TBAY: PlanB!Snape, was several other varieties of him

[Amanda Geist]

No: HPFGUIDX 46857

Cindy was holding forth in the bar, quoting canon:

"What was it that Snape had done on Dumbledore's orders, the night
that Voldemort had returned?  And why . . . *why* . . . was
Dumbledore so convinced that Snape was truly on their side?  . . .
Snape had turned spy against Voldemort, "at great personal risk."
Was that the job he taken up again?  Had he made contact with the
Death Eaters, perhaps?  Pretended that he had never really gone over
to Dumbledore, that he had been, like Voldemort, biding his time?"

***********

"I mean," Cindy said, "would you *look* at that set-up?  How can JKR
waltz up to us in OoP and say, 'Oh, no, Snape didn't have anything
to do with Voldemort at the end of GoF.'  Nah, she's stuck.  She
just needs a convincing way to explain why Voldemort would take
Snape back."

Cindy reached over and grabbed the last peanuts from the basket
while Charis and Marina gaped at her.  The only sound in the Tavern
was the sound of salted nuts being crushed between teeth.

--------------------
An owl deftly swooped between the window shutters as they banged in the
wind, and settled delicately atop Cindy's paddle as it leaned against the
bar. It extended its leg toward Cindy, who removed the fat purple envelope
tied there.

The envelope bore, in elegant calligraphy, the words "A Convincing Way to
Explain Why Voldemort Would Take Snape Back."

Cindy tore it open and read aloud to the bar:

"I like the bangy way you think, Cindy, but honestly, all the scenarios you
have put forward pretty much have all the explaining of Snape's task
happening relatively soon (say, in the next book). I think there will be
details and ramifications of it we won't understand until book 7; you must
learn to spread out your bangs.

"There is a perfectly good reason Voldemort would take Snape back, bearing
anyone's head or not. Voldemort, unexpectedly, needs him. We'll call him
PlanB!Snape.

"Think back to the graveyard scene. This was to be Voldemort's triumphant
return. He has impressively risen, called his followers to him, and is going
to reassert himself as the most powerful sorcerer in the world. He'll start
with a little cruel fun, squashing Harry Potter to a smear on the ground in
a very one-sided duel, before they set off to pick up where they left off.

"And it starts off just grand, but then the whole wand-effect thing kicks
in. Voldemort orders the DEs not to help, and then, looky here, the little
brat *escapes.* Canon follows Harry; we are not privy to what takes place in
the graveyard just after Harry's escape. Oh, to be a fly on a gravestone!

"Harry has escaped, in a sense defeating Voldemort *again,* or at the very
least, showing himself able to resist him. This first little, easy,
enjoyable exercise to get limbered up has gone awry. The shades of the wand
tell Harry to use the Cup to escape. And he does.

"Which leads to the second serious blow Harry has done to Voldemort. By
taking the Cup, he has fouled up the rest of Voldemort's plans. As most of
you have heard me hold forth on many occasions, I have always believed the
Cup was to take Voldemort and the DEs to the Hogwarts grounds on its return
trip, there to make a surprise raid on the assembled, unprepared might of
the wizarding world, the children of not only the UK's wizarding population
but of other countries as well, and be standing inside Hogwarts, the place
of strength into which one cannot apparate. Perhaps the shades of the wand
knew this; they were certainly in a position to hear it plotted. In any
case, the trip's off; the Cup's gone.

"So what the hell is Voldemort going to do, after he straightens up and
turns to face his followers? Raving egotists don't take to defeat well. But
he cannot be ignorant of the fact that significant doubts will have sprouted
in the minds of the DEs, no matter what he does. This time they were all
standing there *watching* Harry Potter get away from their master and he
can't spin it any different. He's going to be doing a lot of blustering and
Crucio'ing and "where *were* you all these years?"-type redirecting. And
trying to figure out what to do. Voldemort is nothing if not single-minded.
He's been carefully building and pursuing this elegant and ingenious plan.
He has no ace in his sleeve that we know of, other than the fear he can
still inspire in his followers.

