[HPforGrownups] So, why did Snape turn on Voldermort?

[Rochelle]

No: HPFGUIDX 39911

darrin_burnett wrote:
>
> Regardless, Snape did turn on the V-Meister, and I'm curious as to
> the theories why.

*g* So far, I've devoted one prologue plus nine chapters to explaining
just that. (A link to the story is in my sig.) You might say I've given
the matter some thought.

<Re. theories as to why Snape left the DEs>
>
> 2) He was trying to save Lily, not James.
> I've read some fan sites that speculate Snape was in love with Lily.
> Go with that. He found out Volderoni was going after the Potters and
> he didn't want Lily killed.

The "Snape was in love with Lily" theory's been touted so often and with
such great enthusiasm that, for awhile, I assumed it was practically
canon.  After all, I haven't read that many chat transcripts; I wondered
it, maybe, JKR had said this herself and I missed it.  But thinking
about it on my own, this idea DOES have some flaws.

1) It's just too simple, obvious and common.  How many times have we
seen this happen?  Even in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (fun
movie, BTW, though not exactly great cinema), Shredder hated Splinter's
master because -- you guessed it -- Shredder wanted his woman.  I've
come to expect the unexpected from Harry Potter books.  Taking such a
well-traveled road seems like a bit of a cop-out to me.

2) Unless I'm missing something here, there is no evidence whatsoever
that Snape had any feelings for Lily one way or the other.  In PoA,
Remus made the off-handed guess that Snape was jealous of James's talent
for Quidditch. [PoA, p.357 hardcover] Dumbledore said explicity in SS
that Snape hated James because James saved his life [SS, p.300
hardcover] Apparently, it hasn't crossed anyone's mind that Lily was a
factor.  If it had, I don't see any reason to keep it a secret.

Going off on a bit of a tangent, my guess is that the reason for Snape's
hatred of James is something that no one wants to think about: maybe
James did something to deserve it.

Snape strikes me as the type who was best known as... well... the Class
Freak, creepy and entirely too smart for his own good.  Even Sirius
Black concedes that Snape is pretty bright, and Snape would have to be
an oddball sort of genius to have known "more curses when he arrived
than half the kids in seventh year" [GoF, p.531 hardcover].

I know from experience that weird, over-smart kids are NOT treated well
by their classmates, especially the popular ones.  To me, it seems more
than possible that the Marauders started this whole mess themselves, but
no one wants to tell Harry that.  It's easier to let him keep his
perfect image of his father instead of telling him that James and his
friends could sometimes be bullies.

But back to the topic at hand.

> 4) Dumbledore made Snape an offer he can't refuse

That ties into my own thoughts a bit, but not in quite the way you've
postulated.

We know from canon that Snape DOES have a conscience.  Otherwise, he
probably wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to save Harry's life in
SS.  Since he has a conscience, he can feel guilt, and guilt can be an
excellent motivator.

The way I rendered things, Snape became a Death Eater in the first place
because of... well... a lot of things (it's a little complicated), but
after he got in, he realized he'd made a mistake.  He didn't want to
face up to this until the actions he performed in Voldemort's service
finally became too much for his conscience to bear.  The offer that
Dumbledore made to him was the chance to atone for his sins.

> It's been speculated that Snape is part-vampire. Assume that's true
> for a second. We don't know what vampire mythology JKR is going to
> use -- for instance, what the effects of coffins, garlic, sunlight,
> crosses, etc...would be? -- but say that Dumbledore found a "cure"
> for Snape similar to the werewolf potion.

If Snape IS part vampire, you might be on to something.  I guess we'll
just have to wait and see. :)

*Rochelle, who probably thinks too much... or, sometimes, not enough.
*g*
-- 
http://www.YaoiGoddess.com/ --Long Live the Slash.
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=26023 --My fics on FFN.
http://www.YaoiGoddess.com/light/ --Dying of the Light: A history of
Severus Snape, Dark Arts prodigy turned Death Eater.
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