Foe glass

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 136955

oiboyz:

>    But even if Snape is on DD's side at the end of GoF, he could have 
> defected back to LV by the end of HBP.  So I can't take the Foe Glass 
> as proof of Snape's goodness, but I prefer to believe that he *will* 
> be shown in Book 7 to be a loyal Order spy. :)

houyhnhnm:

>From Goblet of Fire, Am. Ed.:

************
Moody's wand was still pointing directly at Harry's heart.  Over his
shoulder, foggy shapes were moving in the Foe-Glass on the wall. (GoF,
AE, p. 677)

The foggy shapes in the Foe-Glass were sharpening, had become more
distinct.  Harry could see the outlines of three people over Moody's
shoulder, moving closer and closer. (p. 678)

Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor.  Harry, still staring
at the place where Moody's face had been, saw Albus Dumbledore,
Profesor Snape, and Professor McGonagall looking back at him out of
the Foe-Glass. (p. 679)

Snape followed him , looking into the Foe-Glass, where his own face
was still visible, glaring into the room. (p. 679)

Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into
a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which
the reflections of Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall were still
glaring down upon them all. (p. 683)
*************

I think Snape's appearance in the Foe-Glass can be taken at face (:-))
value.  At the time of the third task (before Dumbledore sends him
back to Voldemort), Snape really is on the side of the Order.

Later, however, someone breaks the Foe-Glass and stashes it in the
Room of Requirement (if it is indeed the same one Harry sees).  It
could be that Snape, having returned to Voldemort and having become
confused as to "where [his] loyalties lie" breaks the Foe-Glass and
hides it to prevent it from incriminating him later on.

Nevertheless, I am with you in believing that Snape remains loyal to
the Order.  There is abundant evidence of that without the Foe-Glass.
 The lies we *know* he tells Bellatrix, his revelation of the dark
mark to Fudge, his alerting the Order to TeamHarry's presence at the
Ministry, his behavior during the Occlumency lessons, his behavior
toward Malfoy all during the sixth year, his sparing of Harry after
the scene on the tower.  (Who performed the freezing charm on
Greyback?  We aren't told and that is a big question mark in my mind.)  

When they are out on the grounds and Snape is effortlessly deflecting
Harry's spells, if Harry indeed "belongs to the Dark Lord", why not
kidnap him at that point and deliver him to Voldemort?

I doubt we will see a Good Snape emerge in book 7, though.  Snape is
not good; he is a deeply flawed human being, a study in the workings
of karma--the binding effect of action.  I believe Snape genuinely
turned against Voldemort and gave his loyalty to Dumbledore.  He never
comes to understand the character flaws which led him to the dark side
in the first place, however, and his role for the Order maintains and
exaccerbates those flaws.

The scene with Tonks at the gates, which confused me on first reading,
I have come to regard as the most illustrative of Snape's character in
all the six books.

Imagine it from his perspective.  Having, no doubt, already marked
Harry's absence from the feast, he intercepts an indistinct patronus,
unrecognizable as belonging to any member of the Order, claiming to
come from Tonks, and delivering the message, "I've got Harry outside
the gates."  

In alarm and increasing anger, he hastens to the gates, only to
discover an apparently genuine but lovelorn Tonks.  He is furious.
"Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot
control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow
themselves to be provoked this easily--weak people ...."  So he
"corrects" her just as he does so often with Harry.  And Snape's
"corrections" cut to the bone.  He has no tolerance for other people's
weaknesses because he has none for his own.  He has no compassion for
others' feelings because he despises feelings in himself.