Snape and Reading Between the Lines

[desastreuse]

No: HPFGUIDX 132985

I weigh in, fwiw, on the side that believes that Snape is still in 
the Order:  

•  There's the conversation at Spinner's End in which he feigns 
knowledge of Voldemort's plan.  He is clearly vague and leading in 
his commentary and reactions to Bella's comments, and there's the 
hand twitch during the vow.  Snape realizes he is caught between a 
rock and a hard place and that to refuse the Vow is to add fuel to 
Bella's fire.

•  There's the conversation that Harry overhears in which Snape is 
having trouble getting Draco to confide his plan.  He says (US 
323) "What is your plan?...If you tell me what you are trying to do, 
I can assist you--!"  Here we can infer that not only does Snape not 
know the details of the plan, he doesn't even know the goal, which 
supports the notion that he doesn't know what Voldemort has actually 
directed Draco to do.

•  There's also the overheard conversation recounted by Hagrid (US 
405) in which Snape and Dumbledore are arguing, in which Hagrid 
states, "Well—I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer 
granted an' maybe he—Snape—didn' wan' ter do it anymore—
it sounded 
like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, that's all—anyway, 
Dumbledore told him flat out he's agreed to do it an' that was there 
was to it."  I believe Snape has confided everything to Dumbledore—
including the Vow--and that Dumbledore is telling Snape that he is 
going to have to follow through or his cover would be blown.  

•  Dumbledore's so-called plea to Snape, I believe, is not a plea 
for his life but a plea to carry out what Dumbledore knows is a 
terrible and painful act for Snape.  I suspect that there is great 
personal affection between the two and that Dumbledore knows what a 
horrific ordeal this is for Snape.  The quiet speaking of Severus's 
name is an acknowledgement.  Harry, however, has never heard this 
tone from Dumbledore, and it frightens him, naturally, because he 
doesn't understand the nature of their relationship.    And 
the "please" that Dumbledore offers just before the end, I think, 
supports the idea that the likely unspoken words to follow are `do 
as you have promised.'

•  Lastly, Snape's reaction to Harry's taunt that he is cowardly for 
not killing Harry the way Snape had killed Dumbledore is telling.  
Snape's "face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though he was in as 
 much pain as the yelping, howling dog stuck in the burning house 
(US 604).  Snape's scream, "DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" is an enraged and 
tormented reaction to Harry's ignorance: Snape has just done the 
bravest and most painful deed he has ever done in his life.   The 
extreme anger, hatred, and rage Snape displays are a culmination of 
Snape's lifelong frustration and disappointment, not necessarily 
emotion directed at Harry personally.