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Snape Clues

by David Haber

These are the clues contained in the pages of Harry Pottter and the Half-Blood Prince which support the possibility that Snape is not really a Death Eater, has remained loyal to Dumbledore, and all through the book, Snape is working on Dumbledore's Orders.

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Reader Comments: (Page 25)

Karen (and everyone else who pointed this HBP book out),
THANK YOU! I had been thinking about that ever since the very first time I read the book. Lupin said that the book was there before James and James and Snape were at school at the same time. Is it possible that Snape's mother started the book and then passed it down to Snape, who added his own spells and instructions? I think he invented the Sectumsempra curse. He recognized immediately when he ran into the bathroom and found Malfoy covered in blood. I think we are starting to look too deep into this Lily/Snape situation. I think they were early friends and he was in love with her. But Slytherins and Gryffindors always kept their distances and were always cruel to each other. Once again, Snape turned the Potters over to Voldemort, by accident I believe. I am pretty sure he was not working for Dumbledore yet. Not until after the attack. Man, I love this website.

Posted by Marc Silverman from Arizona on March 5, 2007 10:16 AM

Ultimately, I trust Dumbledore, and I trust his judgement. I have to believe that there is a reason why Dumbledore trusted Snape, a reason beyond anything Voldemort could hold Snape to. I don�t think we know this reason until DH.

I also agree that I don�t think that Draco�s �mission� was to Dumbledore, how could a young wizard with arguably mediocre ss the greatest wizard of all time (then again, the same argument could be said for Snape, but then I think Dumbledore let Snape him)? I agree with Ashley, his ultimate mission was to get the Eaters in there, whatever else he may believe.

I think that Dumbledore knew ultimately what would happen. I am sure he would have had the gift of foresight, as seen (just one example since I�ve just re-read it) in PS / SS just showing Harry the Mirror of Erised...it�s not merely coincidence that Harry faced this in his confrontation with Quirrell / Voldemort�I think Dumbledore made Snape vow to him should the time come / situation arise, and this was done prior to Snape making the unbreakable vow to Narcissia.

I do think that Dumbledore was pleading with Snape to him, I think it is important that Dumbledore d. I�ll probably make a few enemies here, but I think Dumbledore is . Not that I wasn�t incredibly saddened to read it, but it is time for Harry to go on alone, and I think Dumbledore has done everything in his power to arm Harry with the necessary weapons to defeat Voldemort. It�s now up to Harry.

Also agree the theory about Snape loving Lily, think it is a powerful reason for Snape to dislike Harry so much � the constant physical reminder of James (with the exception of Lily�s eyes). Think the person that mentioned the painful memory by the lake with Snape calling Lily �mud-blood� was right on�

Posted by Meredith from Sydney, Australia on March 5, 2007 9:32 PM

Hey i too think that Snape is not a eater but as david points out the first clue I have a doubt. if Snape was lieing to narcissa & bellatrix wouldnt Bellatrix have known it? I mean firstly that Voldemort chooses her and not Snape to teach Draco occlumency.She should all the more know it as she hates Snape! Another thing is that Marc points out above that maybe Snape may have liked Lily but I don't think so. If ever Snape would have liked Lily he would have never called her a mudblood. (Remember what Harry saw in Snape's memory in HP & the order of the Phoenix)

Posted by Meenal Velani from India on March 6, 2007 05:29 AM

Meenal Velani: I think Snape was in love with Lily, but she turned away from him to date James. That's why he was so angry at her.

Posted by herve from strasbourg on March 6, 2007 08:46 AM

I dont think Voldemort was aware that Draco was getting Occlumency lessons from Bella. And even if Bella is good at occlumency, we dont know if she is powerful enough to read Snape. We all know that Snape is one of the most powerful wizards alive. Possibly THE most powerful wizard alive.

Posted by Marc Silverman from Arizona on March 6, 2007 10:09 AM

I dont know if anyone on this site has ever read A Tale of Two Cities, but I kind of view Severus Snape to be a lot like Sydney Carton. Mainly because I believe he to save Harry who he hates with such a great passion, like with Carton and Darnay. Snape for him because of his love for Lily, his dedication to Dumbledore, and he is sure no one(in the story!) miss him. He is someone who can easily be sacrificed. He is just like Sydney Carton in Book Three of A Tale of Two Cities.

