How will Snape come back?

[wynnleaf]

No: HPFGUIDX 162624

As regards a Boromir style repentence and death for Snape 

chrus said:  
> Why do you doubt it? Please please please convince me, as this is
exactly the kind of 
> scenario I fear, a character left to die without explanation, some
guessing and it's finished.  
> And yet everything, imo, points to this: Snape is in hiding, and
trust no one of the Order 
> enough to contact them; excellent plot diversion a character
switching sides at the last 
> moment; powerful scene of a dying Potions master, surprise at Harry
wishing Lv's death 
> even more because LV killed Snape. 

wynnleaf
I'm jumping in here although I know you're actually asking Carol and I
really hope she gives her opinion!

Let's use LOTR's Boromir and the Major in Last of the Mohicans as
examples.  In both cases,  the character who dies is on the good side,
but dislikes or is in competition with the protagonist.  The character
ultimately comes to the aide of others also on the good side and gives
his life, in Boromir's case apparently sorry for his earlier actions.  

The big difference in those two stories and HP, is neither the Aragorn
 or Nathaniel hated the other character, and thus did not need to deal
with forgiveness and hatred of their own, in order to complete their
own mission.

However, JKR has shown that Harry's great power is his ability to
love.  She also appears, in her interview comments, well satisfied
that Harry now hates Snape more than ever.  She specifically had Harry
think in OOTP that if there's one thing he'd *never* do, it would be
to forgive Snape.  Yeah, right.  It seems fairly clear that it's not
so much Snape being set up to receive redemption, as Harry being set
up to have to forgive and deal with his hate.  Snape may certainly
have to deal with *his* hatred as well (I hope he does), but the
protagonist is Harry, so the development that *he* has to accomplish
is even more important.

I don't think that JKR is going to have Harry face Voldemort to
destroy him, while *still* filled with his hatred of Snape. 
Therefore, she'll more likely find a way for Harry to forgive Snape
*before* he faces Voldemort.

Further, Dumbledore said over and over that he "trusts" Snape.  I
think JKR will probably have Harry not only have to *forgive* Snape,
but *trust* him as well -- because that's what he refused to do all
along.  That's going to be a big hurdle for Harry.  But my guess is
that it's the Great Big Thing Harry will have to achieve before he
gets to confront Voldemort.  Oh, yes, he'll have to find and destroy
those horcruxes, but that's more just adventure, it's not character
development.  Forgiving and trusting Snape is part of the character
development Harry will have to achieve before facing Voldemort.

So if he's going to have to forgive Snape *and* learn to trust him,
all before he confronts Voldemort, then there's not much likelihood of
a repentence/forgiveness/death scene a la Boromir.  

That doesn't mean that JKR won't still kill off Snape in a final
confrontation.  But hopefully, by then Harry would really be sorry to
see him die, because by then he'd see the *full* Snape (the strengths
as well as the weaknesses), not just the card-board cut-out villian he
assumes Snape is.

wynnleaf, who really hopes JKR won't kill Snape.  Once Harry forgives
and trusts Snape, there's not much reason for Snape to die.