Heroes in the Harry Potter Series

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 176210

Carol:

> Did you notice that Snape prevented Ginny from going 
> into Hogsmeade (where she might be kidnapped by DEs 
> as Luna was on Platform 9 3/4),  just as he tried to 
> prevent Harry from doing so in PoA, and that he closed 
> all the secret passageways, which kept the students from 
> sneaking into Hogsmeade but also kept the DEs out? 
> Reinstating Umbridge's decrees kept the more timid 
> students from defying the Carrows and getting injured 
> and at the same time encouraged the DA members to 
> rebel? Not to mention that Ginny's, Neville's and 
> Luna's detention gave them a chance to be alone with 
> Hagrid? Think what Hogwarts would have been like if 
> Yaxley or Dolohov were in charge. McGonagall and 
> Flitwick, at least, would have ended up in Azkaban 
> with DEs in their place. As it was, Snape let the 
> permanent faculty members subvert the Carrows exactly 
> as they had done with Umbridge. I realize that it's 
> all done off-page, but everything I've mentioned here 
> can besupported by canon. He could not prevent the 
> Crucios without giving away his true loyalty, just as 
> he could not rescue Charity Burbage, but he did 
> encourage resistance and allow both the DA and Hagrid 
> to remain in hiding. (I think he knew perfectly well 
> that they were using the RoR.)

houyhnhnm:

Thank you for your excellent analysis of Headmaster 
Snape's role at Hogwarts.  It is, as you say, all 
supported by canon.  Snape was probably one of the 
best headmasters under extreme duress that Hogwarts 
had ever had.  It gives a sense of what his style of 
leadership must have been like as Head of Slytherin 
House.  I imagine he must have been highly respected 
by the students of his House.  They would have looked 
to him for guidance in trying to make sense of the 
events in which they were caught up.  And Snape had 
to pretend to be Voldemort's right hand man.

This is how I see Snape letting down the Slytherin 
children who were placed under his care. I have no 
idea if it is what Betsy meant.

Imagine how confusing it must have been for Slytherin 
students to see the the man they so admired staunchly 
supporting Voldemort.  Some of them might already have 
been questioning the DEs' agenda.  They might have been 
open to a rejection of the pure-blood ideology.  Where 
was their guidance?  It is not surprising to me that 
no Slytherin student stayed to fight.  It's no wonder 
that Slytherin's banner was not seen in the Room of Requirement.

Not only during the final year were they subjected to 
this confusing deceit.  From the time of Voldemort's 
first downfall, Snape had to cultivate an identity he 
could take back to Voldemort when Voldemort made his 
inevitable return.  He had to be a yes man to Lucius 
Malfoy. He had countenance attitudes and practices he 
didn't really believe in, such as allowing the Slytherin 
password to be "pureblood".  What kind of message did 
that send to Slytherin students?  When he could have 
used his own experience to help them see how wrong 
that path was instead?

I don't blame Snape.  It was Dumbledore with all of his 
talk of "Love" who chose necromancy, blood rituals, and 
prophecies over simple human love. Dumbledore with his 
tragic flaw, his love of power.