Snape's remorse (Was: DD and Snape's Culpability)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 147332

Potioncat wrote:
> I agree with Steve, as stated somewhere upthread: from the first
part of the prophecy, there is no way to tell it's about a baby. The
one approaches may mean that an adult wizard is getting closer to his 
> attack on LV. It could have meant a grown man with a July birthday 
> whose parents had defied LV. LV had been around long enough for that.
> 
> So that Snape would not have a strong reason to expect it was about
a young woman and her child. <snip>

Carol responds:
Exactly.

Potioncat:
> But, here's my real concern, did DD know that Snape was a DE that day 
> when Snape overheard the prophecy? If he did, why did he let him go? 
> Surely DD knew Snape would go straight to LV. If he didn't know, why 
> didn't DD take some action just to keep the prophecy a secret in 
> general?

Carol responds:
Interesting. I don't think DD knew, or surely he would have prevented
young Snape from leaving. Stunned him or something. Unless he somehow
thought he could protect the Chosen One or thought it would somehow be
good for LV to hear part of the Prophecy? Since I don't believe in
Puppetmaster!Dumbledore, I can't imagine him allowing that to happen.
He must not have known that Snape was a DE.

So when Snape came to confess to DD that he had revealed the Prophecy
to LV, he would first have to confess that he was a Death Eater. Just
those two confessions in themselves would have taken great courage and
would have been a step toward DD's trusting Snape. And if Snape also
knew at that point that the Potters were involved (which he could not
have known until after Harry was born, some months after the Prophecy
was overheard), DD would have had still more reason to trust him
because he (Snape) was trying to protect an enemy (James Potter),
which a Snape who was loyal to Voldemort surely would not do. But a
disillusioned Snape who had found out that being a DE was not about
glory (or recognition for his many talents, which I think he failed to
receive from Dumbledore and hoped to gain from Voldemort) would have
had a reason to go to DD. (Quite possibly he had also witnessed the DE
execution of another disillusioned young Death Eater, Regulus Black.
If they were friends, as I suspect, Regulus's death was another reason
to transfer his loyalty from LV to Dumbledore, and another reason for
DD to believe him sincere.)

BTW, I don't think he felt remorse at this point since there was
nothing to feel remorse about (regret, even repentance, but not
remorse, which is a horrible, soul-wrenching emotion combining grief
and guilt). The Potters weren't dead and he was trying (IMO) to
prevent their deaths by *returning* to DD's side and spying on LV. The
remorse, IMO, came later, after the confession and the spying and
whatever else he tried to do failed to save the Potters. And that
remorse for his role in the death of an enemy and his innocent wife,
as well as for the orphaning of their child is what convinced DD that
Snape was to be trusted--*after* Snape had already been risking his
life by spying on LV for perhaps a year or more. Snape may be a great
actor, but even he can't feign the soul-wrenching anguish of remorse,
as opposed to penitence, which can be faked.

Merriam-Webster: REMORSE suggests prolonged and insistent
self-reproach and mental anguish for past wrongs and especially for
those whose consequences cannot be remedied.

If I'm not mistaken, Snape is again feeling the mental hell symbolized
by the howling dog in HBP. And this time, there's no Dumbledore to go
to for solace.

Carol, still certain that an AK is not the only spell that gives off a
green light, but that's another topic so I won't go there