Malice and Ulterior Motives

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 138784

> > Jen: I'm really torn on this one. Dumbledore proved
> > in OOTP that he 
> > believes the good of the community outweighs any one
> > individual, 
> > including himself. 
  
> Larry now: 
> Really? Didn't Dumbledore in OOTP confess to Harry
> that by not fully informing Harry of the whole and
> entire truth he put the larger community at risk?

Jen: Yes, and he called it the 'flaw in his plan' and said 'I had 
fallen into the trap I had foreseen'. He viewed the fact that he 
cared more for Harry's happiness than the 'nameless, faceless' 
people and creatures of the WW as a mistake. Dumbledore clearly 
stated he held this conviction about community good, yet succumbed 
to the temptation to spare Harry pain. 

Larry:
> Dumbledore would never have wanted someone, anyone, to
> do anything at the expence of their soul.
> I quote from a previous post here 138237:

Jen: And I never said he did. I stated: 'So no, I don't believe DD 
was pleading with Snape to AK him.' I was considering the 
possibility Snape made the choice to rip his own soul if he did 
indeed murder Dumbledore. My point was that the outcome, Snape 
taking the DE's away from Hogwarts and keeping Harry from serious 
harm or death, was something Dumbledore would have wanted. I never 
said Dumbledore asked him to rip his soul to make that happen. 

Jen, previous post:
> > Now I think Snape *does* believe he hoodwinked Voldemort due to
> > his superb Occlumency skills, and he is so, so wrong. The only
> > reason he's still alive is because he's extremely useful to
> > Voldemort. He's the only DE placed inside Hogwarts next to
> > Dumbledore. Invaluable.

Larry:
> If Voldemort believed Snape to be lying, he would no longer view
> Snape as a DE. As far as I can tell, the qualifications for
> status as a DE are unswerving and unquestioning loyalty to
> Voldemort; it is a true cult of personality. <snip> Either Snape 
> did fool Voldemort, and is loyal to Dumbledore, or he simply told
> Voldemort the truth, hence there would be no lie to detect.

Jen: If Voldemort AK'd everyone he didn't completely trust he would 
have no followers. You alluded to this same idea: "Dumbledore has 
also said that Voldemort trusts no one, there is no inner circle." 
My intent wasn't clear before, but I wasn't saying Voldemort 
believes Snape is loyal to Dumbledore and he still allowed him to 
live. That would be folly, I agree. 

You called Voldemort a chess master and as such, he understands the 
importance of all the pieces including pawns. Voldemort sees Snape's 
usefulness for his plan to kill Dumbledore because he's placed at 
Hogwarts & has Dumbledore's trust. Snape is not the DE Bella is, 
with her slavish obedience, or Wormtail, with his utter fear. He is 
more along the lines of 'slippery friend' Lucius. I don't find it a 
contradiction that Snape is still alive even though Voldemort 
doesn't have complete trust in him. Like any pawn, Snape will pay 
for perceived disloyalty now that the job is done.

Jen