Of Snape and Dumbledore (Was: Disappointment and Responsibility)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 175141


lizzyben wrote:
<snip> "Gryfindor" traits *are better* than the traits of the other
houses. Snape is viewed a small exception to the general rule of
Slytherins solely because he exhibits a Gryfindor trait - bravery.
He's not lauded for his cunning, ambition, etc. Or his intelligence or
loyalty, for that matter. <snip>

Carol responds:

Yes, he's lauded for his courage (and taken aback by DD's comment
about Sorting too early). But his courage is not the only trait DD
values. Certainly, he knows, as even Lupin does, that Snape is "a
superb Occlumens" (and we see just *how* good he is in DH when LV
looks deeply into his eyes and doesn't see the lie there).

Dumbledore praises Snape on more than one occasion in "The Prince's
Tale" (after he has shown himself to be "no more a Death Eater than I
am" by "spying for our side at great personal risk," GoF). 

When Snape (shown as a Healer with a wand in one hand and a potion in
the other) talks about trapping the curse for the time being, DD tells
him that he's done "very well" and follows Snape's argument that DD
may live for about a year and the curse will strengthen over time with
a smile and words of genuine gratitude, "I am fortunate, very
fortunate, that I have you, Severus" (DH Am. ed. 681). No one else,
certainly not Madam Pomfrey, who know nothing about Dark magic, could
have bought Dumbledore a year of life.

When Snape protests that he spends time with Voldemort on DD's orders,
DD says, "And you do it extremely well. Do not think that I
underestimate the constant danger in which you place yourself,
Severus. To give Voldemort what appears to be valuable information
while withholding the essentials is a job that I would entrust only to
you" (684). True, no one else on DD's staff has a Dark Mark, and no
other Death Eater (or former Death Eater) can be trusted. But DD is
implying that he trusts Snape completely (as he repeatedly tells Harry
in HBP), not only to be loyal to him but to do a job that only a
superb Occlumens who can feign both loyalty to LV and calm
indifference to the fate of LV's victims can do. Snape is cunning and
intelligent; he can think and plan for himself; and he is a superb
actor as well as a superb Occlumens. He is quite literally
irreplaceable and indispensable.

Snape and only Snape can be trusted to kill Dumbledore, to protect the
students after LV takes over Hogwarts, to deliver the Sword of
Gryffindor to Harry.

Snape is not praised for his ambition, but perhaps only because that
trait died with Lily. "Dumbledore trusts me." snape tells Fake!Moody
in GoF. And that trust is based not merely on courage and loyalty but
on Snape's many gifts. From CoS forward, he counts on Snape's
potion-making skills. In HBP, he counts on his abilities as a healer
of Dark curses. And from GoF forward, he counts on his Occlumency and
his cunning. That he is grateful for these skills is clear from the
passages that I quoted.

Carol, noting that both DD and Headmaster Snape rely on another
Slytherin, Portrait!Phineas, for intelligence and cunning and, I would
argue, loyalty