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

[wynnleaf]

No: HPFGUIDX 169325


> 
> Pippin:

> My favorite Snape moment has to be his response to  Dumbledore's
> "Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to
> be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in 
> troubling them further."
> 
> That sealed Snape as Dumbledore's man in my mind -- his
> class was one of the ones that Hermione was doubling, so how
> could he *not* know about the time-turner. 

wynnleaf
This is one of my favorite Snape scenes as well.  Most people see it
as Snape totally losing control.  But to me, it's really important
that Snape completely stopped his objections and backed down, at a
moment when he believed that the man had just escaped who attempted to
murder him, caused the deaths of the Potters (who Snape tried to save
by returning to Dumbledore), who became a mass murderer, etc., had
been helped to escape by the kids who had just knocked out Snape, and
by the teacher that Snape had been suspicious of all year.  And yet,
without any evidence yet to the contrary, Snape backed completely down
when Dumbledore gave him the "heads up" that the timeturner was in
play at Dumbledore's own instigation, and that Dumbledore was
therefore behind Black's escape.  

Snape must have known that Hermione had a timeturner.  All of her
teachers probably knew.  It wasn't a state secret, after all.  And the
Ministry had granted her the use of the timeturner.  Once Dumbledore
made his comment, Snape knew that Dumbledore had been behind Hermione
and Harry's use of the timeturner, and that to continue ranting about
it would ultimately make the Ministry take notice of the fact that the
Ministry had issued a timeturner to one of the kids involved.

In the midst of thinking this terrible crazed murderer and Death
Eater, who Snape had a lot of personal reasons to hate, had just been
freed by the kids who had knocked Snape out, he totally backed off as
soon as Dumbledore pointed out that the timeturner had been used with
his approval.  Snape didn't know anything of the evidence for Sirius'
innocence, but he followed Dumbledore's lead.

wynnleaf