"revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face"

[nrenka]

No: HPFGUIDX 135610

<ruthless snipping>

> As we learn in the Pensieve scene of Karkaroff's hearing in GoF, 
> Snape has faced danger from the time he first became Dumbledore's 
> spy before he began teaching at Hogwarts and before the Potters 
> died.

Because I like to play Devil's Advocate, and because the possibility 
has been *eminently* opened up by the events of this book:

Is it not possible that Snape's defection to the light side was, at 
least originally, a plant on the part of Voldemort?  Voldemort sends 
Snape to play the penitent to Dumbledore; Dumbledore is then, so he 
thinks, in possession of a spy--and one who he thinks is operating at 
great risk.  However, if this is a setup, Snape is really not risking 
himself vis-a-vis Voldemort--at least not as much as we've all 
assumed.

Everything depends upon the level of trust which we are willing to 
place unreservedly in Dumbledore's hands as to discerning motives and 
loyalties.  I would submit that now is the time to go back and look 
through at everything that we've been *assuming* about the 
relationship between these characters.  Unless one wants to play 
the "Snape is acting all the time" card along with the "Dumbledore 
and Snape are totally in cahoots" card, a lot of friction between the 
characters makes a lot more sense, now.

I think, when all is said and done, JKR is far less sneaky than we've 
been giving her credit for.  I'm wary of saying that the plot will 
work on the same mechanics as the romances, but we've seen where 
overarguing little things got those lines of thought.  What she's 
done is given us the rope and watched as we neatly knot it to hang 
ourselves with; such is the beauty of it all.

-Nora wonders about the possible overextensions of Legilimency as a 
tool to communicate specific requests/commands, as well