[HPforGrownups] Re: VA/H=Mx13+RP? (was: Was the eavesdropper unimportant to Harry?)

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 147095

> Claudia:
> How on earth could an intelligent person with only a little knowledge
> of the "Dark Lord" think that he would react any differently than he
> did? I think it was even to be expected that he would kill all
> children born in July, not only in this year, but also in the years
> coming (just in case, you know.)

Magpie:
I could be wrong but I assume when people talk about Snape "not knowing" 
they mean that when the prophecy became "real" to him he saw that it was 
something he didn't want to do.

I mean, from his pov think of it this way.  He's on Voldemort's side.  His 
goal is to support him.  (Sometimes, as weird as it sounds, people do have 
trouble not thinking that villains underneath it all really see everything 
the same way the heroes do and so view their own actions the same way as the 
heroes do.)  So think of if Snape was working for DD and he heard a prophecy 
that said that someone who would destroy him could be found in such and such 
a place.  He'd naturally pass that information on as a supporter of DD. 
Somebody's going to kill you--here he is.

Naturally Snape knew that this meant this "one" whoever he was would then 
become the enemy and be taken care of, but his goal is to take away 
obstacles to Voldemort's power.  It's not like when he finds out it's, "Oh 
my!  This means Voldemort might do something to the baby I just said was 
going to be born and his family!  How could I have known that?"  It was more 
that yeah, he saw this as an obstacle that would be taken care of in a 
potentially violent way, but when the reality of what this meant sunk in in 
human terms, for whatever reason Snape (maybe) thought this was something he 
thought was wrong.  Sure it would have been better if he'd thought that 
before he told Voldemort about the prophecy, but it's possibly also a lot 
better than the alternative, which is that he never thought it was a bad 
idea.

-m