VA/H=Mx13+RP? Snape's Culpability?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 147353

Jen R:
> So far most people don't seem to believe Dumbledore said exactly what 
> he meant and meant what he said: Snape knew *a* child was involved 
> when he overheard the prophecy. Not Harry, *a* child. Why is it so 
> hard to take Dumbledore's words at face value here, so difficult to 
> believe Snape understood the part of the prophecy he overheard but 
> didn't know who it referred to? That his remorse came AFTER he learned 
> how Voldemort interpreted the prophecy to mean he would target the 
> Potters?

Pippin:
Everyone in the WW is someone's child. That the One would be identified
as such is not unusual in a world where everybody is classified by their
ancestry, and even Gryffindors think it's more important than individual 
merit. When Nearly Headless Nick seeks to defend his courage he does not
cite his own deeds but instead begins a spiel about "the noble blood
that runs in my veins" --OOP ch 11. 

We should also consider that Snape's own habit is to slither out of action,
according to Bella, and that Voldemort had been avoiding an attack on
Dumbledore. Snape would not necessarily assume that, having identified
the one who could vanquish him, Voldemort would immediately seek to 
destroy him.

I agree that Snape only came to regret what he'd done when he realized
that Voldemort was going after lives that mattered to him, but I don't
think we can conclude that Snape was okay with deliberately killing infants
until then.

Pippin