Conspiracies and re-assessments

[backstagemystic]

No: HPFGUIDX 111951



>>> Valky:
>>>[snip]JKR on Snape: (Paraphrase) You shouldn't like him _too_ 
much.....<<<


Charme:
>>Oh, I am SO glad you posted what you did, Valky. :)<<

>>Nope, you definitely shouldn't like him too much. <<


BM:
For what it's worth, JKR's actual quote is:  "You shouldn't think 
he's TOO nice."  


Charme:
>>It's rather like "poor Snape, look how hard his life was" as an 
excuse for how he later turned out to be a DE, and now supposedly is 
reformed? While I love the complexity of Snape's character, I am not 
fooled by him: he's in it all for himself, unless he does something 
noble to convince me otherwise. As is Peter Pettigrew.<<

BM:
I don't think we have enough information to say either way at this 
point.  Snape may very well be in it all for himself (and JKR is 
certainly hinting that we're going to find-out more things of an 
unsavory nature about him).

Yet, I also have to question why he has taken such great personal 
risks to whatever end?  Spying for Dumbledore in the past, and 
whatever he is doing now to find-out what Voldemort is telling his 
DE's doesn't strike me as the best way for him to go about ensuring 
his own personal safety and well-being, is it?

Then there's still the unanswered issue of just WHY Dumbledore so 
strongly trusts Snape.

Charme:
>>The whole argument about James being entranced by the "dark arts" 
and or being a putz because of a single Pensieve memory, 
is "reaching," IMO. <<

BM:
I don't believe James was entranced by the Dark Arts, but it seems 
his less-than-flattering reputation was well-deserved at that point.

Charme:
>>Everybody does things when they are young which they regret, and 
that doesn't make them evil. <<

BM:
Do you think Snape has any such regrets?  How young was he when he 
became a Death Eater?  How young was he when he left?  What were his 
motives in both cases? Does he have any mindset for repentance, or is 
it all just an act?  Or is it more grey as opposed to black and white?

Charme:
>>I might remind people who might think otherwise that there are 
specific items in that memory that you have to wonder how Snape knew, 
like the L.E. James drew, the Marauder's conversation, and several 
other intriguing details which should make you go, "HUH? How did 
SNAPE know THAT?" Let's face it, Snapey Poo sure looks like the nosey 
cur Sirius said he was if you look at it from that perspective.<<

BM:
I'm not saying Snape wasn't nosey, but I'm not sure that this isn't a 
case of the nature of the Pensieve itself.  

When we saw Dumbledore's memory of Karkaroff's trial in thePensieve, 
I believe there were facial expressions of Moody (who was sitting 
behind DD) that I doubt DD could have seen...yet Harry sees them just 
fine in the Pensieve.

Maybe it's a case of our senses picking up more than our conscious 
mind is aware, and it's stored in the subconscious and that's why the 
Pensieve can give a more omniscient (or at least a more panoramic) 
view of events.

We can also look at other evidence, such as the way Lily confronts 
James and what she has to say about James in general.  Obviously, by 
her tongue-lashing of James, this particular incident involving Snape 
isn't an isolated incident of James acting out of line without 
provocation.  He's infamous for it at school.

This in turn is confirmed by Remus and Sirius when Harry later asks 
them about what he saw in Snape's memory...there was no denial of the 
events on their part (though Sirius gave his rationalization for 
James' behaviour, Remus was quiet on that aspect.). 


BM