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Severus Snape v. The Ministry of Magic

by J.K. Rich

After reading Book Six in the Harry Potter saga, millions of Harry Potter fans were devastated to learn that after it all�after all the warnings and signs�Severus Snape is, in fact, evil. And, even more devastating�he had killed Professor Dumbledore right in front of The Boy That Lived. Or did he?

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Reader Comments: (Page 21)

Amy S. - I liked the spider/snape animagus-theory, but I do not believe all of it is true. Snape probably didn't have time to guard Harry since he was teaching at Hogwarts most of the time.

Also I do think that Snape is good, but still hates Harry beacause of James. Dumbledore probably left alot of help to harry, maybe at his office, or in the pensive or even at Godric's Hollow.

Posted by Rob from Oslo on July 5, 2007 07:00 AM

After reading the chapter titled "Occlumency" in The Order of the Phoenix my worries about Snape have vanished.

While Snape is describing Occlumency to Harry he says "The Dark Lord, for instance, almost always knows when somebody is lying to him. Only those sed at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie..." As noticed, JK Rowling puts everthing in these books for a reason, so this definately proves that Voldemort CAN be fooled!

As the book progresses, Harry's Occlumency classes drift away and the idea of Occlumency isn't even mentioned in the Half Blood Prince.

To the outside reader, this chapter may seem like it was added to reveal yet another connection with Voldemort, but I believe Rowling explicitly added it to focus not on Harry, but on Severus Snape. This chapter was added to tell the reader that Snape is a highly talented Occlumens and CAN close his mind to Voldemort and fool him, as it is possible, confirmed in the quote above.

Posted by Elsie from Portland, OR on July 7, 2007 12:38 AM

i think that voldemort can be fooled by an accomplished occlumens like snape because of the following reason: near the end of book 5, harry and his friends were almost cornered in the dept. of mysteries by the eaters. the eaters could easily have taken the prophecy from him and gone back to voldemort without messing anything up, had it not been for the unexpected entry of sirius, tonks, moody, kingsley and lupin (the members of the order). these people were warned by severus snape and rushed to harry's aid, and ultimately voldemorts plan failed. imagine his anger at snape had he known that it was snape who actually foiled his plan (by warning the order). but voldemort did not come to know this. this, in my opinion, shows that snape can conceal his thoughts from the dark lord.

Posted by kk from New delhi on July 7, 2007 8:22 PM

Dumbledore loved the students at Hogwarts. He would not have wanted Malfoy to use an unforgivable curse and become a er, we see this in their conversation on the tower. I believe the look of hate that appeared on Snape's face prior to using the ing curse was Snape charging up his "magic" i.e., he had to be filled with hate to use the curse so he drew up all the hate he could muster and then ed Dumbledore. Though I'm not convinced Dumbledore remain .

Posted by Doug from Houston, TX on July 8, 2007 08:01 AM

Now that Snape is on his way to Voldemort, maybe he removed any incriminating memories before he left, to make Occlumency that much easier. I am thinking of things like meetings of the Order, conversations with Dumbledore, and actions Snape would rather not explain to the Dark Lord.

Posted by Patty from Quincy,Massachusetts on July 8, 2007 3:20 PM

Has anyone thought that maybe Snape used gravity to Dumbledore?
All he had to do was blast him off the tower and let the impact him. It would look like Avada Kedavra because it (the curse) leaves no trace and the only damage to the body would be that of the fall from the tower.

Posted by Lucinda Burrows from Victoria, Australia on July 9, 2007 03:39 AM

Raven, nice shot. I think though that if Jo brang up Dumbledore back in another shape, either a phoenix or any other magical creature, she would feel like copying all those legends you quoted. And obviously she's too much on her own track to do anything like that.

So, to me, it can only be that:
- Dumbledore is gone for ever, and we'll see nothing of him, just like in HBP Sirius was just off the way;
- a younger Dumbledore shows up near the end of the "ly Hallows", and then uses a time-turner to be present in the other books.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on July 9, 2007 06:34 AM

I believe that Dumbledore is gone for good, and that he NOT be coming back from the . I think that Snape ed him because dumbledore ordered him to. When snape had a look of disgust on his face, that was because he was disgusted that he had to be the one to dumbledore. Why did dumbledore tell him to do this? Because if snape didnt him, snape would have d because he would be going againt the unbreakable vow he made to narcissa. Also, if he let dumbledore live he would blow his cover as a loyal eater. He also did this to save malfoy from becoming a er.

