Spy novel? maybe (was Lupin's secrets )

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 118667


Kneasy wrote:
> <snip> The motivations matter, I think. Jo hints as much by saying
that almost nobody is born evil. The opportunity to become evil is one 
> thing, it's an opportunity open to everyone, but if they're not born
evil, how do they become evil? What drives them to it? What is their
> motivation? Power say some. Fine; probably is in some instances,
> but it's  not unknown for people to  choose sides not through
> general principles, but because of where friends or personal enemies
> stand. <snip>

Carol responds:
I think you're on the right track here. I would go even farther and
say that JKR thinks that *no one*, including Voldermort, is born evil
(or at least, no human being is born evil). The idea that any child
could be born evil contradicts the persistent theme that it's our
choices, not our talents, that determine who we are. Voldemort and
Bellatrix and Barty Jr., to name three of the most obviously evil
characters, are as much the products of their choices as Dumbledore is
of his.

Regarding your statement that people sometimes choose sides not so
much on principle as because their friends or personal enemies have
chosen a particular side, I would not be surprised if this idea was
one of the reasons why the young Snape joined the Death Eaters. After
three years or so on his own without his Slytherin gang, he must have
felt an intense desire not only to rejoin his seemingly like-minded
friends but also to oppose whichever side James Potter and Sirius
Black had chosen. And that would, of course, have been the opposite
side to the former Slytherins.

Dumbledore's statement that Snape *rejoined* the good side before
Godric's Hollow suggests to me that Dumbledore had considerable
influence over Severus during his Hogwarts years. (We know, for
example, that he didn't reveal for a very long time that Lupin was a
werewolf. Cf. als the question of what happened to Snape's *first*
chance.) During those last school years, DD must at least have had
some hope that Severus would ultimately choose his side over that of
the former Slytherins who had already joined LV.

Later, when Snape for whatever reason decided to leave the DEs, it
appears that he *returned* to Dumbledore, leaving his so-called
friends or rather spying on them at Dumbledore's behest. Principle
(the pureblood ethic) may have played a part in his joining the DEs.
Most likely principles of a higher sort led to his leaving despite the
danger to himself and the lost chance for advancement which I think
was his primary motivation for joining the DEs in the first place.
Even so, I think the chance to be with his friends again must have
been sorely tempting after the ordeal of his last few years at
Hogwarts and probably was one important component of his choice to
join the DEs.

Carol, just speculating here, but hoping that others will see some
basis for these ideas