Snape: What is he up to?

[ats_fhc3]

No: HPFGUIDX 44019

> bugaloo37 writes:
> 
> <<Its the other side of this equation that bothers me.  In other 
words:  
> why does Snape go out of his way to protect Harry?  Is he doing 
this, 
> as Dumbledore has surmized to repay a life-debt to James Potter?  

The only two incidents in which Snape went out of his way to protect 
Harry, that I can remember, are the Quirrelmort/broom incident, and 
the Shrieking Shack one. Once could argure, however, that Snape had 
suspected Lupin was helping Sirius, and that Snape's hatred of 
Sirius prompted him to go after Lupin, to apprehend Sirius. Canon 
tells us that the Shrieking Shack is not seen on the Marauder's Map, 
so there was no way for Snape to tell that Harry and Co. were in the 
Shack as well. 
I'm of the opinion that Snape and Dumbledore talk a lot more than we 
are shown, or than Harry sees, so I think that if Dumbledore tells 
Harry that Snape has repaid his life-debt, it's the truth. 

> ksnidget wrote:
 
> On some level it could be a rising above the level of his
> rivals kinda of thing.
> 
> After all standing aside while Harry gets killed would make
> him quite possibly just like the young Sirius Black that he
> despises.  Step aside and let the evil thing kill someone you 
> don't like. He want's to think that he is better than that, 
perhaps.

I like that idea. He hates Sirius so much, why would he want to be 
like him?

> 
> One question we do not know about Snape is how long he
> was a true Death Eater.  Did he go into it as a spy, or did 
> something turn him back?  How many really bad things did
> he have to do either as a true DE or as a spy to keep from
> blowing his cover?

I think that Snape was a true DE for some time, then turned and 
became a spy. Dumbledore told the witches and wizards at the hearing 
that Snape was a DE, then turned. I don't know the exact phrasing.

> 
> How much does that cause him to feel the need for atonement?
> 

Now that is a very good question. Based on what evidence we have of 
what DEs did, Snape has probably killed and tortured witches, 
wizards, and maybe even Muggles. You have to wonder what kind of 
memories he's left with. 


> Perhaps a need to not be a part of directly or indirectly the
> death of anyone else.  Regardless of his feelings about the
> person.

Well, here's a thought: Snape and the rest of the WW know that 
Voldemort is after Harry. Snape has got to have *something* against 
V-Mort, so Snape's protecting Harry comes from a hatred of V-Mort. 
Snape can't stop V-Mort from killing random people, but perhaps he 
can help to stop V-Mort from killing Harry.

> 
> We don't know if his actions are Harry specific, or if he would
> step in and prevent the death of any student.
> Ksnidget.
> 

As a teacher, Snape would have to step in and prevent the death of 
any student-including Neville. You can't be a halfway decent teacher 
and just stand by and watch a student die. It looks bad to your 
employer.

-Acire, who is missing her canon terribly, and wants someone to 
publish an uncensored biography of Snape