SNAPE the coward?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118184


chrusotoxos wrote:
> 
> (major snip)
> 
> >> I've heard that some guys are sure that Snape was in the circle
that night, and at one moment I was almost convinced...but there's
still the fact, that, back in the hospital wing, Snape flinched when
he heard that Malfoy was there...why would he? I mean, if he was there
too, he must have known that Malfoy was there, because Voldemort
called him by name. <<
> 
> 
> Now  my guess is that Snape flinches because he's afraid that he was 
> recognized in the circle as well...
> 
> bye, Lethe (New here and convinced I'm not the first to mention
this, but still...)

Carol responds:
I think the movement (not necessarily flinching) is a red herring to
undermine the reader's trust in snape yet again. It's pretty clear
from his subsequent actions in Dumbledore's service and the fact that
you can't apparate from Hogwarts or its grounds that he wasn't at the
graveyard. And note that his reflection shows up in the Foe Glass
along with DD's and McGonagall's, as it wouldn't if he were a loyal
DE. Although there's some dispute about it on this list, I'm convinced
that he's the one Voldemort believes has left forever, and that
Voldemort will at some point actually try to kill him. (I happen to
hope he doesn't succeed because I expect Snape to do something
spectacular for the good side before the end.) Anyway, there are many
threads on this topic, but I don't have time to search them out for
you--sorry! 

To get back to the sudden movement, I think it has something to do
with Snape's connection to Malfoy, but exactly what that connection
is, and whether its strictly business or involves a Slytherinish sort
of friendship that goes back to the days when Snape was eleven and
Malfoy sixteen, I can only guess. But I highly doubt that Snape was in
the graveyard. There would just not be time to sneak out of
Dumbledore's sight, find a robe and mask, runt to Hogsmeade, apparate,
disapparate as Harry disappeared with the portkey, run back to his
office, take off the robe and mask, and return, breathless, to
Dumbledore's side, quietly pretending he hadn't been anywhere. It
makes much more sense that he explained later to Malfoy, or even to
Voldemort himself, making use of his Occlumency, that you can't
apparate from Hogwarts. BTW, I don't think he was surprised that
Malfoy was there so much as surprised that Harry knew it. And I think
that Voldemort himself would have been more careful about naming his
Death Eaters in front of Harry if he hadn't expected Harry to be dead
within the half hour.

Carol, with apologies for repeating what she's frequently said before