OFH! Snape again. WAS: Straightforward readings?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 140802

Nora:
> I don't have a fixed point for when I think Snape necessarily 
> flipped, but I think there was serious strain put on him from the 
> moment he *went back* to Voldemort and had that personal contact.  
> All of his actions from then on are fairly easily readable from 
> the position of playing both sides, looking to see where and how
> the chips are falling on the table.  He then gets himself somewhat 
> trapped into the UV, which really disrupts his precarious yet 
> balanced position.

Jen: 
Now if Snape started to play both sides, we still need a motive. 
What could Voldemort offer him that Dumbledore cannot? Snape's never 
said anything as an adult indicating support for the DE's pure-blood 
mania, and he's a smart enough wizard to know Voldemort suceeded in 
making himself immortal somehow, because of what happened at GH. 
Snape doesn't strike me as a person who actually wants Voldemort 
around *forever*, telling him what to do and whatnot. Do you think 
he finally gave up on Dumbledore's Plan, that Harry would be the one 
to defeat the Dark Lord? Seems like he wouldn't, after hearing part 
of the prophecy.

Nora: 
> Now, I admit, this theory has a major weakness--it doesn't
> *explain* so much as it is content to label.  However, it has the
> consequent of being remarkably straightforward.  It requires no
> postulated fake AK curse or secret plotting (or last-minute silent
> communication) between Snape and Dumbledore.  It is content to let
> Snape's overtly positive actions be overtly positive and his 
> negative ones be negative, without an exculpatory apparatus put
> onto every nasty little (or not so little) action.  It requires
> far less inference than DDM!Snape, for sure. <snipping> I think
> people don't like it because it's thematically very different 
> and rather harsh from where most of us (including myself) thought
> the character arc was going.  Don't dismiss it out of hand.  

Jen: There's something to the simplicity of it: If Snape did indeed 
force his own hand with the UV, wavered between his options the 
entire year, then in that moment on the tower decided to save 
himself, well....it's not inconsistent with the characterisation so 
far, or at least not with Harry's view of Snape. I'd say it's a 
pretty straightforward read to note he's not a typical DE, either, 
in that he wasn't spending his time Crucio'ing and cursing people or 
wreaking havoc at Hogwarts as he sped off the grounds. 

I'm still a little unclear what Snape hopes to gain with the double 
agent stuff. Canon & JKR say everyone could look in the Mirror and 
see their deepest desire, and Snape's desire is thus far unknown. We 
speculate, but don't know what makes him tick. Is it truly his love 
for dark arts? If so he's been remarkably patient for quite awhile. 
Is his deepest desire regarding potions/healing? Lily? Recognition? 

If it's recognition, then we saw something else significant on the 
tower. Snape gave up the possibility of winning any Merlin awards or 
the like when he offed DD ;). If he gave up on his deepest desire, 
then he traded it for something else. That's the murky part for me 
with OFH!Snape--what did he gain on the tower? On the surface he 
lost everything.

Another explanation I'm partial to is on the boards again, explained 
this time by quick-silver71 in 140795:

> Draco is given a mission that seems designed to drive his
> desperate mother to Snape, the only person that can help her son.
> Bellatrix is there, supposedly on the outs with Voldemort, who
> then serves as bonder. Peter is there...adding to Snape's unease
> or serving as a distraction. 
> 
> I believe that it would be incredibly easy for Voldemort to set up 
> the situation in Spinner's End that leads to Snape being caught in 
> the Unbreakable Vow at which point his loyalty or morality really
> go out the window. I think that Voldemort gave Snape enough rope
> to hang himself...just like he did to Harry in OotP (and CoS for
> that matter too).
> 
> Voldemort has a record of using plans that rely heavily on people 
> doing certain actions...CoS, GoF, and OotP make this point quite 
> clearly. Voldemort lets Harry come to him, to find things out
> along the way, to do what he, Voldemort, wants, to accomplish the
> goals that he, Voldemort, wants. 
> 
> In the end Severus Snape could well be not DDM, OFH, or ESE but 
> simply a man caught in the webs of so many plots by both 
> Dumbledore and Voldemort that he hung himself. Let's hope he gets
> one real choice before the end.

Jen: There's just a certain poetic justice to this. Snape's 'superb 
Occlumency' skills finally failed him and did not convince the Dark 
Lord of his loyalty, or Voldemort simply decided his use for Snape 
was at an end. What a delicious plan on Voldemort's part, and for 
plot purposes, the DE's and Harry need to see one of Voldemort's 
plans succeed in order to build tension for the grand finale. It's 
entirely fitting for Snape to finally be caught in the web of his 
own making--as people have mentioned, he saw himself in the Foe 
glass.  This theory would explain why Snape didn't appear to know 
Draco's plan or the plan for the DE's to enter Hogwarts. Simply 
Machiavellian--Voldemort planned it all behind his back, forcing his 
hand. The tower scene could still be read in a straightforward 
fashion, as Snape made the choice to save himself, but how he got 
there....!

Jen, hoping for something a little tricky with Snape