Snape and the Edinburgh Festival

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 111126

> Sigune:
> <snip>
> As to his apparent contentment, I'm not so sure. He isn't rash; 
he's 
> patient. He appears to me from canon as a man who knows his own 
> limitations (logical, calculating); he will only bite off as much 
as 
> he can chew. He can't fight Voldemort directly, so he helps the 
> Order. But I do think he could take out *Malfoy* personally. I sort 
> of like that scenario. - Anyway, what I set out to say was that he 
> may have greater ambitions, but he won't hurry them. His greatest 
> concern right now is to survive VW II. So, 'content with his 
current 
> situation' - yes, insofar as he is forced to work within limits at 
> this particular point in time.

Neri:

OK, I'm adding "Snape biding his time" to the list of Snape theories, 
with author rights to Severely Sigune. But I don't think I buy it, 
and not only because of the lack of dramatic potential. I think it 
also suffers from one of the usual problems with Snape fans: they'll 
just assume he's that awesome, brave and altruistic guy without even 
noticing they do it. They'll say he's selfish, egocentric and "not 
nice", while making him behave like a hero.

In your theory, for example, you had Snape fed up with Voldy. Sure, I 
have no problem believing this, even if Snape is selfish and 
egocentric. But this does not explain why did he become DD's right 
hand man, and why is he volunteering to what is obviously one of the 
most dangerous jobs in the war. If he was just fed up with Voldy, his 
best chance was to disappear completely, change identity and find 
himself a DADA post (or even a Dark Arts teacher) in some school 
abroad, preferably a school with sinister traditions and gothic 
atmosphere that suits his tastes. Or, if he doesn't like teaching 
(and it doesn't look like he does), become an independent Dark Arts 
villain, free to follow his own interests in the level of good/evil 
that suits him. Instead he goes straight to DD, Voldy's big opponent, 
where he can't indulge in Dark Arts or even become the DADA teacher, 
and is forced to teach Potions to idiot teenagers, look after the 
hated Harry Potter, fight on the side of the hated Gryffindors and 
serve two masters, DD and Voldy, at the same time. I can't see Snape 
signing for this only because he enjoys the sports of deceiving Voldy 
and torturing students. So either he is really the brave and 
altruistic hero (and in this case why is he pretending to be so bad?) 
or he has some vendetta, some geis, some debt, or another twist of 
fate that requires being stuck in his current dangerous and far-from-
ideal position. And such a twist of fate also has (how conveniently) 
much more dramatic potential.

I believe Snape has a secret. There's a BIG reason why he changed 
sides, there's a BIG reason why DD trusts him, and our job as readers 
is to try guessing this secret.

Neri