Snape's Other Victims

[catjaneway]

No: HPFGUIDX 135430

In HBP Harry says to DD "Haven't you noticed, Professor, how
the people Snape hates tend to end up dead?"  (p 549 US HC) 
Taking Harry at his word, I've been wondering which deaths in 
addition to DD's Snape might arguably be responsible for. 

(Just for the sake of this post, let's assume that Snape is, on
some level, a bad guy. Some of these deaths would make him truly 
evil, and others would make him seem more
 opportunistic
 But
I'm not trying to convince anyone who's not already convinced
that Snape is, in fact, ESE.)

So, here are the possibilities for Snape's other victims as I see 
them, in chronological order:

1. James. 
Evidence for this is based on Harry's thoughts in HBP p 545: 
"It was Snape who had overheard the prophecy. It was Snape who
had 
carried the news of the prophecy to Voldemort. Snape and Peter 
Pettigrew together had sent Voldemort hunting after Lily and James 
and their son
" So, as Harry deduces, Snape had the means,
motive, and opportunity to convince LV that Harry was the boy in the 
prophecy, and set things up so that his old enemy James would
"end up dead."

Evidence against Snape's responsibility here is that a) DD
believed Snape had made a huge mistake in telling LV about the 
prophecy and consequently had switched sides prior to the attack on 
the Potters; and b) Snape's reference to James refusing to
believe 
that Sirius was a spy (implying that Snape may have tried to warn 
James). But, we know now that Snape has been effectively hoodwinking 
DD, so both of these points could be based on lies
 In my mind
the jury is still out, but there's a good possibility Snape is
partially responsible for James' death.

2. Barty Crouch Sr.  
In GOF Snape prevents Harry from quickly informing DD that BC Sr. is 
on the grounds, giving Fake!Moody an opportunity to kill Sr.

3. Barty Crouch Jr.  
In GOF it is Snape who tells Fudge that they've caught a Death
Eater inside the Castle. He could have taken the opportunity to 
convince Fudge that "his personal safety was in question" so
that
Fudge brought the Dementor with him, giving it a chance to suck BC
Jr.'s soul. The result is that Jr. is not able to testify that he 
was acting on Voldemort's orders – thus giving Voldemort a
year
of grace before the WW acknowledges that he is back. (Nice birthday 
gift for his old master, not to mention proof of his loyalty.)  
Plus, Jr. and Snape were antagonistic to each other all year; and 
Snape may have been afraid that Jr. would convince LV that he 
(Snape) had turned traitor. So again, Snape has means, motive, and 
opportunity.

Evidence against Snape's responsibility is that he voluntarily 
showed Fudge the Dark Mark on his arm to help convince him that LV 
was really back
 Of course, this also would demonstrate to
everyone present that Snape had NOT returned to LV when the Dark 
Mark burned. 

4. Sirius.  
In HBP, Snape tells Bella that his information "certainly helped 
dispose of Sirius Black, although I give you full credit for 
finishing him off." (p 30)  So at a minimum, Snape claims to have 
passed info that contributed to Sirius' death. But he may have
done more. He may have been using a multi-pronged approach to goad 
Sirius into taking a risk that would get him killed or captured. In 
OOP we see overt examples of Snape taunting Sirius for being a
"coward."  Snape is also the one who supposedly asked Sirius
to 
remain behind at OOP headquarters when everyone else went to help 
Harry at the Ministry. (see p 830 US HD)  He may have lied to DD 
about what he actually said, or he may have asked in such a snide 
and insulting way that he actually provoked Sirius to go. Finally, 
there is that theory that was floating around after OOP came out 
about someone secretly slipping Sirius a Befuddlement Draught, 
causing hot-headedness and recklessness. (See Message #93021 for the 
beginning of the original string on the subject). Snape could have 
been giving it to Sirius himself on his visits to 12GP, or he could 
have given it to Kreacher to give to Sirius. Snape's hatred of 
Sirius, plus the fact that Sirius suspected Snape would have 
provided an adequate motive. (Makes me wonder what Sirius heard in 
Azkaban about Snape
)

5. Emmeline Vance. Based on Snape's own claim to have provided 
information that led to her murder.

So I'm not saying I'm totally convinced that Snape is
involved in every one of these deaths, but it seems worth 
reconsidering in the light of the HBP. 

Janeway