Snape, Voldemort, and teaching (was: Question..)

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 135354

Amandasg28 wrote:
>> I was under the impression that Snape only went to DD after he 
realized that VD had fallen when attacking the Potters and thought 
there would be no one to spare him from Azkaban. <<

HunterGreen: (welcome to the list Amanda (o; )
He defected (or pretended to defect) to Dumbledore's side before 
Voldemort's fall, which would be, I assume, part of the reason 
Dumbledore believed him. 

>>>
"I have given evidence already on this matter," [Dumbledore] said 
calmly. "Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he rejoined 
our side *before* Lord Voldemort's downfall and turned spy for us, at 
great personal risk. He is now no more a Death Eater than I am."
>>>
[GoF, chpt 30; emphasis mine]

Amandasg28:
>> If he in fact had already approached DD to work at Hogwarts on 
VD's orders (prior to his assumed 'death') then why did he have to 
convince DD that he felt remorse for ever being a death eater? <<

HunterGreen:
Perhaps because Dumbledore knew he would a death-eater (or a 
suspected one) the same way he knew about Draco, for example, and 
would suspect a trap. He wouldn't just immediately let a former DE 
teach without being sure that they were reformed. (At least from his 
point of view....he could have been wrong). In order for Voldemort's 
plan to work (to get a DE in as a teacher to spy on Voldemort) they 
had to pretend to have reformed.

Hmm, but this is starting to confuse me a bit. Was it Snape's or 
Voldemort's idea to go to Dumbledore? Because, before HBP, my theory 
had been that something horrible had happened in the course of 
Snape's DE duties that made him change his mind about everything and 
he left and ran to Dumbledore where he either worked as a spy or went 
under Dumbledore's protection. This theory seems to still work, 
except for one bit. 
In OotP, Snape told Umbridge he had been teaching at Hogwarts for 14 
years, which would be since Harry was about one. If he started at the 
beginning of the term, that would have been about two months before 
Voldemort's fall. Voldemort, at that point, would have been plotting 
and planning a long time about the prophecy (since it was made over a 
year before), and would have been planning which boy to murder (if it 
was, as Dumbledore says, a choice, rather than going for the boy he 
could find), if Snape got cold feet about that, than right then would 
have made sense for him to want to switch sides. EXCEPT, according to 
Snape (and he implies that this is easy-to-confirm knowledge among 
DEs), he went there on *Voldemort's* orders, not by his own decision. 

Sooo....what happened? Had he already decided to change sides and 
then the teaching assignment was just a lucky concidence ("Great! 
Thank you Dark Lord, I had wanted to quit anyway! I'll just go tell 
your biggest enemy, at this moment, all your secrets!")? Had he 
already defected, in secret, and him and Dumbledore somehow slyly 
gave Voldemort the idea of sending Snape to Hogwarts? Or did he do as 
Voldemort asked, then decide to *actually* defect as he was 
pretending to? (which seems like it would make Dumbledore have 
trouble believing him). Or was the whole defecting thing *only* an 
act, (as I believe), and he was never on Dumbledore's side while 
Voldemort was still alive?

Amandasg28:
>> If he in fact was already teaching at Hogwart's at the time of 
VD's 'death', would he not just continue to work there as though he 
had been on the right side the entire time? <<

HunterGreen:
It appears thats exactly what he did, and that's what he told 
Bellatrix. Whether he was good or evil when he started teaching, he 
certainly decided it was in his best interest to stay there. Now that 
Voldemort is dead he's either using it as a way to keep Voldemort 
from killing him ("hey, i'm a *spy*."), or using it as a shield 
against prison. He's well placed for Voldemort to use him, and he's 
well placed for Dumbledore to use him. 

Amandasg28:
>> From previous books, I thought that Snape had not approached DD 
for protection and redemption until AFTER VD's fall from power.. have 
I misinterpretted? <<

HunterGreen:
You must have. As I said above, I doubt Dumbledore would be offering 
the guy any favors after Voldemort appeared to be dead (or at least 
no longer a threat). Turning for help then would just be a plea to 
stay out of prison. Turning when Voldemort is still strong and 
powerful and there's no obvious reason why he wouldn't continue to be 
means a lot more. The question, though, is whether Snape was telling 
the truth when he went to Dumbledore. 


-Rebecca / HunterGreen