Beyond Hogwarts


<Latest Articles
Comments Index
Save Last On

Search Beyond Hogwarts:

Reference Desk:
Beyond Hogwarts FAQ
Wizard to Muggle Currency Converter
Harry Potter Spelling Reference


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.

> Read the full article

Pages:  <<  <  20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40  >  >>

Reader Comments: (Page 39)

I don't think Dumbledore did know about the plan to let eaters into the castle...neither did Snape...It was just bad luck that they got in on the same night that Harry and Dumbledore went to look for the horcrux and Dumbledore was weakened from drinking the potion in the cave...any other night and things might have turned out differently.

Posted by Joe from England on July 15, 2007 4:41 PM

Dumbledore knows that the DADA job is cursed, so why would he asign Snape the post? He must have something going on, as though that were the year to put the mysterious "big plan" into action. We all know that Dumbledore has his reasons, and he knew that now that he had the world convinced that the Dark Lord was back, it was the right time to act. I only wonder how Snape convince the others that he is good.

Posted by Arsili from Burbank, CA on July 15, 2007 8:04 PM

Does one of the animate horcruxes of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named exist within Severus Snape?

Perhaps this was the singular victory from time long past when Snape returned to Dumbledore.

But for Snape to become freed from such a wicked burden, might it not require such a dreadful sacrifice as that required to create a Horcrux?

Is this why Dumbledore had to - to vanquish the possession of Severus Snape?

Posted by Steve of Caley from Albuquerque on July 15, 2007 9:04 PM

A great deal emerge from the "Sectumsempra" curse. Rowling having an eager affinity for the magic of language rooted in Latin, sectum sempra indicating 'that which has been perpetually divided,' in a fashion. This undoubtedly is the curse of the cleaving of the soul necessary for creation of a Horcrux. Why might Snape have learned this during his worship of the dark arts?

Posted by Steve of Caley from Albuquerque on July 15, 2007 9:34 PM

General question, not sure if this has come up before, but did Dumbledore and Order of the Phoenix know that Voldemort was coming after Harry? Is that why Lily & James were in hiding? It�s a pretty big deal to go into hiding and have a secret keeper, so my thoughts are perhaps they did. Unless all the members of the OOP were in hiding also?

Dumbledore obviously knew about the prophecy from Trelawney and it�s implication for Harry, but unless he knew Snape told Voldemort what he overheard, he would have assumed that secret was safe with him (despite Snape overhearing it) and Voldemort would have been unaware of the prophecy altogether and Harry relatively safe.

Perhaps the reason Dumbledore trusts Snape so much is that Snape told Dumbledore what he revealed to Voldemort about the prophecy (I think this part is obvious and has already been noted in the books) and because of this James & Lily had warning and had time to go into hiding? Not that it helped them much, but still�

Could be a silly question, unsure about the timing of it all�

OR - this is really taking it too far, but perhaps Dumbledore, catching Snape overhearing the prophecy, allowed him to go & tell Voldemort, knowing from the prophecy that Harry would be protected by love (Lily sacrificing himself for him), Lily & James would be sacrificed, but Voldemort would have been destroyed? I don�t personally think Dumbledore would sacrifice anyone from the Order, but why would he not go to great pains to ensure that the one person who overheard the prophecy (Snape) didn�t go to Voldemort and tell him everything he had heard. In times like those, Dumbledore would have known how hard it would be to trust someone.

Posted by Meredith from Sydney, Australia on July 15, 2007 10:19 PM

Well today i found this site and i have to say OMG!

Ivar seems to be very wise and if i didnt know any better he could be JKR in disguise! The day i got the book HBP and i saw R.A.B i said well thats regulus and im sure i was the first, although i know there are others who also figured it out. i mean jkr just including regulus is not a coincidence! i mean he is talked about so much but in a very sly way. And maybe im wrong but doesnt his writing seem similar to sirius?

And for those who think she would never lie about DumbleDore, i think she would deceive because thats what a great mind like her would do. harry doesnt want to laugh or a smile when he's at the , he thinks of dumbledore and he is smiling. i think if he was REALLY he wouldnt be able to grin.

What about sirius? I think sirius isnt but at the same time he is because i have read that book several times and it doesnt say if bella said AK. after reading this webpage i am at the border in the middle where i think snape is evil and not evil. i hadn't even remotely thought of them until i read this and i cant believe that i hadent thought of this! i admit i cried every time or was on the verge of tears when i read of how dumbledore was ed! but now im not sure hes and now im not sure if snape is bad although before reading this page i was so sure!

Posted by Maria Evans from QUeens Ney York on July 16, 2007 5:09 PM

Trusting Snape: weakness or strength. Actually, it all depends on how Albus' trust in Severus is exploited. If it happens that Severus is really a good guy, that Albus' scene - whether he truly is or not - was on Albus' orders or in accordance with his grand master plan, then it would be an invaluable strength. If it turns out that Severus really is a bad guy who was working for Voldemort all this time in order to get info on the Order and/or Albus, then it is a devastating weakness. The debate of strength versus weakness is directly connected to Severus' loyalties. If someone you trust never betrays it, you've got a friend; if someone you trust betrays it, you've got an enemy. You won't really know which until something happens that either cements or betrays your trust. We don't know what it was that cemented Albus' trust in Severus, so, as far as we are concerned, whatever it was didn't happen. We, therefore, cannot truly determine whether or not Albus' trust is his strength or his weakness.

