[HPforGrownups] Snape, Snape, Snape--favorite moments (Re: Snape's involvement in the...)

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 169295

Carol:
Well, I had no doubts about his loyalties until PoA, when one doubt
crept in that I still haven't figured out a convincing explanation
for. Snape's actions in GoF swept that doubt away in the sense that it
showed me that I was right in the first place: his loyalties are with
Dumbledore. But I'm still left without an explanation for that one
niggling detail, which I'll confess here. While his actions in the
Shrieking Shack indicate (unless he's an extraordinarily gifted actor)
that he thought that the spy/traitor/murderer was Sirius Black. He
certainly believed that Black had murdered Pettigrew, and I think he
believed along with everyone else that Black was out to murder Harry.
*But* he seems to recognize the nicknames on the Marauder's Map, which
is where the doubt comes in. If he knew that Wormtail was Peter
Pettigrew, and the Death Eaters knew that the spy was Wormtail, how
could Snape not know that the spy was Peter Pettigrew? The only
explanation I can think of is that the DEs were generally hooded, so
that they didn't know who Wormtail was, and Snape didn't know MWPP's
nicknames, but figured out who they were from the insults and the
nickname Moony, which would be appropriate for a werewolf. Also, I
think it was only Bellatrix and her cohorts who were screaming about
Wormtail being a traiotr, not all the DEs in Azkaban, but why was no
one in the graveyard surprised to find a DE named Wormtail? Did they
not know that he was Peter Pettigrew, and didn't they think that Peter
was dead?

Debbie:
I generally solve these problems by not letting little inconsistencies like
that bother me.  :-)

But I do have an explanation for this.  First, I don't think the DEs
gathered as a group unless hooded, as you say.  While there were smaller
groups, or cells, that knew one another, it would have been unwise for a
single DE to have had the ability to expose all the other DEs, especially
after Mr Crouch authorised the use of the Unforgivable Curses on those who
would not talk.

Second, even if most DEs did know one another, Peter's role was, as far as I
can tell, solely that of an informant.  As such, most of the other DEs did
not know him, and he was not invited along on DE picnics and other social
events (i.e., Muggle-torturing parties).  However, they did know that there
was an informant and that his code name was Wormtail.

Third, the DEs in Azkaban were in a different position from those former
DEs, such as Snape, who are free.  Sirius, who was in Azkaban with
them, must have made it known that Peter was Wormtail, not he.  For Sirius,
knowing he was innocent kept him sane.  For the others, being able to
project their anger at the horrific prison conditions onto a dead
double-crosser named Peter Pettigrew may have served the same purpose.  In
other words, the DEs at Azkaban were disposed to believe Sirius' plea of
innocence.  Snape, on the other hand, ensconced at Hogwarts, was not privy
to any of this, nor would he have believed it, given his feelings for
Sirius.

I also want to offer one of my favorite Snape moments, also from PoA, which
to me is a very large DDM! clue.  After Harry casts his successful Patronus,
he and Hermione witness Snape across the lake:

"Snape had regained consciousness.  He was conjuring stretchers and lifting
the limp forms of Harry, Hermione and Black ontothem.  A fourth stretcher,
no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out
in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle."

It is a rare moment when we see a glimpse of Snape when he is not performing
for anyone.  And it's what we don't see that makes this a big DDM!Snape
moment for me.  No histrionics.  No summoning the Dementors for Sirius.  No
bumping Sirius' head on the ground.  No Oscar-winning acting performances.
He just does his job, and he does it well.  Sirius, I note, did not bother
with a stretcher for Snape.

Of course, he did think he'd be getting an Order of Merlin for his efforts.
But IMO that's an essential formative element in Snape's character -- he
does all this hard spying work, where he has to play a part and act it well
all of the time, but he doesn't get the credit he deserves (except, perhaps,
from Dumbledore).

Debbie
who has been rereading OOP and must admit her appreciation of how deftly
Snape pushes Sirius' buttons in their kitchen standoff


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