Snape's Worst Moment / Snape as Teacher / Snape as Spy (wasRe: Snape's Worst...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 132680

Betsy Hp:
So I realized that I was so busy pointing out why I disagreed with 
SSSusan's worst moment for Snape, I never gave one of my own.  And 
since I don't want everyone to think I'm a mindless Snape-apologist 
(wait -- why the laughter?) let me remedy this now.

In OotP I think Snape's worst moment comes when he refuses to teach 
Harry Occlumency again.  It's a bit of an off-page thing, because I 
don't really blame Snape throwing Harry out of his office, but after 
he'd had time to calm down, he should have told Harry to return.  
Yes, the Occlumency wasn't going well.  At all.  But it was sloppy, 
especially during a war, for Snape to quit.

His other worst moment in OotP actually occurs within the pensieve 
when he throws that blood drawing hex at James.  What a waste of a 
perfect opportunity!  James and Sirius were distracted enough that 
he was able to get a spell off and he uses it to slash James?!?  
Surely he could have disarmed them or immobilized them or 
*something*.  Badly done, Snape.  Badly done.

> >>Greg http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/132406
> <snip>
> Harry's grandparent's generation of Slytherin produced LV, Harry's
> parent's generation produced his DE's, is 15 years of Snape running
> Slytherin house enough to stop the trend? In conclusion, Snape is
> going to be judged a good teacher or a bad one, not on the results
> his students get on their exams, but the results they get in life.
> How many Slytherins of the past 15 years become DE's? How many will
> join the Order of the Phoenix? The answer to that, and that alone,
> will determine his success as a teacher.

Betsy Hp:
I agree with Greg.  This will be a good ruler to judge Snape's 
competency by.  I saw several replies that said there was no way 
Snape could influence his Slytherins because it would out him as a 
supporter of Dumbledore.  But I think that underestimates Snape's 
ability to be subtle.  I mean, he's not going to sit Draco down and 
say, "Your dad's a total idiot, don't do anything he says, and oh by 
the way, lets keep this between you and me."  

Instead he'll make statements about choosing your own path, and ask 
subtle questions that encourage the Slytherins to take a fresh look 
at some of the Death Eater philosophy.  Maybe share some hair-
raising tales without seeming to notice that those particular tales 
don't really fit on a Death Eater recruitment poster.  I think Steve 
Bboyminn has spoken a lot about how a Slytherin could well choose to 
not follow Voldemort because he's bad for business, or for ambitious 
folks.  Snape could play up that angle without seeming to play up 
that angle.

And this kind of goes towards the Snape as a double agent theory.  
Because an objection I've seen raised is that if Voldemort did 
indeed think Snape was *his* spy, then hasn't Snape blown it by 
*not* sucking up to Harry.  The thing is, did Voldemort ever think 
Snape would make a *good* spy?

Because what if there's another Hogwarts spy? (And you can pick your 
poison here: McGonagall, Lupin, Flitwick, whomever.)  Dumbledore had 
to suspect that Voldemort would try and get an agent into Hogwarts.  
And Voldemort had to know that Dumbledore would suspect such a 
thing.  So why not send in Snape (that convenient red-herring) who 
practically *screams* seriously dark wizard here.  Give him some 
throw away information he can feed to Dumbledore (and Dumbledore can 
then feed to the MoM, in a room of 200 people) and then there he 
is.  Dumbledore now thinks he *knows* who the agent is because Snape 
is so *obviously* not behind Dumbledore, and he'll stop sniffing 
around so hard for the *real* agent.

(Readers of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series may recognize this 
ploy as one used by one character to keep his intelligence officer 
hidden in a city rife with rumors.) 

And see, Snape (who'd already turned to Dumbledore at this time) can 
grumble about how he hates Hogwarts because he was bullied there, 
and he hates teaching potions and would much rather have DADA (which 
Voldemort would never expect Dumbledore to allow Snape to teach), 
and get all hysterical whenever a Maurader is brought up, and 
generally act like a incompetent.  And Voldemort will *never* 
suspect that his red-herring spy, is actually *Dumbledore's* highest 
placed agent.

We've already seen that Snape can seem to have seriously lost his 
mind, to be running on pure emotion, and yet make a calculated 
decision.  At the end of PoA he was practically frothing at the 
mouth with Fudge, and yet he still says the children must have been 
under a Confundis curse.  Something I seriously doubt Snape believed 
at the time.

Am I crazy?

Betsy Hp