Heroes and Not - What should Snape Have Done?.

[orchid_waves at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 145303


--- eggplant107 <eggplant107 at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Snape is out for himself, for 15 years both Dumbledore and
> Voldemort thought Snape was a spy working for them, and both 
> were wrong.
  

This is the first Snape theory that I've read that makes sense 
to me. Almost everyone else wants Snape to either be a hero or 
a villain along the monumental lines of Greek tragedy. Why does 
that need to be so? Snape may have been playing two ends against 
the middle all along -- "The Dark Lord's" man when that serves 
his purposes, and Dumbledore's when that is the best thing -- 
for Snape. 

Ethics and morality don't enter into it. To Snape, killing
Dumbledore was part mercy killing (after Harry fed him the 
potion -- at least that would be his self-justification,) and 
part means to an end. Now Voldamort will trust him absolutely, 
but don't expect Snape to be a loyal butt-kisser to "The Dark 
Lord," either. Anyone who stands in Snape's way is likely to 
get a figurative knife in the back -- or wand.

Snape has always wanted power -- power and control and admiring
throngs of wizards and witches falling all over themselves to
worship him. Most people who have been abused as youngsters by
their own peer group fantasize about revenge and making "them" 
all sorry. Dumbledore's death brought him that much closer to 
his goal, and killing Voldamort would bring him the rest of the 
way -- or so he thinks.

Why didn't he kill Harry? Why should he? Apart from Voldamort's
orders that Harry not be killed by the DEs, Harry was about as
dangerous to Snape at that moment as a newborn infant. He 
couldn't even defend himself, let alone do serious damage to 
Snape. Snape played with him just as Harry's father played with 
Snape years before. 

The fact is, Snape's getting rid of Voldamort is what we WANT. 
He will do the dirty work just to get a competitor out of the 
picture -- but Harry will then have to kill Snape or risk an 
even worse monster than Voldamort rising in power.

Rita (but not Skeeter) and new to the list...