Black Widower!Snape - repost from TOL (long)

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "dungrollin" <spotthedungbeetle at ...> wrote:

Here's a pleasant surprise; an old idea resurrected for 
re-furbishment by Dung.
Now, what  to make of it?

>
> The premise is that Snape had a wife and/or child who was/were
> murdered by Voldemort, and that is the reason he returned to the good
> side, and the reason that he wears nothing but black. I should
> mention that Kneasy's post was very much more like Out-For-Himself!
> Snape, whereas this version is decidedly DDM (I can't help it, you
> know).
>

The two (OFH and DDM) needn't necessarily be mutually exclusive.
If Sevvy is bent on revenge then his best option is to throw in his lot 
with DD.  And since DD is the man with the plan, he'd be a bit foolish
not to follow DD's lead. Sevvy wants Voldy brought down, but he can't
do it himself - ergo co-operate with the man that can.

> The two major bits of relevant canon we were given in HBP are:
> 1. Snape was the eavesdropper.[1]

Eavesdropper!Snape.... why does  that cause me to shuffle in my seat?
Yes, from HBP it does read as cut-and-dried, but it isn't really 
compatible with a few other bits and bobs.

1. OoP - DD plays with his Pensieve, up pops Sybill and does her 
party piece - uninterrupted. No break for Snapey bursting in after 
the first few lines, no extraneous sound-track noises impinging on 
her presentation.
I suppose DD could have done a bit of memory splicing, but still....

2. If she really had been in a prophetic trance, would she remember
an interruption? Unlikely, given how she behaved during her second 
recital in PoA.

Which, if she's not spinning an alcohol-flavoured tale for Harry in 
HBP means either she has an implanted false memory (is this possible?)
or she wasn't in a genuine trance. Aha! Puppetmaster!DD setting the 
stage for what will be the Voldy trap? In which case having a Voldy 
hench-wizard around the place to run to his boss with exciting news 
would be a real bonus.

> 2. When Snape realised how Voldemort was interpreting the prophecy,
> his remorse made him 'return' to the good guys' table.[2]
>

OK, I'm prejudiced, I admit it.
But whenever DD starts an information drop to Harry with "I believe..."
then it's time to start looking for the wool he's about to pull over Harry's
eyes.
IMO "I believe" means "I want you to believe" which is not the same thing
at all. He did the same in PS/SS with "I do believe he [Snape] worked so 
hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and 
your father quits." Yeah. Right. 'Course he did.


> Let's begin by trying to put ourselves in Voldy's shoes. How would he
> interpret the scrap of prophecy which Snape brought him? [3] The
> thrice-defied part, in particular. [...] that it applied
> to James and Lily and Frank and Alice, [...] but it wouldn't
> necessarily have been immediately obvious to Voldemort at the time,
> at least six months before Harry was born.
>
> Just try to imagine for a moment that you're a power-hungry psychotic
> (easier for some than others) and someone has just told you a kid
> with the clout to pulp you is going to be born; you'd start getting
> twitchy around *any* pregnant women, wouldn't you? Oh, and you'd
> utterly forbid the minion who brought you the news to tell anybody
> else.
>
> So let's say that it's about now that Snape's wife [5] discovers that
> she is pregnant. Narcissa's pregnant too! How nice. Snape works out
> immediately that both children are due at the end of July. 

Do we know exactly when Sybill made her pronouncement?
I don't think we do, do we?
There's a hint from DD in OoP when he says "Sixteen years ago.." he 
held the interviews, followed closely by "... was born at the end of 
July nearly sixteen years ago ..." 
How much difference between the two events? One month? Two? 
More?
It sort of has implications for your suppositions. 

Note: DD seems to contradict the accepted timeline that the 
interviews were held in 1979 [see Lexicon], whereas the difference
implied by "nearly" is only a few months at most, meaning they 
occurred in 1980. Is this a known Flint/Rowling mathematical cock-up
that has since been sorted without my noticing? Is DD being a bit 
sloppy with his dates? Or is he accurate?

The whole timeline of the Herod!Voldy process is puzzling.
Yes, he learns that in July will be born the sprog who'll put a crimp
in his ambitions, yet he apparently takes no action for 15 months after
the event. 
Why?

Now it may be a coincidence, but he doesn't spring into belated Potter
paedicide mode until after Sevvy has abandoned him and joined the 
Order.
But for Blackwidower to be valid, his offcut had to have been killed 
before he swapped sides yet had to have been old enough to be 
depicted as 'a small boy', (not a baby) in the memory flash.
So to work, Snape!Son would probably have to have been born at 
least 6 months before Harry.
Which would suggest that a July-born Snape!Son theory (therefore 
potentially Voldy's!Bane, so I'd better knock him off, signed Voldy) 
might have a glitch.
Assuming I'm correct, any chance you can nudge it back on track?

In the Mk I version the reason why Snape's family got the bullet was
left open (had difficulty in coming up with a credible scenario that
could be tied to existing canon snippets), though I think it'd be 
more likely that it was Mrs Snape that upset Voldy rather than 
Sevvy himself. If it had been Snape at fault he'd have been looking
at pretty green lights - after all, Voldy had no need for Snape, he 
was winning easily enough. Though I suppose if one is *really* 
inventive and nasty with it, it's possible to postulate that in 
payment for some unknown misdemeanor Voldy might Imperio!
Sevvy and make him kill his own family.
Nice.
It'd certainly explain Sevvy's remorse.

In truth, the original Blackwidower/Snape!Son doesn't necessarily 
require that that they be killed, just that they die in circumstances 
where Sevvy can credibly hold Voldy responsible.
But that's not so Bangy.

Kneasy