Posted by Marc Silverman from Arizona on March 7, 2007 08:50 AM

What if not just Aberforth and Albus are switching places? I think Snape and Borgin switch places too. In HBP or GoF I am not sure, the book says Borgin with oily hair (oil & hair are only used on Snape over thousands of pages) so i think this is a clue too. It explains about the Umbreakable vow between Narcissa and Snape too. He was borgin! remember, "Will you help what my son is doing?" "I " "Will you do if he fails?" "I " In this case, for Borgin, He was repairing the broken transporting-wardrobe kinda thing, and Draco didn't fail so vow is completed. What do you think about this theory?

Posted by Izzet from Turkey on March 8, 2007 03:42 AM

Sorry Izzet, but I would have to disagree. It is a very intriuging thoery and well thought out. I dont think Snape and Borgin ever really had much to do with each other. I am sure J.K. Rowling would have left some clue behind if that were true such as bringing Borgin back later in the book in the same scene Snape is in and one acting very guarded with the other. You might just be going a little too deep into the story.

Posted by Marc Silverman from Arizona on March 8, 2007 10:06 AM

Karen and Marc have been following the same clues that have been making me wonder about Eileen Prince. We found out quite a lot about her in book 6 - she was a gifted witch, she was rather homely, and she went to school 50 YEARS AGO which was the age of the potions book that was hers and was passed down to her son Snape. She also married a muggle in a very unhappy marriage and had only one son, who excelled at the dark arts (which makes you think she might also have been very involved in the dark arts) Who else was at school 50 years ago? Lord Voldemort and Hagrid! Remember the Chamber of Secrets opened 50 years ago?

All of this is leading me to believe that Snape becoming a double-agent may have started then with his mother. She was apparently into the dark arts, probably in Slytherin when Tom Riddle was there - the leader of the dark arts group.

This is just like JKR to give us a lot of solid information about someone - who may be a major player in the plot - but not enough to form any real motive! It is very frustrating, but tantalizing!

I really don't see the Snape/Lily relationship. I think she was a very compassionate person and would never have been mean to Snape, but he doesn't seem the type to overcome his own personality to love someone, especially a pretty, vivacious, muggle born girl. Time tell -at least in 4 more months!

Posted by Raow from Petaluma, CA on March 8, 2007 11:05 AM

Raow,
I don't really see the Snape/Lily connection either to tell you the truth. I think that the person that loved Snape was Narcissa Malfoy. Think about it, he always favored Draco, and in Spinner's End, she knew where his house was, and went to him in the first place against the orders of Voldemort, Plus she felt comfortable asking him to take the unbreakable vow.

Narcissa was also a Black family member, so marrying someone who was half-muggle would have been a No No. She is about 5 to 6 years younger than Snape, but I still see it as more likely than a Snape/Lily thing.

I think that the reason it's hard to tell if Snape is good or evil might be because Snape is torn between good and evil, and has been riding the fence on it for a good while.

I also think that Dumbledore helped Snape to hide his mother out somewhere. Wizards and Witches live longer remember.

Posted by karen from texas on March 8, 2007 10:11 PM

Raow,
I see where you are coming from with the prospect of Snape's mother being in love with the dark arts just as Voldemort and Snape were but I do need to point out that she did marry a muggle. She was a pure blood. If not all than most of the pure bloods in Slytherin who supported the dark arts would not consider any one less than full blood to be worth anything. Malfoy and his gang always called Hermoine a mudblood whenever they got the chance. And even though they knew that Hermoine and Harry were both a dangerous threat to them, the slytherins still chose to put them down because of their blood. So I dont think Eileen Prince was a dark witch.She was more like Voldemort's mother. She was in love with a muggle.

Posted by Marc Silverman from Arizona on March 9, 2007 06:59 AM

What do you think of the possibility that Eileen married Snape's muggle father on the re-bound from Tom Riddle? Is that too far fetched for children's literature? It would give Snape a motive for double-crossing LV. From Snape's memories of his childhood, it doesn't seem like his parents had a "love match".

I could see a Snape/Narcissa relationship. She seems much more his type. And there would be the pure blood prohibitions to marrying a half-blood so it would fit. It would just be sad that Narcissa is in a marriage of convenience. Maybe she show some real backbone in book 7?

Posted by Raow from Petaluma, CA on March 9, 2007 6:51 PM

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