What exactly did Snape do in OOTP?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 129513

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Amy Klein <mohalagirl25 at y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> [Carol:]
> <snipped by Amy>
At first glance it may appear that Karkaroff's hearing changed all
> that. He testifies in front of 200 people that Snape is a Death
Eater. Dumbledore is forced to come forward and indicate that Snape
*was* a Death Eater, but that he "is now no more a Death Eater than I
am" and that *before* Voldemort's fall, he "returned to our side" and
spied on the Death Eaters "at great personal risk." This statement is
not made in public; it is apparently a closed hearing before the
Wizengamot. Rita Skeeter certainly is not present as she was for Ludo
Bagman's hearing. Neither are any Death Eaters. <snipped by Amy>
> 
Amy responded:
> I have a question though.  There were as we discovered MoM people
who are death eaters.  In OoTP we discovered that Avery was an
unspeakable.  Whose to say that there aren't any on the Wizengamot
that aren't DE's?  And there was also Rookwood, who almost got Ludo in
Azkaban for passing info.  However, you would think that LV would know
about Snape being a spy from people telling him.  If he does know then
he's not saying anything or is he playing with Snape?  Is LV using
Snape as a spy for LV and asked him to do this before the attack on
the Potter's knowing ahead of time that it might turn bad?  Just a few
things to ponder.
> 
> Mind still twirling with questions,
> 
> Amy

Carol responds:
At this point, those questions appear to be unanswerable. I do think
that Snape is "the one [Voldemort] believe[s] has left [him] forever,"
but his suspicion appears to be based on Snape's absence from the
graveyard, along with possible reports (remember the eagle owl?) from
Crouch!Moody to Voldemort. Snape's behavior with regard to Quirrell in
SS/PS may also have aroused Voldemort's suspicions. I think that Snape
put those doubts and suspicions to rest at the end of GoF when he was
sent by Voldemort on a perilous errand. Almost certainly he reported
either to Lucius Malfoy or Voldemort himself, in which case he would
have needed all his skill as a "superb Occlumens" to convince
Voldemort that he was still faithful.

But as I said in the snipped portion of the quoted post, the
non-Slytherin parents have no apparent suspicions that Snape is a
former Death Eater and the DEs themselves seem to trust him (or did
before the debacle at the DoM). For that reason, I'm almost certain
that no Death Eaters were present at Karkaroff's hearing other than
Karkaroff himself (Rookwood wasn't), and I'm guessing that the
Wizengamot members who were present were sworn to secrecy (probably in
advance) through some magically binding contract. All I can say with
any degree of certainty is that it clearly is *not* common knowledge
in the Wizarding World that Severus Snape was once a Death Eater. That
could easily change in HBP, however, especially if Kreacher is alive
and conveying information to Narcissa Malfoy.

Carol, noting that it's customary on this list to indicate snippage
and identify the author of the post you're quoting