Lying vs Murder (was:Re: On lying and cheating/ Killing DD)

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 165521

> > Betsy Hp:
> > Part of the DDM!Snape assumption.  There's canon that supports 
non-
> > killer Snape, though being Snape, it's by no means definitive.
> 
> Mike:
> Not arguing against it, but are you saying the overall feeling of 
> Snape's story, or do you have something more specific in mind?

zgirnius:
I used to assume Snape must have killed, at some point, as Death 
Eater prior to HBP. Since then, I have started to wonder. Some of my 
reasons:

1) In Spinner's End, Bella accuses Snape of always slithering out of 
action. This is in the context of Cissy asking Snape to kill someone 
for Draco, if Draco is unable.

2) The description of Snape's (presumably emotional) pain in "The 
Flight of the Prince" is suggestive to me. Of course, this could 
reflect that he thought such things were behind him, or his 
attachment to Dumbledore, but to me it seems as plausible that this 
might be because he has not actually killed a human being before.

3) In PoA he makes assorted threats to Sirius, but seems actually to 
prefer to leave the actual dirty work to the Ministry. "Give me a 
reason!" (Is kidnapping three students, being an escaped fugitive and 
mass murderer, and lunging at Snape really not reason enough?) Also, 
the way he harps on Sirius trying to kill him. It seems like a weak 
argument to make to Dumbledore if the latter knows him to have 
murdered people himself.

4) I came across the following interview question and answer.

>World Book Festival,2004:

> Q:
> Apart from Harry, Snape is my favourite character because he is so 
complex and I just love him. Can he see the Thestrals, and if so, 
why? Also, is he a pure blood wizard?

> JKR: 
> Snape's ancestry is hinted at. He was a Death Eater, so clearly he 
is no Muggle born, because Muggle borns are not allowed to be Death 
Eaters, except in rare circumstances. You have some information about 
his ancestry there. He can see Thestrals, but in my imagination most 
of the older people at Hogwarts would be able to see them because, 
obviously, as you go through life you do lose people and understand 
what death is. But you must not forget that Snape was a Death Eater. 
He will have seen things that
 Why do you love him? Why do people 
love Snape? I do not understand this. Again, it's bad boy syndrome, 
isn't it? It's very depressing. [Laughter]. One of my best friends 
watched the film and she said, "You know who's really attractive?" I 
said, "Who?" She said, "Lucius Malfoy!"

zgirnius:
What I notice here is that her comment "He will have seen things 
that
 " seems to me to be a case where she started to realize she has 
said more than she wants to- she does not finish the sentence, and 
moves on to a new one. The verb she chose, 'will have *seen*', 
not 'will have *done*' is a really careful choice for what seems to 
be a slip, if Snape has indeed done things that would cause him to 
see Thestrals. On the other hand, if it was a slip, she might have 
used seen because she knows that he had not at that point *done* 
anything.