Dumbledore's Ironclad reason for trusting Snape (long)

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 135863

I've been thinking about McGonagall's statement that Dumbledore 
hinted repeatedly about having an ironclad reason for trusting  Snape. 
Obviously Snape expressing remorse about revealing the prophecy 
to Voldemort isn't even close to an ironclad reason for trusting him.
Ironclad implies virtually no doubt exists. It implies that it's  not a 
matter of Dumbledore simply taking Snape at his word, but that 
Snape would have so much to lose if he betrayed Dumbledore, 
there's virtually no chance it will happen. And what's more  ironclad 
than an Unbreakable Vow, when breaking it means certain death? 
I know I'm not the first on this list to suggest this theory, but  I
think it could have gone something like this:
 
Snape overhears part of the prophecy and tells Voldemort. 
Some time  later he learns that Voldemort has fitted the
theory to the Potters and has targeted them for elimination. 
He's appalled that he will be an accessory to the murders,
because he cares about Lily, someone whose talents he 
respected and who treated him as a person. Perhaps he 
even loved her, in his own sadly deficient way. He doubtless
doesn't care a fig about James, the man who tormented 
him in school, and got the girl--except that he does owe
James that life debt. And the Potter baby, well he is nothing 
to Snape but a hazy concept. Still, the baby is Lily's child
as well as James', and besides, Snape is no baby-killer.
 
Snape makes his decision, and he goes to Dumbledore. 
He tells Dumbledore how he told LV what he'd heard of
the prophecy, and how LV chose to interpret it. Snape
expresses great remorse for his unwitting error, and he
tells Dumbledore that he wants to end his allegiance to LV 
and renounce his Death Eater standing. He's seen the error
of his ways and he doesn't have the stomach for killing 
innocents. He wants to help Dumbledore save the Potters.
(We don't know what additional information Snape gave
Dumbledore to support his genuine intent, but Snape no 
doubt revealed a few things, one of which may be that 
Voldemort had created horcruxes in an attempt to make
himself immortal). 
 
This is a difficult request, and Dumbledore knows it. One
can't just leave LV's employ (as Sirius noted). Snape is also
asking Dumbledore to help him survive the transition, to 
protect him. Now, Dumbledore is nothing if not a man who
believes in second chances, and in redemption. He can 
no more refuse Snape than he can turn one of his students
out of Hogwarts. And Dumbledore can offer some protection,
but in the end, the only way for Snape to leave LV is if LV
*doesn't* know he left. I.e., Snape can "die" and go into 
permanent hiding--or he can become a spy against LV, 
which will be incredibly dangerous for him.
 
Snape flagellates himself as well as he flagellates others.
He's not going to get redemption by hiding. He'd rather
become a spy, and he'll accept the risk. Dumbledore
assents, and Snape goes back to LV to plant the idea 
of going undercover at Hogwarts. LV goes for it, and
everything is set. In September, 1981, Snape will start
his new position as Potions Master at Hogwarts. And
Dumbledore will protect him as much as he can, while
also keeping an eye on him--because while he'd like to 
completely trust Severus Snape, one can't be too careful 
with former Death Eaters, can one?
 
In the meantime the Potters have been warned of LV's 
intent to kill them and are sent into hiding, with only 
Secret Keeper Sirius aware of where they are. Sadly, 
we know it all goes very wrong, and on October 31st 
Voldemort kills James and then Lily, and attempts to 
kill Harry, only to have his AK backfire and turn him into
Vapormort. Harry lives, the first and only to survive an AK. 
 
The next twenty-four hours are a mystery at the moment,
but what if Snape came to the realization that LV had 
discovered the Potter's hiding place, either because LV 
said so, or because he overheard something. Snape then
follows LV, hoping to find a way to stop him from killing the
Potters and their child. 
 
Alas, he isn't successful, because while LV knows the  location 
of the hiding place, Snape does not, and he can't gain entrance.
He is helpless until it is all over, and the Potters are dead, thus 
the secret is released and the location revealed. Snape enters 
and sees the bodies, but no sign of Voldemort. And in the midst 
of it all, the baby, Harry, is crying bloody murder, and on his 
forehead there is a strange burn mark. 
 
