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

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 93044

snipping Potioncat's question and part of Carol's answer

Carol wrote:

> 
> 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. 
>>snip< 
> 
> 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?
> 
 >more snipping<
> 
>x> 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.



Potioncat:
Thanks Carol, the first quote was the one I was looking for.  I'm 
amazed I ever stumbled upon it given how hard it was for you to 
research.  

I think it touched on points we had been discussing in this thread. 
I agree, it seems to prove that Snape was the one who left forever.  
And as I'm currently re-reading GoF, that is how Crouch/Moody would 
have described him to LV. (I am off the fence.)

"You don't have to worry about Snape, he's tough."  I wonder if 
we'll see that or if it will remain behind the scenes.  Regardless 
of what we think LV intended in the graveyard, none of us think 
Snape has had a pleasant time of it lately.

It sounds to me too, that JKR was agreeing that Snape has 
a "redemptive pattern" to him and that we'll see it in book 7. It 
reminds me of another JKR quote, which I will look up if anyone 
would like.  Someone asks a question about Snape and Quirrell and 
she says something like, "I know Snape and he would never put on a 
turban."  Which I took to mean Snape wouldn't give his "self" to LV 
the way Quirrell had.

Potioncat