The Nasty, Half-Blood (Crown) Undercover Prince of Greyness

[msbeadsley]

No: HPFGUIDX 136602

Okay, I WAS going to wait until I caught up (I'm getting there; it's
going to take another week to 10 days, okay, gimme a break), but I
think I've figured out why Snape has to be, if not exactly on the side
of the angels, at least Voldemort's (other, covert) nemesis. And I
haven't (delicious shiver, here) seen this theory yet (wiggle),
either. (If it has been posted before, my sincerest chagrined
apologies to the poster. Mea maxima culpa.)

When I finished HBP on the evening of Sunday the 17th (I tried to make
it last), I had two major reactions: "Dumbledore, no, not Dumbledore!
(sob!) What are we going to do?"

(My Dad died pretty unexpectedly, two weeks short of the age of 70, on
June 1, 2005. I must admit that looking forward to the next HP was one
of the things that kept me from completely falling to pieces. Then the
feelings Harry went through about the death of Dumbledore mirrored
mine about Dad so very closely that I lost my mind a bit. I could have
been 16 myself. Forget the Cruciatus curse, all you DE. Keep Ak'ing
loved ones if you REALLY want to inflict pain, but anyway,)

I stopped crying over Dumbledore eventually and found a notion growing
insistently in my brain that the end of the 6th book of a 7 book
series just isn't the proper time to announce a major quest. "Harry
just isn't going to have time to track down the rest of the horcruxes
(plural of horcrux, per canon; chapter title, even) and figure out how
to access them and then destroy them and still leave about nine
chapters for JKR to explain all the REALLY important stuff like how
Sir Nicholas became nearly headless!" I said to myself. So, while
reading the almost three thousand messages I've gotten through since
the list reopened after HBP came out, I've been racking my
subconscious for an answer to how it could wind up quickly enough, and
I think I found it: it's Severus Snape.

I hate Snape. I'd love to use all three unforgiveables on him in
succession. I'd start with the Imperius curse and make him sing
passionate karaoke love songs to Madame Trelawny (that one by
Celestine Warbeck might do) in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic at
quitting time on a Friday before a holiday weekend. Then I'd make him
fill several hundred little crystal vials with the memory, label them
"pensieve treats," and owl them to every student who was attending
Hogwarts the day Dumbledore died. And that's just the beginning. (I
have to stop here before I get myself invited to Azkaban for intent to
Crucio!)

But I still think Snape is key. Although I haven't figured out how
Draco's failure is going to figure in to this, I am sure of one thing.
Voldemort is going to be delighted to have Dumbledore dead and gone.
He may even treat Snape as he would have treated Barty Crouch, Jr., if
said li'l ol' psychopath boyo had been able to rejoin the gang after
arranging for the delivery of The Boy Who Lived right on schedule. And
oh, BTW, the UV even convinced Bellatrix, who was likely Snape's
greatest challenge within the ranks. (Voldemort may not even find out
about the UV because revealing it would reveal covert planning within
the ranks: Snape may just say he heard Draco falter in his stated
intention to kill Dumbledore, figured Voldemort wanted Dumbledore dead
NOW, and took the initiative and the opportunity because he wasn't
sure it would come up again. Snape may report Dumbledore's condition
(damage to his hand from a curse, poisoned potion/deadwater) and
Voldemort, thinking, "Let's see, what could Dumbledore have beene up
to that would cause those injuries?" may figure out the Professor had
been on a horcrux hunt.

In any case (and here's where I get to the point, finally), Voldie is
going to find out that somebody is, or has been, after the (or even
just one of the) horcruxes. If anything could scare Voldemort, I
imagine it would be that. How many are there out there that need
checking up, maybe reinforcing? Voldie can't do it all at once. He
needs a trusted second to help him. And in order to get that help,
he's going to have to `fess up. He may not go as far as explaining
what he is checking/reinforcing protections around, but he'll send
Snape off to do something which will reveal information crucial to the
quest. Snape may even follow orders to a "T", and ol' paranoidie
Voldie may even use an Obliviate to wipe Snape's mind of what he's
done or seen in the aftermath. (But Snape will have bottled the memory
first.) Actually, I'm not at all sure of anything beyond what I am
utterly convinced is going to be canon: Snape's recent incredibly
loyal and helpful (in the Dark Lord's POV) act in killing Dumbledore
is going to set the stage for Snape gaining enough of Voldemort's
trust to find out much of what is so far unknown about the location
and nature of at least a fraction of the remaining horcruxes. Think
about it. What did Dumbledore spend all his time on in HBP? And how
much dramatic tension would be involved in Harry receiving further
info from Dumbledore via portrait or pensieve? It is the ONLY thing
that makes sense; quests are, above, all, time- and page-consuming.
There just isn't time for anything else that makes logistic, literary,
and JKR-type sense. In my humble opinion, of course.

I welcome responses, although I will be no less convinced in their
absence.

Sandy, aka msbeadsley (hi, y'all)

P.S. I'm toasting Harry and Ginny, and Ron and Hermione (and I don't
mean over an open fire).