After doing everything he could to save the Potters, even 
warning James that Sirius wasn't a reliable Secret Keeper,
Snape is left facing the fact that he is now complicit in  the
murder of a man to whom he owed a life debt, and a woman 
he cared about a great deal (even loved). He doesn't understand
everything that's occurred, but he does the one thing he can
after contacting Dumbledore with the news: he grabs baby Harry
and leaves. 
 
After dealing with certain specifics (perhaps including removing
James and Lily's bodies), Dumbledore meets up with Snape at
Spinner's End. (Hogwarts seems unlikely, as McGonagall doesn't
seem to know the whereabouts of Harry Potter). Perhaps they
perform some magic protection on Harry, or perhaps they don't.
But it won't be enough, and Dumbledore must quickly decide 
how best to protect Harry, because he is sure Voldemort will
return some day. Snape is no less certain. 
 
Dumbledore decides Harry will be safest with his mother's 
family, which has even more inpenetrable protection than 
Hogwarts thanks to Lily's sacrifice. When Harry is old enough
to come to Hogwarts, they will have to figure out a way to 
keep him completely safe there.
 
Now, Snape, who feels nothing for baby Harry, except perhaps
irritation at his crying, is filled with remorse and anger. He  can't
undo what's been done. He can't bring back Lily, and now he can 
never repay his life debt to James. But, he thinks, perhaps in 
a moment of irrational emotion, maybe there is something else
he can do, something if not equal, at least close enough. He
can take an Unbreakable Vow to protect their son, Harry. 
 
Dumbledore is stunned when Snape passionately offers to
do just this. He would never, ever ask Snape to do such a thing.
But Snape is adamant. He wants to be free of his guilt, at  least
for the moment. When Harry grows up and comes to Hogwarts,
not only will the charms over the school protect him, but so  will 
Snape. Harry Potter never come to harm, so long as Severus 
Snape can help it. 
 
Dumbledore warns Snape of the enormity of his vow, but he will
take any help he can get, for Harry's survival is paramount. So
he agrees. And the witness...Hagrid, whether because there is no 
one else Dumbledore can pull away from Hogwarts or the Order 
at the moment, or because he'd already been summoned.
 
By the next night Harry is safely on the Dursley's doorstep, and
Snape is back at his position at Hogwarts. For the next nearly
ten years, Dumbledore and Snape will go on as headmaster and
teacher, aware of what (or should I say who) will one day come.
Dumbledore repeatedly assures McGonagall and others in the 
Order, who express doubt about Snape's true alliegiance, that
he has an ironclad reason for trusting Snape. 
 
And fifteen years later, he tells Harry for the umpteenth time that
he trusts Severus Snape *completely.* And when Harry finds out
that Snape related the prophecy to Voldemort, and thus set in 
motion the chain of events leading to his parents' death,  Dumbledore
tells Harry that he has no idea how much regret Snape felt. 
 
So much regret in fact, that he took an Unbreakable Vow to protect
the son of a man he despised, and of a woman he may have loved
and lost--a boy whose physical features, personality, and very 
presence continually remind him of those two people who were
the cause of so much emotional turmoil in his life, as well as the
painful truth of his role in their deaths. And I have no doubt when
Snape took that vow all those years earlier, he did not foresee
how difficult it would be for him, or how it would bring out the
worst in him. (Though I suspect he considers the latter irrelevant,
as long as he is keeping to the letter of the vow.)
 
--Okay, I don't know if this is all how it will play out, but I think it 
could, and an Unbreakable Vow definitely would be an ironclad  reason 
to trust someone (which was why Narcissa was so relieved when 
Snape took it at Spinner's End). It could also explain why  Snape's
hand twitched (what happens if two Unbreakable Vows clash with
each other?), and why Hagrid has never uttered a single word of
doubt about Snape (not even AFTER Snape AKed Dumbledore,
which in this case would be more than just an odd  ommision).
 
I'm sure I missed some points that might negate this theory, so
have at it ;-)
 
Julie 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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