Could I be wrong about Snape being evil?

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 156606

Sydney:
> First, D-dore does not say that the soul-bit is destroyed; he says,
rather oddly, "the ring is no longer a Horcrux". So maybe HE now is!
Second, if I remember correctly, it's the withered hand he uses to
inspect the protective spells around the cave-- perhaps because of the
greater sensitivty to Voldemort's magic in that particular hand?

Ceridwen:
Good catch on the 'ring is no longe a Horcrux' quote!  I always put 
the dead hand on a par with the constantly dying hosts of LV's 
possession between GH and GoF.  And, I didn't think of the withered 
hand as a magic detector sensitive to LV's magic.  However, let's 
play here with the Green Goo Potion in the cave:

We are speculating that DD is now the recepticle of LV's torn soul 
piece from the ring.  Snape has stalled the progress of death from 
the possession.  Now, DD drinks the Green Goo, and something happens 
to release the soul bit from its isolation.  The crying, pleading, 
etc. is Dumbledore's reaction to the soul bit's memories as the soul 
bit spreads.  Possible support:  Harry has to 'Enervate' DD twice 
before he comes around; DD's progressive weakness and paling 
thereafter - leaning on Harry, sliding down the wall, growing whiter 
and whiter until Harry is able to use Dumbledore's whiteness to 
describe Draco's pale face as Draco also succumbs to his own private 
horror.

Snape arrives and looks at Dumbledore.  In this scenario, he 
understands that he has isolated a soul bit from LV at the beginning 
of the year, and he would know what the dying hand and arm looked 
like as the soul bit spread.  He sees the natural progression once 
again as the soul bit is now infiltrating DD's entire body.  This 
also explains Dumbledore's urgent insistence that Harry bring Snape, 
until events unfold that preclude assistence - the DEs in the castle, 
and the now-unstoppable advance of the soul bit.

Sydney:
> Anyways, in this scenario Snape and Dumbledore, at the start of the
book, would have a pretty clear Ole Yeller sort of crisis, where
eventually someone is going to have to destroy the soul-bit by killing
Dumbledore.  That makes the MOST sense of Snape's behaviour in
Spinner's End. He knows at this point that someone is going to have to
kill Dumbledore; he knows this is probably going to be him. Making the
Vow is not then either an emotional mistake or a flirtation with
suicide (sigh... bye suicidal!Snape!), but an acknowledgement of the
inevitable. Strangely, this jives with some anti-Snapeists opinion
that the obvious reason he took the Vow was because he intended on
doing it anyways!  This interpretation though has the advantage of
actually making sense, in that taking a Vow to kill a Dumbledore who
is ready to be sacrificied is not completely insane.

Ceridwen:
I and a few others have read Snape's 'Spinner's End' musing, that 'he 
expects me to do it in the end' or whatever the correct wording, as 
possibly being DD who expects him to do it in the end.

Snape to Narcissa, pg 34 US hardcover:
"Looking down into her tearstained face, he said slowly,  "He intends 
for me to do it in the end, I think.  But he is determined that Draco 
should try first...""
(This could be either LV or DD here.  He speaks slowly, showing 
thought, perhaps searching for the correct wording to convey a 
different meaning?  It also satisfies Bellatrix's doubt as to why 
Snape should know of the plan.)
..."You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be 
able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role 
as spy."
(Why spy *at Hogwarts* when DD is dead?  If Draco kills DD, then 
Snape is still in with the Order and can more easily pass on 
information about LV.)

Jump ahead to the tower, and Snape sees that the soul bit has been 
freed.  He knows that DD will either die from the possession as other 
creatures have died before, particularly in his weakened state, or 
that, being weak, he will not be able to defend himself let alone 
Draco (and possibly Harry, note two brooms) from the DEs.  It is time 
for the deed to be done.  Draco is, according to the DE witnesses 
present, unable to do it; Fenrir Greyback is more than able and 
willing, which is unacceptable.  Dumbledore pleads, but there is no 
Legilimency.  Snape knows what is happening since it is merely a 
continuation of what he saw right after the ring had been de-souled, 
and he knows what must be done.

Being Snape sucks at this moment (the name 'Snape' replacing 'Judas), 
since he is forced to do what he didn't want to do (argument in the 
forest).  His expression reflects this.

Sydney:
> The only thing I don't like about this is that abandoning suicidal!
Snape sends me back to the ol' drawing board on the why-did-Snape-
want-the-DADA-job mystery...

Ceridwen:
It could just be that Severus 'Up To His Eyebrows In Dark Magic' 
Snape is good at DADA, wants the job, and (arrogantly) thinks he's 
better equipped than any of the poor excuses (barring Lupin) for DADA 
professors that he's seen in either his own student days, or as an 
instructor, to break the curse.

Eggplant:
> >Snape had nothing to gain personally by killing Dumbledore, he did 
it because Dumbledore asked him to and because he knew it was the 
right thing to do. 

Sydney:
> *hugs Eggplant*  Oh my god, you GET it!  That's what makes the Tower
scene so gorgeous to lovers of Angst, who naturally overlap heavily
with lovers of Snape.

Ceridwen:
*cuddles Eggplant and Sydney on a rocking chair*

Sydney:
> Jet lag?  Personally I think she must be quite near finishing the 
last book-- maybe she's already going through closure, which is 
taking the edge of her secrecy.

Ceridwen:
Quite possibly.

Ceridwen.