Get yer piping hot Snape Theory right here...

[Jee H. Lee]

No: HPFGUIDX 85214

> But mostly, it's this:  "I trust Severus Snape" is
simply 
> incompatible with "But I'm worried that if I let him
near 
> a 'Ridiculus' spell, he'll freak out and rejoin
Voldemort."  

Yeah, that bothered me, too. I agree the "recovering
alcoholics" hypothesis doesn't really hold water.
(Begging pardon for the implied metaphor.. :)

Sydney: 
> So, Slytherin that he is, he sneakily places the
jinx on the 
> job he immediately assumed he'll be offered: 
Defence against Dark 
> Arts, what he was famous for at school. 
>
> But Dumbledore, super-sneaky guy that HE is, fakes
him out and puts 
> him in Potions instead.  So now Snape is stuck--
bound by his duty 
> to Dumbledore. 

I like this theory, because it explains things much
better than "recovering alcoholic." I imagine the two
most obvious questions would be: 

1. How to place a jinx on a job? 

and 

2. If Snape could place the jinx on DADA, why not on
Potions? 

Therefore, my modification to the Great Snape Theory
would be this: 

Throughout the books it has been made clear that magic
is much more than what is done with wands and
incantations. The most prominent example is Lily's
sacrifice for Harry--in that case, love was the magic,
though there was no wand-waving and no spell. 

There are also the bonds formed when one wizard saves
another's life, between Harry-Pettigrew, James-Snape,
Snape-Harry etc. This is all "deep magic," if you
like, that has nothing to do with the technical
details of casting and everything to do with the
fabric of human life. 

Maybe the "jinx" on the DADA position is similar. It
wasn't placed intentionally by anyone, but events and
emotions surrounding the class and the teachers led up
to the present state of affairs. In other words, bad
vibes. :) 

That would resolve the two questions I posed above:
The DADA jinx was a form of deep magic you couldn't
just wave a wand to cast, which was why Snape couldn't
similarly jinx the Potions position. The hypothesis
that Snape is asking Dumbledore "NOW can I leave?" by
applying to DADA still stands. And, of course,
Dumbledore's turning him down year after year would be
his way of saying "Nope." 

Incidentally, this line of reasoning leads to another
interesting question--is Snape trying to jinx the
Potions position by creating such a miasma of fear and
unpleasantness around it? If anyone knows about
affecting this kind of magic it would be Snape, the
Dark Arts aficionado. 

So, following through with this modified theory,
there's a fine balance being held here. Not a balance
of tranquility, but a dynamic balance struck between
the opposing wills of the two men. Snape wants to
leave; Dumbledore wants him to stay. Snape applies for
the jinxed position; Dumbledore won't let him have it.
Snape tries to jinx his own position; Dumbledore lets
him, as if to see how far he'd go. It's like an
ongoing game, and I wouldn't be surprised if they
secretly and guiltily enjoyed it. 

I, too, await the canon fire. :)

-Lunatique

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