Snape as Borgin

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 113747

> Gregory Lynn wrote:
> I was listening to Chamber of Secrets last night, and I think Mr
> Borgin may be Professor Snape in disguise. 
<snip of all the good stuff> 
> We know that Snape is trying to keep an eye on the Death Eaters at
> great personal risk.  
<snip>
> > We know that there are ways of changing ones appearance by the 
use of potions.   
> We also know that Snape is an accomplished legilimens and that a
> >direct line of sight makes legilimency easier.
> > 
> > And, of course, a shopkeeper who deals in dark arts toys would
> > reasonably be expected to be in the company of a variety of DEs 
onoccasion....
> > 
> In conclusion, Snape has a reason to be near DEs while hiding his
> identity, the ability to change his appearance, and the ability to 
extract secrets from people's minds.
>  
> SSSusan replied:
> Just one small, but potentially significant, it seems to me, 
> objection.  Are you proposing that Snape is using, daily, a Time-
> Turner to be in both places at once?

Hannah now: I really like this theory, but even so, I'm going to 
nitpick a bit.  SSSusan has a good point about how Snape manages to 
be in both places at once - unless 'Mr. Borgin' only appears during 
Hogwarts holidays.  But I think Snape probably has enough to do as 
it is without pretending to be Borgin - teaching all those classes, 
whatever extra stuff being head of house entails, keeping up 
membership of two secret societies, prowling round the castle at 
night... when he says he's busy in OoP he's not joking!

OTOH, the idea of Snape disguising himself using one of his 
favourite potions in order to get information from DE's that he 
might not be able to come by as himself is definitely a good one.  
But perhaps not as someone who would need to be around as much as 
Borgin.

The other thing which interests me about your theory is a more 
general point that I've noticed in other posts - the idea that Snape 
is an accomplished legilimens.  Snape is undoubtably a very good 
occlumens, and many posters seem to think the two skills go 
together.  But I've always assumed that skill in legilimency is 
separate from skill in occlumency, since the two seem to be 
opposites.  

Although he uses legilimency during Harry's occlumency lessons, 
there is nothing definite in canon to say he is especially 
accmplished at it or that he is able to use it at other times or by 
using less direct methods than pointing his wand and 
yelling 'legilimens!' (bit of a giveaway that).

I guess the value of being a spy, whether as himself or disguised as 
Borgin or somebody else, is that he can find out secrets by being 
told, rather than having to extract to them through legilimency.

Hannah