Many people are saying that to use avada kedrava the caster has to truly want to the person, therefore my theory couldn't be true, but i think that Snape used an alternate nonverbal ing curse, and just spoke the words "avada kedrava" to fool everyone else into thinking he hated dumby and ed him. When snape ed dumby, it mentioned that dumby was blasted into the air. In GoF when the riddles were found it said they were "Lying there with their eyes wide open! Cold as ice! Sill in their dinner things!" From this i get the impression that they d instantly on the spot, they weren't blasted into the air. This means that Snape must have used a different ing curse on dumby, that blasts the victim into the air.

Dumby offered to hide draco and his family by faking their s, and sounded as if done this sort of thing before. He also seemed to have a reason for trusting snape that nobody knows about. I think this is because dumby faked snape's mom's and she is Irma Pince, the hogwarts librarian. This could be an anagram for "I am Prince". That could be the reason why dumby trusts snape so much.

Posted by Aaron from New Jersey on July 9, 2007 1:47 PM

Aaron:

First of all, there is no "other ing curse". There is just one: avada kedavra. Also, it makes no sense for ther to be another ing curse introduced. If Dumbledore is , there is no need to dissect every moment of his , no reason to figure out why and who and what. It just doesn't make sense.

Posted by Anonymous on July 9, 2007 3:43 PM

I personally think that Dumbledore is ...end of story (as much as I wish it weren't true). However, I don't want to believe that Snape is truly evil. I do think that he hates Harry, and he probably always , but that't only because of his father. It's not that I really like Snape, but if Snape truly is evil, then that would mean that Dumbledore would have been wrong the whole time, and that just can't be. I think that Snape did Dumbledore, but on Dumbledore's orders. I think Snape told Dumbledore of the Unbreakable vow he made and Dumbledore, being who he is, didn't want Snape to sacrifice himself to keep him alive. So it must have been planned the whole time. The only flaw in this is that Dumbledore wouldn't want to leave Harry alone to finish his difficult task. Is it possible that Dumbledore can help Harry through the portrait in McGonagall's office. This way Harry could at least talk to him.

Posted by Jenna on July 9, 2007 8:11 PM

Snape may save Harry but not because he is good or misunderstood. Snape is intelligent, a deep thinker, a planner and very angry. Snape does not like Harry, he hates him and not just because of his father but most important because Voldemort marked Harry as his equal. Snape is also the main reason Voldemort picked Harry. Snape has no guilt over James and Lilys .

We know that Voldemort is intelligent, evil, trust no one, domineering, and never needed or wanted a friend. My guess is right after Harry and Dumbledore, Snape is high on the hit list.

Snape is a survivor and not stupid. The best place to be is at Hogwarts. A double agent gets to play both ends and stays out of harms way. Keeping Harry alive is in his best interest. If Snape is lucky Harry Voldy. We already know that Snape has greater knowledge and s in all areas then Harry.

The question remains did Dumbledore really trust Snape in book 6? I don't think so. Dumbledore places Snape in the position of teaching DADA. A sure fire way of ending Snape's teaching position at Hogwarts. I think that Dumbledore knew that he was ing and could no longer protect Harry or the other students. For some reason Snape also told him about Molfoy and the unbreakable vow. Why not make Snapes the fall guy and show his true colors. I believe that Dumbledore is really . This give Harry another reason to keep going.

At the end Harry's green eyes (like is mother's) may cause Snape to stand with him. Not because Snape loved Lily but because his mother loved him (Snape), maybe she stood between Snape and an abusing father. A mother's love is a very strong theme. I also think that Molly protecting one of her kids.

Snape help Harry to leave Voldemort defenseless. Then the dementors suck out Voldemort's soul and the spiders wrap him up and take him off to eat him slowly. Because I would like that.

Posted by Deb from Whidbey Island WA on July 10, 2007 4:21 PM

Hi,

I think I know why Dumbledore trusted Snape:
The reason why is that Snape loved Lily, that is why Snape isn't nice to Harry. Every time he looks in Harry's eyes he sees Lily's and can't forgive himself of what he has done. He himself is one of the reasons why lily is .

I have seen some comments about this already and therefor think I might be right. I also think that Snape protecting Harry.

Posted by Hettie Campfens from The Netherlands on July 11, 2007 12:09 AM

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