Omniscient Dumbledore

[catjaneway]

No: HPFGUIDX 135054

rklarreich wrote:
<big snip>
> From a literary standpoint, the longer a secret is concealed, the 
more impressive it had better be when the author finally reveals it. 
Where Snape is concerned, we've had Dumbledore insisting throughout 
the series that he trusts Snape absolutely for a reason he won't 
reveal.  This sets the stage for an amazing revelation:  what could 
it possibly be?  Now, in book 6, what do we get? A rather feeble 
story that makes everyone in the Order who hears it (and the reader) 
say "Huh??!"  After all this buildup, this CAN'T be the whole story. 
There has to be more to it than that, and that means we'll be 
getting the rest of it in book 7.  <snip> 

> Incidentally, in GoF, Dumbledore states that the reason for his 
trust of Snape is between him and Snape--i.e. none of Harry's 
business.  This too suggests that there is more to it than Snape's 
repentance over betraying Harry's parents, which *is* Harry's 
business.
> 

Janeway:
I agree with you that we don't yet have all the information about 
why DD trusted Snape. I'm not convinced that this additional info 
will reveal that Snape is actually on the side of the Order, but I 
do think that it will be so persuasive that it will convince Harry 
and the reader that DD was justified in trusting Snape given the 
information he had at the time. 

In addition to the literary/novelistic reasons that you give above, 
there is also DD's infamous hesitation on p 549 when Harry asks: 

""...how can you be *sure* Snape's on our side?"

Dumbledore did not speak for a moment; he looked as though he was 
trying to make up his mind about something. At last he said, "I am 
sure. I trust Severus Snape completely.""

It sounds like DD is trying to decide whether to reveal this deeply 
secret (and possibly personal) piece of information to Harry, and 
decides not to.

But whatever this missing piece of information is, it pretty much 
has to be about Harry's parents, probably his mother. Here's DD 
again (with a lot of snipping to condense):

"Professor Snape made a terrible mistake...he did not know...which 
boy Voldemort would hunt..or that the parents he would 
destroy...were your mother and father--  ...You have no idea of the 
remorse Professor Snape felt when he realized how LV had interpreted 
the prophecy, Harry. I believe it to be the greatest regret of his 
life." (p 549)

I'm not the first one to say it, but what DD doesn't reveal here is 
WHY Snape felt remorse. That "why" (eg. because he loved or felt 
friendship for Lilly, or because he owed a life debt to James, or 
whatever) could make his repentance seem extremely convincing.

And, it also seems to me like the missing info must be tied to 
Snape's worst memory (in the Pensieve in OOP). Snape had removed 
that memory to teach Harry Occlumency. Per Snape, Occlumency depends 
on being able to "shut down those feelings and memories that 
contradict the lie" (OOP, p531 US HC). So whether Snape is good or 
evil, this memory must be one that "contradicts the lie" that he 
told to either DD or LV. Normally he is able to "shut down" the 
memory, but as we saw, during an Occlumency lesson one is more 
vulnerable to inadvertent revelations. He didn't want Harry to 
accidentally come across those memories in the course of Occlumency 
lessons and report them to DD (or somehow reveal them to LV), so he 
removed them completely.

But what SWM reveals... that's a stumper. It's been endlessly 
debated. Maybe it's as simple as showing how much Snape hated James 
and why, and by hiding this from DD, Snape was able to convince him 
that he was actually sorry when he put James in danger. Since Harry 
had seen this memory he had better insight on Snape's true feelings 
than DD did.

Enough rambling :-)
Janeway