Do the math Re: Medieval attitudes was Saving Harry

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 137863


> Kathy writes:
> My impression is that Sibyll was hired at the time of the prophesy. 
> Snape was still in Voldemort's camp and passed on the prophesy. It  
> would then have taken V. some time to determine what child was the 
> prophesied danger. Harry was 15 months old when his parents were 
> killed and Voldemort fell. We know that someone, possibly Snape, 
> reported that there was a spy in the Order a year before Voldemort 
> fell. We are also encouraged to believe that Snape, in some way 
> tried to warn James about Sirius, Snape's suspect, and James refused 
> to believe it. Snape may have tried to warn Lily. We don't know how 
> long the Potters were in hiding before Wormtail turned them over to 
> Voldemort. Sirius might have been their secretkeeper for a while  
> until he decided it was safer to pick someone that Voldemort would  
> never expect. Since Snape was teaching for fourteen years in OotP, 
> when Harry is fifteen, we know that Snape started teaching when 
> Harry was a year old give or take a month here or there. Three 
> months later Voldemort was Vapormort.
> KJ

Valky:
I like this Kathy, because it's very succinct. Assuming that you've
made no errors and it is also accurate, since my own brain is
vehemently refusing to even *try* to recreate the timeline for me,
then in this summary, the slices of canon that are questioned in this
thread will slide in neatly.

Dumbledores version:
Snape rejoined the good side *before* LV's downfall. - He confessedhis
remorse and joined Dumbledore before he was offered the job as Potions
master.

Trelawney's version: 
Snape was after a job at Hogwarts at the same time as her, almost two
years before he was offered the Potionmasters job. (from DD) He
overheard the prophecy and was still in DE employ for a few months
before he began giving DD information as a double agent.

Snapes Version:
He spun a tale of remorse to DD and got himself a Job at Hogwarts
under Voldemorts orders. This could all be true with just a deliberate
misdirection on Snapes behalf regarding the timeline of it all. So the
truth is at the end of 1979 - Voldie sent him to infiltrate Hogwarts,
DD refused him employment and he told LV about the prophecy, some
months later, shortly after Harry's time of birth. Snape returned to
DD with his change of heart and tells him of LV's plan for the
prophecy child, for close to the next year Snape gradually falls out
of the DE inner circle while passing information to DD. He learns that
there is a traitor in the Order, and he is aware of Voldemorts moves
and his fellowship, which is useful to the Order. All the while he is
concurrently passing Voldemort information about what DD and the Order
are up to (but he doesn't directly aid Voldemort in finding arry this
much is canon, since he didnt know that Sirius hadn't been the
betrayer). It does seem that his reputation among DE's was affected by
all these new activities,(hence the great risk to himself) as Voldie
says he thought Snape had left him forever, and Bella also makes a
point of mentioning that Snape has been slithering his way out of
action for a long time, including the months before GH. 

Since this timeline is now such a crucial talking point in threads I
submit this summary which may help us to get it right.

Sept 1979 - March 1980: Snape is working for Voldemort - but he has
asked DD for a job on Voldemorts orders. Dumbledore refuses.

July 1980 - Sept 1980: Snape offers DD his remorse for what he has
brought upon Harry's family. He plays double agent: He tells Voldemort
that he is outsmarting DD and he will soon have his trust enough to
get a job at Hogwarts, and he spies on Voldie for Dumbledore. DD and
Snape keep this exclusively between themselves.

July 1981- Sept 1981: The attack from Voldemort on GH is imminent,
Snape tries desperately to ensure that all he has done in the past
year to atone for his deed will save the Potters, but he fails, and in
doing so he risks blowing his cover big time.  

July 1982 - Sept 1982: Snape is working at Hogwarts as Potions Master,
DD has kept him out of Azkaban in reward for all his efforts during
the first war.

1995 - Snape finally goes to Voldemort to tell him that he did, after
all, get that job at Hogwarts, and win DD's trust. Voldemort is
pleased to hear that someone stuck to the original plan for the better
- especially after Lucius went ahead and lost the diary. And he
welcomes Snape back into his fold.

Valky