Snape's mission

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 105126

> Aggie wrote:
> Am I the only one who thinks that it's a possibility that Snape's 
> mission was NOT to infiltrate the DEs?
> 
> <snip>
> 
> I don't know what else his mission could be but I just find it 
> incredible that he'd be able to just re join the DEs without 
getting 
> himself killed! 
> 
> Just an idea.  It also seems FAR too obvious to me, as everyone 
seems 
> to just be assuming that's what he's  been doing.  JKR doesn't very 
> often go with the obvious.   
> 
> What do you all think?

Neri:

Potioncat (#105093) already gave the reasons we believe ia a double 
agent. So it is back to the question of how does he bring this off, 
and why would LV believe him. There is an old suggestion (I don't 
know who made it first) that it was originally LV who sent Snape to 
DD as an agent. Then there is my suggestion that Snape acquitted 
Malfoy and other DEs after the first war from being DEs. In this way 
Snape gained a similar status (in LV's eyes) to that of Malfoy, Avery 
and others: he is a DE who, after the first fall of LV, did 
everything he could to deny his connection with LV and get himself 
out of Azkaban, but remains friendly with the other ex-DEs and loyal 
to the pureblood ideology. So why does LV forgive Avery and Malfoy in 
the graveyard scene, but does NOT forgive Snape? Because:

1. Snape didn't answer the Dark Mark summoning and didn't make it to 
the graveyard.

2. Because in SS/PS, Snape tried to prevent Quirrelmort from getting 
the Stone.
 

But Snape can find very good answers to these accusations:

1. I couldn't come to the graveyard because this would have blown my 
cover as DD's man.

2. I didn't know that you were hiding in Quirrell's turban. I thought 
Quirrell were trying to get the Stone for himself.


LV might buy these excuses, but I'm sure he wouldn't have Snape back 
without taking a good look into his mind. But we know Snape is a very 
good Occulomens, and he can use DD's pensieve to hide specific 
memories from LV. In the first Occlumency lesson Snape says to 
Harry: "The Dark Lord, for instance, almost always knows when 
somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able 
to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and 
so can utter falsehoods in his presence without detection". So it 
seems this is exactly what Snape is doing. 

How much does LV trust Snape now? Probably not much. LV apparently 
didn't told Snape in advance about his scheme to lure Harry to the 
DoM. But Snape still maintains a connection with Malfoy and other DEs 
and he might learn things from them. We know that he had learned 
enough to make several reports to the Order in the beginning of OotP. 

Neri