What use is Snape in the rest of the plot?

[Milz]

No: HPFGUIDX 133064

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jospehine" <J.Z.Dench at u...> 
wrote:
> My last post for the day- lest I over cram the message board with 
all 
> of my babblings-*sigh*!
> 
> Right. Snape Snape Snape... so, it would appear that most of you 
> think he's on the good side.
> 
> Considering where book 6 leaves us, it is suggested that Book 7 
will 
> consist of:
> 
> Harry's hunt for the Horcruxes
> Harry's destruction of Voldemort (or failure to do so)
> 
> That is pretty much the essence of it, stripped down to its bare 
> bones. No? 
> 
> The question I have then is this- if Snape is still on DD's side, 
> what does Harry have to gain from his allegience? It's not in 
Snape's 
> character to help Harry, so I can't see him going 'oh look Harry 
> here's that Horcrux you were looking for!'. Other than postponing 
> Voldemort's knowledge of Harry's hunt, what else can he offer to 
the 
> OoTP? We already know that Voldemort is intent on mayhem and 
> destruction. Tell us something new Snapey! I can't help but feel 
that 
> his betrayal of Harrry/DD/ et al was the only way his character 
could 
> have been written- otherwise he was in danger of being shadowed 
into 
> obscurity with no further purpose to the cause.

I certainly don't think Snape is a good-guy. In fact I think it's 
rather clever of Rowling to do this sort of thing.

See, the characters in the book have placed a blind trust in 
Dumbledore. In OoP, Lupin, Molly, Sirius all agreed that Dumbledore 
was right to not let Harry know everything---something that 
Dumbledore admits was a mistake at the end of the book. These 
characters trust Dumbledore's opinions to the point where they 
dismiss their own instincts...with the exception of Harry who trusts 
Dumbledore implicitly, but not blindly, and therefore has the ability 
to think independently. And this has been shown in every single book: 
Harry's suspicions are pooh-poohed because 1. he's a kid and 2. 
because as Hagrid so eloquently put it once "If it's good enough for 
Dumbledore, it's good enough for me." 

This is a very strong cautionary tale: trust but don't be trusting to 
the point where you do not listen to your own instincts and follow 
blindly. To make Snape a good-guy (in disguise as a bad guy in 
disguise as a good-guy) would be counterproductive to any kind of 
cautionary tale of trusting yourself and your instincts. It would 
only perpetuate the fallacy of blinding following a charismatic 
leader---which is contrary to the underlying theme of the believing 
in yourself and finding the inner strength to do what's right, rather 
than what's convenient.

Milz