Snape (Was: How is Snape doing it)

[Berit Jakobsen]

No: HPFGUIDX 89985

June wrote: 
Voldemort thinks Snape is genuinely playing for the Death Eaters.  
Because if he thought otherwise, he would have offed Snape by now.  
So if Snape is genuinely playing for the Phoenix side, he's 
successfully conned Voldemort - for now.

Berit replies:

Well, the thing is that there's quite strong evidence in canon for 
Voldemort knowing Snape is a traitor. His statement at the end of 
GoF: "One, who I believe has left me for ever ... he will be killed 
of course" (p.565 UK Ed) seems to apply to Snape. Also it's 
significant that Snape wasn't let in on Voldie and Quirrel's little 
plan of stealing the Philosopher's stone. Why didn't Voldie trust him 
and let him in on the secret? Compare this to Impostor!Moody's little 
speech in the chapter "The egg and the eye" in GoF, and there is no 
way Snape can act as a double agent: "'Oh, if there's one thing I 
hate,' he muttered, *more to himself* than Harry, and his magical eye 
was fixed on the bottom left-hand corner of the map, 'it's a Death 
Eater who walked free.'" (p. 414) Now, this statement becomes 
significant when we go a few pages back and discovers exactly what's 
in the left-hand corner of the map: "Peeves was not the only thing 
that was moving. A single dot was flitting around in a room in the 
bottom left-hand corner - Snape's office." (p. 405)

So clearly, Crouch Jr is talking about Snape as the DE that walked 
free. Harry recognised this immediately: "Harry stared at him. Could 
Moody possibly mean what Harry thought he meant?" (p.414) Harry 
noticed which part of the map Moody was staring at. There is no way 
Crouch Jr could have known that Snape is no longer loyal to his old 
master without Voldemort himself also knowing. The big mystery is why 
Snape is still alive, why Voldemort hasn't finished him off yet... 
And how Snape is able to get information from the DE's... I have a 
hard time imagining Voldie not mentioning Snape's betrayal to Lucius, 
it would be really stupid not to do so. So, when Snape's still alive, 
its must be because the DE's for some unknown reason are playing 
along. For now.

Berit
http://home.no.net/berjakob/snape.html