Snape the spy

[severelysigune]

No: HPFGUIDX 88240

Anna:

> So now I'm wondering what you all think about Snape's spying 
career.  
> Speak out =)
> 
> 
Gee, Anna, you won't have to say that twice! It must be my favourite 
subject, though I can't pretend to have a perfectly developed theory 
like most of the other people who posted replies to you do. I merely 
have a lot of questions, I think. But here are a few points of 
reflection.

Point the First: I have difficulty assuming that Snape and the DE's, 
let alone Snape and Voldemort, are "natural allies" and that it is 
therefore really puzzling that he turned to Dumbledore. Here is why:

* Sirius (I believe it was him) tells Harry that Snape was part of 'a 
gang of Slytherins' who nearly all became DE's. It would be easy to 
assume a kind of allegiance between Snape and this gang; but to me 
this seems a little shaky at best. As far as we know, the 'gang' did 
not really stand by Snape when he was bullied by Potter and his 
cronies, and Snape seems hardly the kind of person to take kindly to 
this kind of desertion. He's essentially a loner, and I doubt if he 
would see his ex-classmates as kindred spirits.

* As to Voldemort, I hardly believe Snape could ever have served him 
wholeheartedly. I am not saying that I believe Snape to be in 
fact 'good' or 'kind' or a softy or whatever (he's plain nasty and 
that's fine with me); it's just that it seems so unlikely that he 
would accept being ordered about and controlled in such a thorough 
fashion as is Voldemort's habit. DE's have to come at dear Voldie's 
beck and call, and answering 'no' to any order is not an option. 
Would a man like Snape suffer such treatment gladly? I don't think so.

What we DO know fits in perfectly with the DE's and Voldemort is 
Snape's passion for the Dark Arts. I think (but this may be naive) 
that Snape joined the DE's in order to be able to further study the 
Dark Arts, hoping that Voldemort would share his occult knowledge 
with him and the other followers. He cannot have failed to be awed by 
Voldemort's extraordinary Dark powers; and he probably didn't care 
enough about the victims of the DE's actions to let those stand in 
his way to more Dark knowledge.
Also not without importance, I think, is the fact that although we 
don't know exactly when Snape joined the DE's, he must have been very 
young, seeing that Voldemort was defeated when Severus was around 
twenty-one, by which time he had already changed sides. So when he 
joined he must have been between seventeen and twenty, which is (I 
would hope) an age at which some allowance should be made for 
impulsive and wrong decisions.

I think that a motive for joining Dumbledore might have been Snape's 
realisation that there might be as much, if not more, to learn from 
Dumbledore than from Voldemort; and Dumbledore seems more ready to 
impart his knowledge anyway. Also, getting a teaching assignment at 
Hogwarts not only meant an escape from prosecution by both the DE's 
and the Aurors, but (*flourish*) unrestricted library access. And the 
Hogwarts library contains a treasure of Dark Arts books, Moste 
Potente Potions being only one of them. So what better place to 
immerse oneself in study of the Dark Arts than Hogwarts? The Hogwarts 
regime, it seems to me, is fairly liberal even towards the nastier 
sides of Slytherin(s). And unlike Voldemort, Dumbledore isn't likely 
to Cruciate people who voice objections to orders or decisions.

But yes, I know, that doesn't really account for the fact that 
Dumbledore should so trust someone as slippery as Snape.


Point the Second: indeed, how on earth can he spy after having 
been 'cleared in court' by Dumbledore?
Here is the familiar question of the 'one who has left me forever' 
and 'where does Snape go at the end of GoF'. When I read these 
passages I immediately assumed the first to refer to Snape and the 
second to mean that Snape went to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robe 
and offer a thousand apologies for being late. However, on closer 
inspection Snape's position would seem precarious at best.
* Here I have to voice some skepsis which is just innate to me - 
PLEASE don't avada kedavra me - , being: is Snape important enough 
for JKR to take the trouble to explain all this spying business to 
us? This is just me, but I never trust an author until I have read 
the last page of a story. What I mean is: maybe we just have to 
accept that Snape is again spying for Dumbledore and gets away with 
it, full stop.
* IF NOT, much depends on
a) how many people heard Dumbledore's defense of Snape (Karkaroff, 
for one, seems likely to crack up if the Dark Lord would give him as 
much as a stare)
b) how gullible, or vulnerable to flattery, Voldemort is
c) how incredibly clever, agile, cunning, brilliant Snape will turn 
out to be (this is the same guy who failed to defend himself against 
James Potter; nearly got himself killed by taking bait from Sirius 
Black; and was disarmed and knocked out by students in the Shrieking 
Shack)
d) since OOP: why doesn't Kreacher report him?

* I myself don't really go in for the 'spying by proxy' theory; it 
doesn't put Snape out of danger. What seems likelier is, indeed, that 
he has close ties with Lucius Malfoy, though I can't imagine they 
would be real friends. In fact I can't imagine anyone to be Snape's 
real friend, though he might /respect/ people like Dumbledore. I 
think his relationship with Malfoy would be calculated rather than 
genuine.

* Why might Voldemort take Snape back? 
For one, it might be nice to have someone at Hogwarts. If Voldemort 
asks himself why Snape went there in the first place, there are 
reasons of self-interest that are perfectly convincing: stay out of 
the Aurors' hands. Also: recruit future followers; guard the heritage 
of Salazar Slytherin. What use to Voldemort is a DE in prison? And in 
what sense is working at Hogwarts more cowardly or treacherous than 
claiming you acted under the Imperius Curse?
Besides, no-one at Hogwarts likes Snape. And even when he does things 
in Dumbledore's interests, they always look bad even though they 
aren't. He doesn't /say/ a single thing that can be held up against 
him as treason to Voldemort. Even when Karkaroff appeals to him in 
GoF he keeps holding off, giving the impression that he has in mind 
to go back to the Dark side. 
I think also that Voldemort might just be vulnerable to a bit of 
sliming. He really thinks the world of himself and treats even Lucius 
Malfoy, who, in the spirit of the DE creed, would be higher ranking 
in hierarchy than himself on account of his pure blood, like a slave. 
He just adores people grovelling for him. So maybe if Snape grovelled 
enough and endured a few Cruciatus Curses, and accused himself of 
unforgivable stupidity for not guessing Quirrell was acting for the 
Dark Lord, Voldemort might feel magnanimous enough to let him live. 
After all, he can use all the support he needs; maybe he feels 
confident enough to think he has all his DE's perfectly in hand. And 
there is, of course, Snape's skill as an Occlumens - this is perhaps 
his greatest strength, and much more useful than his knowledge of 
potions.

Oh dear, have I been rambling on... I guess I had better save any 
more thoughts for a next post - no-one is going to be brave enough to 
read any future ones I write if they all turn out to be so long :).

Yours severely, but with an apologetic look,

Sigune, whose obsession with the character of Snape tends to cloud 
her brain from time to time - she is not an Occlumens herself...