3rd 'Missing' DE

[Kate Harding]

No: HPFGUIDX 110239

Brenda wrote:

 > I thought "the one too cowardly to return" was Karkaroff and "the one
 > who has left me forever" was Fudge. Snape appears to be an active
 > Death Eater to me. In fact, I believe he was present at the rebirth
 > ceremony (between Lucius and where Lestranges should have been, 'a
 > man' stood there). I was immediately sold after reading the
 > Northtower Column #15 from Mugglenet.com - check it out, it is a very
 > thorough analysis)

Personally, I think Maline (from the North Tower) is wrong about this one. 
I think Snape was the ‘One, who I believe has left me for ever... he will 
be killed, of course...’, Karkaroff was the ‘One, too cowardly to return’, 
and Crouch Jr was the ‘one, who remains my faithful servant. I believe we 
have clear evidence that Snape was not at the gathering – evidence from 
Dumbledore.

The passage I’m referring to is this, from the end of GoF:

'Severus,' said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, 'you know what I must ask you 
to do. If you are ready... if you are prepared...'
'I am,' said Snape.
He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered 
strangely.
'Then, good luck,' said Dumbledore, and he watched, with a trace of 
apprehension on his face, as Snape swept wordlessly after Sirius.
It was several minutes before Dumbledore spoke again.

I’ve never seen Dumbledore show this degree of concern over anything 
before. Whatever’s going on, however much danger is around, he’s always 
calm and collected. No, this ‘trace of apprehension’ is an extraordinary 
thing for Dumbledore, who usually has all the answers. So what might Snape 
be doing to elicit such worry even from Dumbledore? I can only think of one 
possibility – he is ‘returning’ to Voldemort’s service. He is taking up the 
role of mole among the Death Eaters. This is a genuinely dangerous act for 
both Snape and the Order. If his famed Occlumency fails him, he will most 
likely be tortured and/or force-fed veritaserum until he reveals most of 
the Order’s most vital secrets.

And I think this is confirmed in Dumbledore’s other words. He says, 'you 
know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready... if you are prepared...' 
The repetition of the idea of being ‘ready’ and ‘prepared’, and perhaps his 
unfinished sentence (often an indicator with JRK) tell us that this is an 
important question. It’s not a polite enquiry or a starter’s mark (‘Ready? 
Go!’). He’s asking whether Snape has prepared himself *magically* – if he 
has in place all the protection an Occlumens can muster. Again, what could 
require such thorough preparation but an excursion into enemy territory?

Most importantly, however, the *weight* of these words suggest to me that 
this is *the first time* Snape will be seeing his former colleagues in his 
new capacity as a spy, the first time since he left and betrayed them. 
Consider the emphasis on preparation. The call which went out to the Death 
Eaters through their Dark Marks was unexpected. None of them knew his 
return was imminent except Crouch Jr and Wormtail. Therefore, if Snape had 
indeed answered the call and attended the gathering, then he would have had 
no time to make such preparations. He would have had to appear in the 
middle of a circle of Death Eaters and in front of Voldemort with no mental 
shield in place, nothing to protect him from Voldemort’s Legilimency. Not 
sensible at all, and while a man who is prepared to spy on Voldemort can’t 
be accused of lacking courage, Snape has always seemed careful – he 
couldn’t be a potions expert without care and patience.

I think Snape *can’t* just turn up to meet the Death Eaters, without any 
preparation, without even having time to discuss it with Dumbledore. And 
his absence from the gathering confirms Voldemort’s belief that he has left 
his service, eliciting the comment ‘he will be killed, of course
’

So why isn’t he dead? Well, aside from the fact that just because Voldemort 
intends to kill someone, doesn’t mean they die (qv Harry), in this case I 
believe Voldemort was persuaded to change his mind. By whom? Well


Imagine you are Snape. 15 years ago you betrayed the Dark Lord, fleeing his 
service and handing over one of his servants (Karkaroff) to the Aurors. Now 
you want to spy on him. Are you just going to show up at his side when the 
Dark Mark appears? Not if you have any sense. You'll be lucky not to be 
killed on the spot, or worse. No, the only sensible thing to do is find a 
go-between, someone who can persuade Voldemort to forgive you, which means 
someone who is close to Voldemort, but with whom you already have a 
connection. Problem is, most of your old gang are dead or in Azkaban. Your 
best chance now is Lucius.

And that is what I believe happened. Following the conversation with 
Dumbledore, I don’t believe Snape goes straight off to see Voldemort. I 
believe he goes to see Lucius. He tells him that he wasn’t able to come 
when their master called – he couldn’t get away, Dumbledore would notice, 
you can’t disapparate in the school grounds. But he wants to return to the 
fold. And think how useful he could be, inside Hogwarts, so close to 
Dumbledore
 so close to Harry


In other words, I believe Snape’s contact with the Death Eaters is Lucius. 
He has too much sense to want to spend a lot of time in Voldemort’s 
presence, Occlumens or no, and he has always shown a regard for the Malfoys 
which suggests the possibility of an old connection from their Death Eater 
days. Lucius is high enough in Voldemort’s service to know almost all his 
plans, but doesn’t have his master’s worrying skill with Legilimency, as 
far as we know.

As a final piece of support for the plausibility of such a relationship, 
consider Snape’s response when Harry is speaking to Fudge at the end of GoF:

‘I saw the Death Eaters! I can give you their names! Lucius Malfoy -’
Snape made a sudden movement, but as Harry looked at him, Snape’s eyes flew 
back to Fudge.

Why should Snape be dismayed by Harry outing Lucius? Perhaps because Snape 
and Dumbledore had long had him pegged as their best chance of infiltrating 
the Death Eaters again.

psyche 

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