Posted by Monkeeshrines from orlando fl on July 17, 2007 09:24 AM

I was recently re-reading HBP and there is a very illuminating statement made by Dumbledore to Harry. Dumbledore is trying to convince Harry that he does not have to act because the prophecy says so, but because Voldemort continue to believe in the prophecy, therefore Harry HAS to fight to save his own life, the lives of others, and to revenge the of his parents and Sirius.

Dumbledore tells Harry that through everything, he has
"never been seduced by the Dark Arts." Harry replies that he has not because Voldemort ed his parents. Dumbledore's reply to this is the crucial statement...
"You are protected, in short, by your ability to love! The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort's!" (HPB, 511)

Now, if we analyze that statement, then Dumbledore is saying that NO ONE can resist Voldemort's power, unless they can love. That includes Snape right? If Dumbledore tells Harry that love is the only thing that can hold up against Voldemort, then he must believe that Snape is capable of love. Considering Snape's fascination with the dark arts while he was in school and the fact that he joined the Eaters, Snape must have told Dumbledore a very, very convincing story. The only thing that could have convinced Dumbledore was an expression of some form of love. How else could Dumbledore so firmly trust Snape? He sent Snape to work for Voldemort, he knew the risk of Snape wanting to switch sides, he had to believe that some power that Snape had was stronger than Voldemort's to be able to trust him like that. Snape can love, the question is, who? Was it Lily? Or Narcissa? Was it maybe his mother who would have been at school around the same time as Voldemort, just a few years behind him...

I am convinced that Snape was acting on Dumbledore's orders the night that he ed him. Dumbledore knew the importance of having a spy in Voldemort's circle. I also think it possible that Snape knows about the horcruxes. He was the one that cured Dumbledore after the ring and he was the one Dumbledore wanted to help him after the potion. A certain amount of information would have been required for Snape to help him. Also, Snape might be a parsel tongue. Just a thought, but we are never told that Dumbledore can speak Parsel tongue, yet he knew everything the Gaunts had discussed in Ogden's and Morfin's memories. I think Snape knows almost as much as Harry does about Voldemort.

We just have to wait and see on Saturday...

Posted by Lisa from NC on July 17, 2007 10:51 AM

Whether or not Snape ed Dumbledore I do not know. However, I do not think that he was obliged to by an unbreakable vow. It is known that Draco was supposed to Dumbledore. Also, it is known that Snape (due to the unbreakable vow) is supposed to carry on this task if Draco failed, which he obviosly did. It is assumed that Snape carried out doing so since he did not . But, what if he never made the vow at all?

"And, should it prove necessary... if Draco fail...? whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), " you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"
-HBP U.S. hardcover page 36

It's kind of suspicios: Snape, holding a wand, hand twitching right before he is sealed to potentially Dumbledore, and the emphasis in this book on nonverbal spells. Potential nullification, I think so.

Posted by Az from Massachusetts on July 17, 2007 5:27 PM

i still think that snape is actually not on either side and that he ed dumbledore for his best interests but could be pretending that hes working for voldemort, i hope he turns on voldemort in the end and in the process snape gets ed or something, i really despise snape.

Posted by Christina from Connecticut on July 17, 2007 7:41 PM

To quote Lucy Smith on the first page of comments:

"Remember in book 4 when "Mad-eye Moody" who was actually the son of Barty Crouch locked Harry in his office after he emerged from the Triwizard maze? When Dumbledor, Pfor. Mcgonagall and snape burst in through the door, Snape saw his reflection in Moody's Foe-glass. Now if Snape was a eater, why he be a foe of Crouch? (Who is also a eater...)"

Interesting point, but doesn't that foe glass actually belong to the real Moody? In which case, Snape would be in the real Moody's foe glass...although, I know little about said foe glass, simply because I forgot any description of it. How accurate is it supposed to be?

If it IS highly reliable...then it would be the only thing that made me doubt that Snape is good. I have the suspicion that it isn't highly reliable, though...hopefully not, in this case...

Posted by Katie T from California on July 18, 2007 12:33 AM

I've just re-read the HBP for the umpteenth time (and the others too) - I always do this before an imminent publication date. Most of the clues that JK left I have picked up and I go along with the views of many of your comments - I think that Dumbledore can/has transfigured into a phoenix.

My clincher for Snape being on the right side and therefore Dumbledore's "" not being true:
On Snape's being accused of cowardice by Harry:

Harry:.....' me like you ed him, you coward -'
Snape: 'DON'T....CALL ME COWARD'

It is my theory that only someone engaged in a clandestine but truly noble scheme could be so hurt by the thought of being called coward.

Posted by Horace on July 18, 2007 03:01 AM

Pages:  <<  <  20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40  >  >>



Latest Discussions | Comments | The Septology | Harry's World | Harry Potter Movies | FAQ


BeyondHogwarts.com is not affiliated with or approved by
Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros., or J.K. Rowling
Original Content Copyright © 2006-2009 David Haber, All Rights Reserved