other words, Voldy's general incompetence is a serious 
weakness in the plot, but, hey, what can you do? 

Dumbledore has a different ability, I think.  No, he can't detect all 
lies.  But, sometimes he gets strong intuitive feelings that a certain 
person is telling the truth, and he goes with that.  So, much of the 
time he would be unsure whether or not he was hearing the truth, but 
when his intuition says "this is the truth" (which make happen only 
rarely), he's sure he's right. This would give his ability an 
interesting symmetry with Voldy's. 

Marina said:
> Another thought -- the "that's between Snape and myself" answer 
> seems to go against the notion that Snape's conversion had anything 
> to do with the Potters. Because if it did, then Harry would have a 
> legitimate right to know about it, so Dumbledore wouldn't be able to 
> honestly say that it wasn't any of Harry's business. 

Well, this is a good point.  Still, perhaps it just means D. promised 
Snape he wouldn't tell.  I mean, suppose D. told Harry "Well, Snape 
really had it bad for your mother, and Voldy said he could have her, 
but Snape decided to try to save all of you instead." I think Snape's 
head would explode if D. did that. 

-- Judy