In Defense of Snape (Against Snape in JKR's words)

[vmonte]

No: HPFGUIDX 122235


Carol responds:
Note "he will have *seen*," not he will have done. So while we're free
to speculate about what he may have done as a Death Eater, we merely
know from this passage that he *witnessed* a death or deaths. We still
don't know what he did. Given LV's penchant for putting his DEs to
their best use (Dolohov to murder cruelly, Bellatrix and her sidekicks
to Crucio people, Mulciber as an Imperius specialist), it makes sense
to me that Snape's chief use would be as a potion maker, especially
given that LV was still seeking immortality and didn't know, even
after Godric's Hollow, exactly which experiments had worked. Any
speculation as to what Snape did as a Death Eater is, at this point,
exactly that: speculation. I for one don't think that Dumbledore would
have hired him if he had actually killed anyone. But even if he did do
some really terrible things, he seems to have fully repented and to be
on the side of Dumbledore and the Order. We've seen him helping
Dumbledore. We do not yet have any grounds (other than Ron's and
Harry's suspicions) that he is helping Voldemort.

vmonte responds:
If all that Snape ever did for Voldemort was make potions, why then
doesn't Dumbledore give him the post of DADA teacher? It's probably
because Dumbledore knows something we don't.

It seems to me that Voldemort uses his henchmen to do all kinds of
dirty work. Lucius is used not only for dirty business deals, but he
also becomes an accomplice to murder (Cedric, and many more I'm sure.
In fact, if it weren't for Harry escaping, he would have also been a
child murderer in GoF.)

So, what kinds of things would Snape have seen I wonder? People
being tortured, perhaps? How about Moody's photograph? There were
several Order members that were murdered, along with their entire
family (children included). That must have been fun to watch.

(This is not a relevant comment but who's big idea was it to take a
picture of the Order anyway? I wonder if a DE got a hold of this
picture and used it as a check list to kill off Order members.)

I realize that Dumbledore is more forgiving than I probably am. He
may truly believe that Snape has repented, but I just don't see it.
He enjoys making people suffer too much. He reminds me more of Iago,
from Othello (someone who is great at manipulating others with
words), rather than Saint Paul, the Convert.

By the way, St. Paul once hated and persecuted Christians, even
assisting at the stoning of Saint Stephen the Martyr. And now he is
considered a great Christian Saint.

As I'm writing this, another idea has struck me. That perhaps Snape's
conversion has not yet happened, but that Dumbledore has forgiven him
because he has faith that Snape will eventually do what is right.

Everyone knows that JKR is a Christian and that she uses Christian
themes in the HP books. Is it really possible that Snape is being set-
up for a big conversion at the end of book 7? In the story of Saint
Paul, he was on his way to Damascus to arrest another group of
Christians when he was knocked to the ground and struck blind by a
heavenly light; and was given the message that in persecuting
Christians, he was persecuting Christ.

Will Snape get struck with a bright "green" light? Whose voice will
he hear I wonder?