Snape/Regulus, post 135111

[hermionegallo]

No: HPFGUIDX 135781

hg had said:
What's difficult about making this theory work, however, is that it
would necessitate a) Snape knowing about the Horcruxes (if Regulus, 
poisoned, came to him), which it really seems he doesn't, or b) Snape 
valuing Regulus' life over his own (if his stomach was turned by the 
idea of killing Regulus, whether or not it was done, whether he or 
another DE did it), which is unlikely, whether he is ESE or not, 
knowing Snape. And I don't have any canon to prove it or disprove it.

colebiancardi wrote:
> And please note, that Dumbledore DID state in the trial scene that
> Snape turned spy for them "at great personal risk". So, we do know
> that Snape did value SOMETHING or SOMEONE greater than his own life.


hg:  

Snape at "great personal risk" turned spy, yes.  And Kreacher could 
have been with Regulus, yes.  
So Snape may not be turning Regulus over to Dumbledore because of 
brotherhood or Slytherinhood, but because he sees an OPPORTUNITY.  
That makes sense to me.

colebiancardi:

I think that this was the opportunity that Snape needed - remember, 
DD stated in GoF, in the trial scene, that Snape turned spy for them 
at great personal risk. If Snape was the one who delivered Regulus to
DD, against Voldemort's orders that Snape kill Regulus - that is a
pretty big personal risk. Sirius stated in OotP that you didn't just
leave the Death Eaters - it was a life-long commiment or you were
dead. I do believe that Regulus is not the man he was before - he may
have mentioned some babbling story about souls and splitting them to
DD & Snape, but the true meaning of what Voldemort was planning to do
- create 7 horcruxes - was not revealed until HBP.
...For 16 years+, this man has been "dead". I think Regulus is in
Godric's Hollow and someone is his Secret Keeper. Who could that
someone be?

hg:
In this scenario, Snape would have provided an antidote to Regulus, 
handed him over to Dumbledore, and the two of them would know 
something about one horcrux.  It wouldn't be until the diary was 
destroyed and THEN Voldemort came back anyway, that Dumbledore was 
thinking there must be more than one.  Why would Dumbledore go after 
the locket, then?  Would Regulus in that situation, saved by Snape 
and Dumbledore, not tell them that he got the Horcrux?  And if he 
were hidden in Godric's Hollow, then how did he get the locket home 
to his house?

colebiancardi:
Dumbledore would have made the "fake Regulus's death" spell, so that 
Kreacher and all were fooled. Why else does DD sound so confident 
when he tells Draco that Draco can be safe, hidden...You cannot be 
killed if you are already dead? Could it be that DD has done this 
before, with great success, with Regulus?

hg:
I think that's one likely reason Dumbledore would say what he says on 
the tower, but I can't see it as the only reason.  First off, like 
Voldemort, JK doesn't usually serve only one purpose with an action; 
she usually has layers.  Secondly, I'm not convinced that Dumbledore 
is dead, or even that Dumbledore was himself.  I'm starting to get 
the impression from reading the boards that those who are in 
the "Dumbledore's still alive" camp are radicals, but I've been 
working on a theory toward that.  However, unlike you, I'm not gifted 
in figuring out motives; I'm just juggling a lot of curious evidence, 
so I'm stuck.

colebiancardi:
[Perhaps] Snape is neither *good* nor *evil*, just looking
out for himself and wanting to be the King of the Wizarding World,
once Harry defeats LV. In that case, Snape would be *good* for Harry,
because he would help Harry defeat LV. In addition, Snape would be
*evil* for Harry, because once LV is gone, how long do you think Snape
will allow Harry to live? 
I have problems with that theory [Top Wizard Snape], not because it 
is not a good one, but that it takes a Slytherin one step beyond 
their ambitions - that they will risk their necks for it. And I 
thought Slys were ambitious up to a point.
Well, Riddle proved me wrong on that point. The question is, will
Snape?  And maybe the key to that answer is that Snape & Riddle are
half-blood Slytherins, not pure-blood.  Maybe that's the reason why. 

hg:
At the very least, we might conclude that Slytherins would risk their 
necks -- to save themselves?  To save and better (or more empower) 
themselves?  Because it's so overarchingly important for them to get 
credit for their own work?  Would this, then, explain why, if 
Dumbledore and Snape did put Regulus underground, he then didn't tell 
Dumbledore that he'd taken the Horcrux and swapped it?  Because he 
wants credit for it?

I definitely think there's a real strong reason why JK showed us how 
Slughorn faked his own death in chapter 4, and why Dumbledore offers 
this option to Draco in the Tower chapter; we know it's possible and 
now are free to wonder where it's been done before.  Regulus is one 
of a handful for whom "the body was never found," so it gets me 
thinking.  Who else would Dumbledore be hiding besides Regulus?
hg.