Snape really IS evil

[John Kearns]

No: HPFGUIDX 134187

UNIX4EVR wrote:
> Having gone back and forth on this one and wanting to think Snape 
> is a triple-agent on DD's side I finally concluded he really is evil.

John K:
I agree with your premise, but not with all of your rationales:

> UNIX4EVR:
> If Snape knew about the plan to penetrate Hogwarts via the cabinet 
> why didn't he warn DD?  No one knew that Harry and DD were leaving 
> except for Ron, Hermione and. . .Snape?

John K:
Snape didn't necessarily know about the plan (he kept offering to help 
Draco, and could easily have been offering to help create a plan), or 
that Dumbledore was gone.  Remember, Snape wasn't part of the battle 
until Flitwick came and told him what was going on.  As for who else 
knew Harry and Dumbledore were leaving... what about Madam Rosmerta, 
under the Imperius?  Surely she would have told someone?

I thought for several days that Snape must have been good, that it 
must have been planned, that Dumbledore must have been right.  Now I'm 
fairly sure this is wrong.  Here's why:

1) Snape injures Flitwick, to take him and Hermione out of the battle.

2) Dumbledore would never have planned for Snape to use Avada Kedavra, 
or allowed him to do it.  It is evil, unforgivable, and splits your 
soul (even if you aren't creating a horcrux).

3) Phineas says: "We Slytherins, given the choice, will always choose 
to save our own necks."  Snape doesn't think Harry has the ability to 
defeat Voldemort.  He knows about the prophecy.  Thus, he thinks 
Voldemort will win.  Thus, he chooses the side that will save his neck.

4) Think about how long it took him in OotP to alert the Order that 
Harry had gone to the ministry.  Plenty of time for the Death Eaters 
to kill him and/or get the prophecy.

TLC/Mugglenet interview clues, though I hate alluding to it because 
parts of it were so rude: 

5) JKR agrees that Dumbledore trusts people to the point of 
recklessness.  It's fairly well implied here that she means Snape.

6) JKR is surprised when it is suggested that Dumbledore may have 
planned his own death, and she seems to come close to dismissing the 
theory the same way she dismissed the H/HR shippers.

7) This is my bitterness talking, but it seems that anyone who 
overlooks the obvious in the books to seek out more complex 
motivations and explanations is foolhardy, indeed.  As much as I hate 
to think this, perhaps theories such as Snape's innocence give JKR and 
her plot too much credit.

John K