What turned Snape (Was: JKR site update SPOILERS)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 158924

> Pippin:
> Um, but Dumbledore did tell Harry, though Harry was not listening
> very carefully. Dumbledore  was plain about it: "You have no idea of 
> the remorse Professor Snape felt when he realized how Lord 
> Voldemort interpreted the prophecy, Harry. I believe it to be the 
> greatest regret of his life and the reason that he returned--" 
> 
> If we believe Draco's conversion, then we must believe that
> a wizard may be consumed by hate, offer loyalty to Voldemort, 
> and yet  reject the role of murderer once the reality of the crime is 
> brought home to him. 
> 
> What is left unknown then is not why Snape turned but what 
> convinced Dumbledore of his sincerity. That might have something to 
> do with Lily, though I doubt it. The  Lily mystery is why Voldemort 
> offered to spare her, giving her the choice which is what made her 
> sacrifice so powerful. Maybe Snape was in love with her and  bargained
> with Voldemort for her life, but since it is a mystery, Snape is
> probably red herring through and through.
> 
> Pippin
>
Carol responds:
I don't think so. JKR has said that Snape has an important role to
play in Book 7, and his motives (and Loyalties) haven't been fully
accounted for by any means. She's been laying the groundwork for
Snape's role in Book 7 since SS/PS.

Voldemort's reasons for not killing Lily, OTOH, are clearly accounted
for. In the first place, unlike James, she wasn't fighting him and he
had no reason to kill her. He merely wanted her to stand aside
(underestimating a mother's love, of course) so he could kill the
Prophecy boy, Harry. And in the second place, if Dumbledore is right,
he wanted to split his soul again by killing Harry. James's death in
battle wouldn't count in LV's mind as a murder, but Lily's would. IMO,
he didn't want an extra soul piece interfering with the plan to use
Harry's murder for his last Horcrux. But when she wouldn't get out of
the way as ordered, he resorted to killing her. The essential goal was
not the Horcrux; it was destroying the only person with the power to
kill him.

Carol, 100 percent sure that Snape is not a red herring whether she's
right about Lily or not