JKR chat--Snape the coward or the one left forever?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 92778

> Potioncat:
> I was looking in a quote site, but could not find what I was looking 
> for. Does anyone remember JKR saying that Snape had some difficult 
> stuff coming, but not to worry because he is tough? It may have 
> been around the time of GoF, but I'm not sure. I just wonder if it 
> has anything to do with Book 6's plot line.



Thanks for asking that question. I just happen to have bookmarked what
I think is the post you're looking for. (I thought it was Pippin's but
apparently not.) In any case, it was a while back:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/7901

Here's the relevant portion:

"Back in October/November [2000] one of the posters on Jenna's UHPFC
board attended a reading that JKR did in Vancouver. She reported that
afterwards there was a Q&A session, during which JKR was asked
straight out who the three "missing" Death Eaters were. JKR gave a
reply which apparently made it obvious that the faithful servant was
Barty, the coward was Karkaroff - and the one who had left forever
and who would be killed was Snape.

"At this point, a groan of dismay swept over the audience at the
thought of Snape dying (obviously there was a big Snape-fan
contingent in that night). JKR looked very taken aback at this
reaction and promptly said "Oh, you don't have to worry about Snape -
he's tough." As a Snape fan myself, I hope this was an indication
that he is going to make it through to the end of Book 7 in one
piece, although I have no idea what he will be doing in the meantime."

(Carol again): After reading this post (long after it was posted), I
tried to find out whether this interview was ever transcribed online,
and the answer is apparently no. I tried an extensive Google search,
including Google groups, but found almost nothing. It's referred to on
a board or two, but the UHPFC board itself is long gone, lost in
cyberspace. 

BTW, if we *could* find this interview online or in print, it would
definitively establish that Snape was *not* the coward or the faithful
servant or a DE present at the graveyard. He was, as I've been arguing
for the last twelve years (erm, last few days not counting earlier
threads) the one LV believes has left him forever. (At least, he
believed it the end of GoF, though Snape seems to have gotten himself
off the hook in OoP. Now, after the Battle of MoM, I'm pretty sure
he's back on again.)

Does anyone on this board have a copy of this interview or any
additional information about it?

Carol

P.S. Potioncat, If you're worried that Snape won't survive Book 6,
here's proof that he will (the October 12, 1999, interview again):

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/quickquotes/articles/1999/1099-connectiontransc.html

Q: There's an important kind of redemptive pattern to Snape
JKR: He, um, there's so much I wish I could say to you, and I can't
because it would ruin. I promise you, whoever asked that question, can
I just say to you that I'm slightly stunned that you've said that and
you'll find out why I'm so stunned if you read Book 7. That's all I'm
going to say.

So whether the questioner was right or not (and I think he or she was
right on the money), Snape will play an important role in Book 7. C.