Snape vs Quirrell

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 123060


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Juli <jlnbtr at y...> wrote:
> 
> Juli earlier:
> 
> > > So, my question is if Snape faced Quirell a few
> times and told him to stop chasing the Stone, to
> decide in whom is his loyalty, then why didn't
> Voldemort also know about it? He was already sharing
> Quirell's body and soul, so he must have known and
> heard all their conversations, right? So how come
> Voldemort does not know that Snape has changed sides?
> That he is actually working for the Order and
> Dumbledore? < <
>  
> > > Carol responds:
> <SNIP> 
> > As I see it, the incident planted a seed of doubt
> about Snape in Voldemort's mind, but as he doesn't
> know that Snape is an Occlumens, he wouldn't know that
> Snape was blocking certain thoughts from reaching the
> conscious level. That doubt, IMO, was increased when
> Snape failed to show up for the DE meeting in the
> graveyard (and perhaps by messages from Barty Jr. that
> led to Voldemort's belief that Snape had left him
> forever). As I've said before, Snape must have
> explained to him (possibly through Lucius Malfoy) that
> you can't apparate from Hogwarts and it was impossible
> for him to attend the meetings. <
> 
> Juli again:
> I get your point Carol, but my question remains, if
> Snape *knew* that Quirrell was after the stone for
> Voldemort who was trying to regain his power, he
> shouldn't have been so obvious about his dislike for
> Quirrell!Mort. What I'm trying to explain is that
> during PS/SS Snape was working for DD and being loyal
> to him, then comes Quirrell searching for the stone
> for LV (I'm sure Snape knew it wasn't for himself,
> mainly because I think he's also a legimens) and Snape
> tries to stop him, and by doing so he stops LV from
> returning. So, LV must have known for sure that Snape
> had left him for good. What Snape could have told him
> later (during GoF-OoP) is an absolute mystery, he must
> have done some serious convincing arguments in order
> to get into LV's good side again. Maybe Lucius had
> something to do with that, specially since Lucius
> seems to be really close to LV, almost second in
> command.
> JMO
> 
> Juli


Carol responds:
I see what you're concerned about (I think). But remember, Voldemort
had no time to worry about Snape after SS/PS. He'd been reduced to
vapor again. His sole concern was to get his body back (and then get
rid of Harry). Unless Crouch!Moody was sending him information about
Snape being Dumbledore's loyal lieutenant, the thought of Snape
probably didn't enter Voldemort's mind until Snape's absence from the
graveyard at the end of GoF. And then everything Snape had done,
including his suspicion of Quirrell, would fall into place and
Voldemort would conclude (rightly, IMO) that Snape had left him forever.

At that point, Snape would have had to use all his Slytherin cunning
(and his skills as a "superb" Occlumens) to convince either Malfoy or
Voldemort or both that he was still loyal. As I said earlier, he could
cover his graveyard absence by explaining that you can't apparate from
Hogwarts and cover the Quirrell incident, if it came up, by saying
that he'd had no idea that Voldemort was back, much less inside
Quirrell's head, and that he thought Quirrell was trying to get the
stone for himself. (How he would explain his remark about "where your
loyalties lie," I don't know, but being Snape, a Slytherin and an
Occlumens, I think he could manage.) Remember that Dumbledore says to
Snape, near the end of GoF, "If you are ready, if you are prepared"
(quoting from memory). They must have anticipated such a moment, and
Snape must have prepared his stories, complete, possibly, with false
memories for Voldemort to see.

It seems that Malfoy, at least, still trusts Snape (he told him that
he had seen Sirius Black in dog form on Platform 9 3/4) up till the
end of OoP. Voldemort, however, could have remained skeptical yet
chosen not to kill Snape (yet) because he found him useful as a source
of information about Hogwarts. (It's possible that, by arrangement
with Dumbledore, Snape gives Malfoy certain preapproved bits of
information in exchange for "what Voldemort is telling his Death
Eaters"). But if Voldemort learns from Kreacher that Snape sent the
Order to the MoM, even Snape may find it hard to concoct a convincing lie.

If JKR hadn't said that Snape had an important role to play in Book 7,
I would be worried about his survival in HBP. As it is, I'm only
curious to find out how he's managed to stay alive (assuming that JKR
will tell us) and I'm dying to see how he relates to the Slytherins
whose fathers are now in Azkaban (or St. Mungo's)--thanks, in part, to
him.

Carol, hoping that I didn't bury the point you're looking for in too
much extraneous detail, but I like to be thorough