Snape thoughts

[Marianne S.]

No: HPFGUIDX 136799

Very interesting Snape thoughts!

Chris wrote: 
I think that Snape was a gifted child when he was born, one with considerable
talents. Unfortunately, that led him to become ambitious, hence his sorting
into Slytherin. As a half-blood, he was builled by the others and became proud
of it, calling himself the `half-blood prince' because of it. He took pride in
his `low-born' origins, so to speak. A lot of children do this when they are
bullied.

Marianne S. : I agree with the first part of this.. the gifted child and the ambition,
hence the sorting into Slytherin. However, I rather doubt that he let his blood
status be known to fellow Slytherins. Even Tom Riddle valued friends that
were Pure Blood, and I see no indication that he let people in on his half
blood secret. If he had, I doubt he would have had as many followers. 
Nevertheless, Snape is smart enough to have found out this information, and 
perhaps that was part of what led him to Voldemort, and it may even by why
Voldemort still trusts Snape. Consequently, I don't think he took PRIDE in 
his half-blood origin, I think he purposefully used that moniker to hide this
bit of information.


Chris again: 
One of the bullies was James Potter. Snape may or may not have invented the
lifting spell – did he show it off for someone's approval? – but it was used on
him. Snape conceived a hatred of James and Sirus, not without reason. After
Sirius tried to introduce him to Remus in wolf form, Snape must have believed
that he had intended to kill him. Dumbledore was so lenient to them – Sirius
should have been expelled for that – that Snape fell towards Voldemort. Perhaps
because the dark lord might have known things that Snape wanted to know, or
perhaps out of a desire for revenge. James was pro-Order, so Snape would not
be.

Marianne S:
 I think it is pretty clear based on Snape's reaction to Harry about not using his
own spells against him that Snape did come up with Levicorpus himself. 
One thing we don't know is how James et. all found out the spell, since it 
was a nonverbal one. Perhaps James knew some legilimency. 

I speculate that Snape liked Lily, enough to not wish her any harm.

Marianne S:
I agree that Sirius got off pretty light for leading James to the shack. I have 
already wondered, though, if this was the very incident that let Lily see that
James was a *good* enough guy to even save his worst enemy's life, and that's
what brought Harry's parents ultimately together. I could see that both owing 
James a life-debt AND losing Lily to James (though I rather doubt Severus was
even in the running) could drive Snape even farther toward Voldemort. If I 
understand the timeline correctly, Snape was working for Voldemort at the 
time he first applied for a teaching post at Hogwarts. It is unclear to me if
he started teaching that year or the next, after the fall of Voldemort. If 
Snape did in fact care for Lily, which I believe he did, then yes -- her death
would be a great reason for him to show remorse. It's just a shame that
he never sees the Lily in Harry... because Harry definitely seems lot less like 
his dad (and more like his mom) in his treatment of others. 


Chris:
Anyway, when the prediction was made, Snape saw it as an opportunity to get
James killed. He told Voldemort, perhaps empathising that James had a child.
James and his spawn (Harry) would be wiped from the Earth; lily would be allowed
to live. (Speculation; did Voldemort swear an Unbreakable Oath with Snape for
that? Was that why the spell bounced back?)

Marianne S: 
I think it's pretty clear that the spell bounced back because Lily tried to protect
Harry. If Voldemort had attacked Neville's parents and Neville's mom had died
to protect him, Neville would have been the one Marked as the Chosen One. 
Not only can one glean this from OotP, but JKR herself makes it pretty clear in 
one of the sections on her official website. 


Chris:
After Lily died, Snape fled to Dumbledore and confessed. (While this does seem
to contradict Dumbledore's statement in GOF that Snape joined the Order before
Voldemort fell, its possible that Snape fled AFTER telling Voldemort, but before
Voldemort went to kill them.) <snip>

Marianne S: I agree, this DOES seem contradictory. I would have to look back in GoF
to see if there really is an anachronism or not. 


Chris: <snip> 
I think that Dumbledore knew what Draco was sent to do, after his father was
locked up. Snape may not have, but he had been tricked into taking the
Unbreakable Oath.

Marianne S: 
I think Snape did NOT know what Draco was sent to do, until used Legilimency on 
Narcissa. He knew Bellatrix's weakness was thinking she was the person closest to 
and most valued by Voldemort, so he was cleverly able to win her trust by telling
Narcissa that "The Dark Lord's Word Is Law" (or something like that) about not
SPEAKING of the task, while at the same time reading her mind...


Chris: 
I suspect that DD might have been dying ever since he found
the ring, and so he ordered Snape to prepare to kill him, if necessary,
therefore placing him in the best possible position to help Harry in book 7.


Marianne S: 
I suspect that Dumbledore was correct, that it if wasn't for the quick reaction
of Snape, he would already be dead. What I don't know is if he was dying
'cause the curse and/or poison was so powerful, or if it was due to the power
of the evil in the ring combined with Dumbledore's advanced age. I suspect 
that Dumbledore knew he was dying, and once he knew about the vow knew that
Snape WOULD have to kill him if it came to that, but he wasn't afraid and, as 
long as Harry was armed with all the information about Horcruxes Dumbledore
could give him, he was ready. 


Chris:
 He didn't confide that in McGonagall; but perhaps Hagrid knows. Snape's rage at
the killing is perhaps because he knows he has no choice, but to strike down the
man who saved him from Askaban. That gives him the strength to cast AK.

Marianne S: 
Well, I am one of the camp that believes it was a verbal AK but a non-verbal 
something else entirely... something that would lift Dumbledore up and 
over. We know from OotP that you cannot use an "Unforgiveable" curse effectively
for a righteous reason, and if Snape was in fact fulfilling both his promises to 
Narcissa and Dumbledore, that would surely file under "righteous reasons." 
Also, Dumbledore's reaction to AK, as many others have also pointed out, 
don't match the prior canon about the effects of an AK (such as on the
Riddles and Frank Bryce  and Cedric ). 


So, what are your thoughts as to what Snape must do next? I believe he is
carrying out Dumbledore's wish to protect Draco and Narcissa. But, I believe
somehow something must be communicated by Dumbledore posthumously
(we know from earlier in the book that Wizards create and abide by Wills)
to say "I know you all hate Severus Snape right now, but let me assure you
that he was acting on my orders..." If Dumbledore needed Snape's quick
intervention to save his life due to the ring horcrux, how are Harry and 
whoever joins himgoing to get through those curses without the aid
of the Half Blood Prince,  Snape? 

So, as Chris said, Thoughts? 

Marianne S.