Snape and Quirrell in the Dark Forest

[Peggy]

No: HPFGUIDX 125004


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jmgarciaiii" 
<jmgarciaiii at y...> wrote:
> 
> Delurking here for a moment...
> 
> While rereading the canon--in anticipation of July 16th--I ran 
> across the passage in PS/SS where Snape and Quirrell are discussing 
> things in the Dark Forest:

<snip>

> > Question: Wouldn't this make Snape a useless spy? (To say nothing 
of 
> an endangered one...) Voldemort would know (directly if he was 
> hiding under the turban, indirectly if he wasn't at the time but 
> took up subturban residency later and learned through Quirrell, 
> right?
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> -Joe in SoFla

Peg:

Joe, this has been bugging me, too, along with the scene in the 
Pensieve from GoF, when DD stands up and announces to the Wizengamot 
(in front of Karkaroff!) that Snape has been a spy for the "good 
guys" and has been passing information at great personal risk.

The only even faintly plausible explanation that I can think of is 
that Snape is *such* a skilled Occlumens that he can look LV in the 
eye (or not, the DEs seem to do a lot of grovelling at their master's 
feet) and deny that he ever did any such thing, and be believed.

This looks like a great big, screaming, fanged Flint to me.  

Peg