Snape's Psychology: WAS: More thoughts on the Elder Wand subplot - Owner?

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 187548

> Carol:
> > So I suspect--and admittedly I'm only guessing--that he was asked, 
> > perhaps belatedly, to name his own reward for revealing the 
> > Prophecy. Maybe he deferred for a time, but came back later and 
> > asked for Lily (ostensibly as a prize; really, to save her life) 
> > when he found that LV interpreted the Prophecy to mean that Harry 
> > Potter was "the one with the power." It makes more sense to me that 
> > Snape would have asked it as a reward than as a favor. Or perhaps, 
> > having delivered the Prophecy brought him into the "inner circle" 
> > where he was in a position to belatedly request the favor/reward at 
> > some point when LV was in what passed for a generous mood. 
> 
> SSSusan:
> While what you suggest is certainly one possibility, I still have no trouble imagining just the asking of a favor.  We saw a *very* distraught Snape appealing to DD, and I can also easily imagine him requesting a flat-out favor of Voldy -- in desperation, rather than awaiting a time when Voldy happened to be in a relatively good mood and Snape thought he'd try cashing in on a stockpiled reward offer.
>

Montavilla47:

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that 
the timeline went something more like this:

1978-1979ish:

Snape joins the Death Eaters.  Dumbledore forms the 
Order of the Phoenix.  Lily and James are approached
for recruitment by Voldemort and refuse--either once
or more than once.  After refusing, they are placed 
somewhere on the DE hit list.  It might be high or it 
might be low priority.  But it's high enough that James
and Lily "defy" him by living (or refusing recruitment)
three times.

Late 1979--Early 1980:
Snape overhears the prophecy.  He takes it to Voldemort,
who is pleased enough to grant Snape a favor.  At this
point, Snape asks that Lily be removed from the hit list.
Voldemort readilty grants this, as neither of them knows 
about Lily's pregnancy, and, after all, one witch more or
else isn't going to make a difference to his world 
domination plans.

Late 1980:
Voldemort decides that Harry is the prophecy boy and
declares the Potters to be highest on the hit list.  Snape
reminds Voldemort about his promise to keep Lily off it.
Voldemort hesitates and says he will spare Lily, if he can.

This hesitancy alerts Snape to the reality of Voldemort's
intentions.  Circumstances have changed and Snape
can't trust Voldemort's promise, so he contacts Dumbledore
for the hilltop summit.

I realize this timeline may not be pleasing, as it mitigates
Snape's sin in not asking Voldemort to spare James and
Harry, since Harry didn't exist at the time of the asking--
but I think it makes a lot more sense logically, since it 
makes both Snape and Voldemort appear a bit less idiotic
in what they ask for and what they grant.