Understanding Snape

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 153460

 
Against Snape wrote:

During HBP, the question of where Snape's loyalties lie is an  important
question. This question isn't answered by the end of the book. Here  is
my theory:

1)  Snape was a Death-Eater until he knew that  Voldemort was going to
murder the Potters. At this point, I believe, as a  result of his life
debt to James, he either decided he had to warn DD, or  else the life
debt forced him to.


Julie:
I don't think we have any indication a life debt forces someone to 
act on it. In PS/SS Dumbledore told Harry he suspected Snape 
saved Harry because he owed Harry's father (James) a life debt.
Dumbledore didn't say Snape *had* to save Harry, in fact he only
theorizes that this is the reason Snape saved Harry. Unlike an
Unbreakable Vow, a life debt seems to be more of a psychological
burden that a physical one. 
 
So Snape must have chosen to warn DD, and DD says repeatedly
that he trusts Snape completely and that he believes Snape was
genuinely remorseful. This supports my theory that Snape *was* in
fact genuinely remorseful about blabbing the prophecy, and likely
also over his other actions while a DE. (Note that I say supports my
theory, not proves it ;-) Snape was also willing to risk his life to  help
lbring down Voldemort, so he must have a lot to gain from that  risk
(release from Voldemort's service, clear path to becoming the next
Dark Lord, redemption for his DE acts--all depending on your version
of Snape!). And my version is RedemptivePattern!Snape (with  credit
to JKR for commenting originally on this possibility--more support
for my theory ;-)

2) Once he did this, he realized that he would have to explain  to
Voldemort why he went to DD. I believe, at this point, he decided  that
in order to survive, he woud have to live a double life - a spy on  DD
for Voldemort, and a spy on Voldemort for DD.
 
Julie:
There are some indications in canon that Snape may have been 
trying to get a job at Hogwarts before he switched sides, that 
Voldemort wanted him in Hogwarts to spy on DD. If this is the 
case, then Snape wouldn't have to explain anything. He would 
simply let Voldemort believe he'd been successful obtaining a 
position from which to spy on DD, while in reality he is doing the
opposite--spying on Voldemort for DD. He did decide he'd have to
live a double life, but my theory is that he genuinely switched  sides,
and his loyalty is firmly to DD. Whatever information he passes on
to Voldemort is sanctioned by DD. 

3) Voldemort's downfall at the  Potters' was good news for Snape - he
would be able to live a single life,  without having to worry about what
the other side would do to him. At this  position, he obviously would
make Lupin his potion (which Lupin would later  use as evidence that
Snape is a good guy!).
 
Julie:
Voldemort's downfall was good news for Snape, though the books 
have given me the impression that Snape as well as DD believed 
Voldemort hadn't completely *died* and would return some day.
Certainly Snape must have hoped Voldemort might fail at this,
so he'd never have to deal with the Dark Lord again. But he knew
the possibility was there. Still, he could have deserted DD and 
found ways to hide, building himself a new life. He is a very gifted 
wizard after all. But he didn't. 
 
As for Lupin's potion, he did make it. And whether Snape is good or
evil or both, he's going to take actions that please DD, at least when 
DD is cognizant of what Snape is doing. Yet during times DD doesn't
know what Snape is doing or thinking, Snape *still* takes actions  that
support the good side and help Harry survive. (E.g., saving Harry from 
Quirrel's hex in PS/SS, transporting Sirius and Harry back to  Hogwarts
and away from the possibility of returning Dementors in PoA, letting
the Order know Harry had gone to the MoM in OotP--he could have 
easily feigned ignorance during any of these actions, but he acted 
anyway when he could have chosen not to act). Perhaps this is why
Lupin continued to believe Snape was a good guy ;-)

4) During GF,  Snape and DD planned what Snape would do when Voldemort
returned to power. DD  believed that Snape would be a good guy` Snape
resumes his double agent  job.
During the year, he was confronted by Karkaroff. Being good  at
Legilimency, he knew that Karkaroff was not going to join Voldemort,  so
he said that he will stay with DD.
 
Julie:
Erm, well, I'm not sure of your point here, but Snape did stay with 
DD. Either out of loyalty (my belief) or because he wanted to  continue
playing him against Voldemort (your belief, I think?). We won't know 
for sure until Book 7 of course!

5) Snape saved DD after DD was hurt  in the capture of the ring Horcrux,
because he was worried that if he didn't,  DD would live long enough to
tell someone else about it. I think that Snape  would have prefered that
DD would die, as this would, in his opinion, be the  beginning of the end
of the forces against Voldemort.
The unbreakable vow  was also a necessity to convince Narcissa and
Bellatrix that he is on their  side. He probably knew every loophole in
the vow he made, in order to not  kill DD.
 
Julie:
There's absolutely no evidence DD would live long enough from the
ring Horcrux to warn someone else. In fact if he was so close to
dying, so dependent on Snape for his life, surely Snape could have
bound him, hastened the effect of the poison, or by some other 
method made sure DD talked to no one before he died. Heck, I 
could have managed that, and I'm not a wizard! If Snape wanted
DD to die while DD was completely vulnerable to Snape, then DD
would be dead. 
 
I do agree Snape took the Unbreakable Vow at least partly  to
convince the sisters he was on Voldemort's side. If there were 
loopholes he no doubt knew them, but we don't have any direct 
evidence of loopholes. I think Snape also took it to protect Draco,
and from his hand twitching I don't think he expected that third
provision, but felt trapped into agreeing once he gotten to that 
point. The bigger question is whether DD expected the Vow 
before Snape took it, or Snape did it on his own and trapped both
of them into a precarious situation.

6) At the end of HBP, he  realized that his life as a double-agent has
ended, so he took the side he  thought was winning - Voldemort. He
probably thought that once he killed DD,  Voldemort's victory was a sure
thing.
 
Julie:
I think Snape did the only thing he could do, whether he's ESE, OFH,
or DDM. If he's one of the first two, he probably did it to save  himself.
If he's the latter, then he did it to save Draco and probably Harry. 
The biggest problem with DD's death is that we don't yet know 
everything that led to it. We don't know what DD meant when he 
said "Severus, please...", we don't know how ill DD was or if he
could recover after the locket horcrux events, we don't even know 
if he could fully recover from the first (ring) horcrux he  destroyed. 
DD's "dead" hand may well have been a harbinger of the eventual 
deterioration of the rest of his body. In fact, DD acted suspiciously
like he was tying up loose ends throughout HBP, especially with
Harry and all the lessons about Tom's past and how to destroy
a horcrux. As if he knew he wouldn't be around for long. 


Against Snape finished:
I think that this explains all of Snape's  actions duing the series.

Julie:
My theory also explains all of Snape's actions during the series,
with more canon support, IMO. It also makes Snape a much  more
interesting character, tragically flawed but not inherently evil. 
 
Julie, aka For Snape ;-)






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]