Pulling Off Good Snape? WAS Re: Snape isn't evil

[lucianam73]

No: HPFGUIDX 143554

Lucianam:
<SNIP>
> But I suppose in the end Snape might be revealed as loyal to
> Dumbledore (I think that will be more difficult to write, though),
> or as a truly evil man determined to surpass Voldemort and become
> the next Dark Lord. Anything Snape goes.

<le_green_dragon wrote:
>
<snipped>
> Are you suggesting that Snape killed Dumbledore because he 
realised he
> was dying anyway and that there was no way Snape could fight his 
way
> passed the DEs in time to get his potions kit and save ADs life?


zgirnus wrote:
>
<snipped>
> Hatred and revulsion, actually. Which, we must assume, are the > 
emotions
> which twisted Harry's face in the cave when, 'hating himself, > 
repulsed by what he was doing', Harry poured the potion down > 
Dumbledore's
> throat. The narrator tells us how Snape looks, we have to 
determine > why.


Lucianam:

Well, my own opinion on Snape is that he's more likely to be loyal 
to Voldemort, but I admit 'anything Snape goes'. By that I mean 
Snape is, IMO, the biggest Question Mark in the books. He killed 
Dumbledore (apparently - I've read theories questioning even that) 
but that is no definite proof of his evilness - we don't know why DD 
was pleading, we don't know what was going on between the two of 
them in HBP... We actually don't know what was going on in a very 
large part of HBP, by the way. We don't know much about Snape's 
past, either. 

I think it's too late for JKR to take the 'good Snape' rout now, not 
because of his Avada Kedrava-ing Dumbledore, but because of his 
extensive answers to Bellatrix in Chapter 2. It's just too difficult 
to pull it off properly now. Of course JKR may do it, anyway.But I 
still think it's hard, I went on about it in my original post. If 
JKR decides to 'show' us how Snape had different motivations than he 
gave Bellatrix, that might take too much space in Book 7, and if JKR 
goes through each and every question again, answering them from 
a 'Loyal-to-Dumbledore-Snape' point of veiw, it'll be boring.

It's funny how posting makes one think. I'm going through the 
questions on my mind now and trying to answer them from a DDM!Snape 
perspective. Let's see (to save time, I'll just list the answers), 
so instead of...

a) taking a teacher's job at Hogwarts on Voldy's orders; 
b) not trying to find Voldy because he suspected him finished;
c) staying at Hogwarts to profit from DD's protection and thus 
escape Azkaban;
d) stopping Quirrel from getting the stone because he didn't know 
Voldy was in the back of Q's head;
e) not apparating instantly in the graveyard so as to ensure 
Dumbledore's trust and keep his place at Hogwarts;
f) Not joining the battle of the MoM so as not to blow his cover;
g) Not killing Harry for suspecting him of being a potential new 
Dark Lord and to avoid doing such a suspicious thing under DD's nose

we could have (I'm sure JKR could come up with something better, I'm 
just cooking stuff up) ...

a) exact same thing, really. When Snape sought the teaching job he 
was still a Death Eater. 
b) not trying to find Voldy because ... he was no longer loyal to 
him. According to DD, when Snape found out Voldemort killed the 
Potters, he felt great remorse and that was possibly the reason why 
he returned (to the right side, we might assume).
c) exact the same thing, again, I think... Even if Snape had 
sincerely turned his back on Voldemort, it was only DD's word and 
protection that cleared his name with the Wizengamot.
d) stopping Quirrel because he was genuinely defending the stone and 
possibly suspected Q was a DE or a dark wizard? (pretty lame, this 
one)
e) Aha!!!!!! I actually have a good explanation for this one. I 
think Voldemort didn't question Snape's loyalty for not apparating 
in the graveyard, once he learned Snape was at Hogwarts. Perhaps, 
unlike Bellatrix, Voldemort has read 'Hogwarts, a History', and 
knows it's impossible to Apparate/Disapparate from Hogwarts grounds. 
So I think this particular point is neutral. Regardless of being 
loyal to Voldemort or Dumbledore, he could never had Apparated to 
Voldemort's side once he felt the Dark Mark burn in his arm.
f) exact same thing. Loyal to Dumbledore Snape couldn't have battled 
in the MoM either, it would have blown his cover as a spy if he 
fought alongside the Order.
g) if we believe in 'good Snape', his reasons for not killing Harry 
are , obviously, that he's good, and the fact that he has a Life 
debt to James.

Funny. Most of the things he answered Bellatrix are true regardless 
of Snape's loyalties. Actually, none of that proves anything... And 
once you know what is his true loyaty, the real answers are pretty 
much obvious or easy to explain.

I'll eat my words from my previous post. I don't think it's so 
difficult for JKR to pull off Good Snape!!!! That doesn't mean I 
think he's good, though, I only think we have proof both ways.

Snape is one tough cookie to break!
Lucianam