"Those followers have now seen that he is not infallible. They are afraid of
him now, here, in person; but he can't let them leave, apparate away, to
dwell on their doubts. He must re-establish himself, in his own most private
mind and in their eyes, as a power to be reckoned with, who has places for
them all in a plan.

"And then someone apparates nearby. Someone thin and pale, whose eyes
glitter as he walks steadily up to Voldemort through the ranks of the DEs
and bows. "Master."

"Voldemort is many things. Stupid is not one of them. If he had managed to
kill Harry and return to Hogwarts, Snape would be on the Toast List. But
Harry has escaped, Voldemort looks like a fool, he has no other plan ready,
and here stands a highly placed administrator, close to Dumbledore, with
ready access to Hogwarts and Harry Potter.

"I don't believe Voldemort will welcome Snape with open arms. I'm saying
Snape will have something he would not have had otherwise--a chance to speak
before Voldemort blasts him. And he will tell Voldemort something along the
lines of, 'I've spent all these years establishing myself with Dumbledore,
until he doesn't have a shred of doubt about my loyalty. Look how successful
I have been--even you believed it. I could not come to your side when you
summoned us, for I was at Dumbledore's side and events would not let me
leave. I came as soon as I could without allowing Dumbledore to doubt me.
And I must tell you that Barty Crouch is worse than dead--the Dementors have
Kissed him. They know that you have risen again, and how. Harry Potter
lives; Crouch did not manage to kill him. Dumbledore is marshaling defenses
against you.'

"Voldemort, learning that Crouch is now useless to him, will have even more
reason to allow Snape his life and use him. Voldemort will doubtless punish
Snape, for some reason or none. But I think he will be taken back into the
DE ranks (albeit suspected, at least for a while), because Voldemort needs
him. His master plan has failed. Snape as his eyes and ears into Hogwarts
and the enemy's camp will be Plan B.

"Snape's return will put Voldemort once more in a position of power. At
least, this is what Voldemort will tell the other DEs, who will never know
that this was not planned. He never mentioned the coward and the one who
left his service by name; the DEs have never themselves known who all of
them are.

"Snape will survive his return to Voldemort. Unmarked, for he must go back
to Hogwarts. Where he will sit at the ending feast and look into Harry
Potter's eyes for a moment, and think his own thoughts.

There will be Bangs, Cindy, but I think we'll be strung along for a book or
so before we get the big Snape Bang. I think in this case, the obvious
thought is the correct one. And I think Porphyria is correct in her
interpretation of the glitter and paleness, and Dumbledore (and probably
Snape himself) fear that his old way of life will have too much pull to
resist a true return. And we, as readers, will not know the truth of that
(or the Bang associated therewith) for quite a while."

~Amanda, P.S., L.O.O.N.

Cindy, hoarse from reading, fumbled for her glass and took a drink. Then she
raised her eyes to the rest, standing at the bar, all watching her in
silence.

"Well?" she asked them. The owl hooted softly and fluffed its feathers. No
one spoke; there was a rustling as positions were shifted.

The shutter banged again, nearly hitting the second, tiny, owl that flew in
to sit on the bar. It allowed Cindy to take its small purple envelope, then
helped itself to her drink.

Cindy opened the envelope, noting the "PostScript" calligraphed on the
outside, and read

"By the way, whoever thinks that Severus Snape would be able to cast a
Patronus is deluded. He is clearly a powerful wizard, despite his disdain
for "wand-waving," but given his past, I strongly doubt that he has too many
memories or thoughts of happiness upon which to draw. Even if he *can*
manage one, it certainly won't be strong enough to fend off the assembled
presence of all of Azkaban's dementors."

~Amanda

A soft "flump" broke the silence after Cindy finished reading this note, as
the second owl keeled over onto the bar and hiccuped.