[HPforGrownups] Re: The Continuing Tragedy of Severus Snape: Will Snape live or die and why?

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 164616

> Jen: > But here is the main deterrent when I start leaning too far in the
> direction of there being no connection:  Why did Dumbledore call
> Voldemort targeting the Potters Snape's 'greatest regret'?
> Dumbledore's defense only included the information that Snape didn't
> know 'which boy' or 'the parents he would destroy', not that Snape
> felt regret for Voldemort's decision to go on a murderous quest to
> kill an infant and his parents.  So Voldemort's plan to murder a
> family was not Snape's greatest regret, his greatest regret was that
> it was this *particular* family.  If it wasn't the murder aspect of
> the situation, and it wasn't the fact that an infant was involved,
> and Snape did hate the father involved but didn't want him dead
> because of a life debt, there are only two options left imo, given
> the story we have so far:  either the Mom or the life debt were the
> reason for his regret.
>
> When I start down this road, parts of Neri's life debt theory look
> appealing.  It would explain Dumbledore's comment from PS, 'Professor
> Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt', among other
> things.

Magpie:
I definitely have started leaning towards some sort of Snape/Lily thing 
since HBP, and recently I was re-reading PS and noticed something. 
Dumbledore explains the Life Debt by saying that that was the reason Snape 
worked so hard to protect Harry that year--because he thought that would pay 
the Life Debt and they would be even and Snape could go back to hating James 
in peace.

What struck me is that reading it knowing what I know now it suddenly seemed 
like a separate issue from the Prophecy. Like, that Snape feels a specific 
thing with Harry, whom he hates because of James, that's also connected to 
the Life Debt (which Dumbledore doesn't describe as deep magic, but more 
just the way Snape feels to have had his life saved by a guy he hated). But 
it made me feel even more like his greatest regret was different. He was 
undoing that by trying to bring down Voldemort and be a spy.

Obviously this doesn't give any evidence for or against whatever Snape might 
or might not have felt about Lily Evans, but it just struck me that way 
reading PS again that suddenly the Life Debt and saving Harry's life seemed 
like a smaller, side issue for Snape besides the greater regret/switching 
sides/spying/bringing down Voldemort.

-m