Snape's DE past/ Life Debts

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 44494

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Risti" <kristin at j...> wrote:
> Well, this is somewhat unrelated, but still related to Snape's 
> deatheater past, and the Life Debts theories circling around.  I've 
> always wondered something.  Why didn't Snape kill James Potter?  We 
> know he was a death eater at one point-I would imagine a through and 
> through death eater as well, no matter what his redemption was later 
> on.  We know that he hated James Potter.  Arthur Weasley said that 
> the DE's killed for fun, and what would be more fun for Snape then
to 
> out his old enemy?  This is early on, before any secret keeper, or 
> even any Harry.  The only reason I can come up with is this:James 
> Potter once saved Snape's life....

I'm sure the life debt was a big part of it, but I also think it's
safe to assume that James Potter was no pushover.  Sure, Voldemort
swatted him like a fly, but Voldemort was a special case.  I think
it's safe to assume that anyone who wasn't a super-powerful, nearly
immortal Dark Lord would've stood a good chance of getting smacked
down if they tried to kill James, and that this is why Voldemort went
to do it himself rather than sending some flunkies.  Maybe
pre-redemption Snape thought it would be better to just sit back and
let the war take care of his enemies. :-)

(I mean, sure, Snape could've snuck up from behind and tossed an AK
when James wasn't looking, but where's the fun in that? Can you
imagine Snape killing an enemy without making a snide speech first?)

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com