HARRY POTTER fans... What is your opinion on what happened at the end of HBP (read rest of question)?

Question

I.e., with regards to Snape and Dumbledore. Throughout the series, Snape has been a very ambiguous character. We constantly find ourselves asking which side he is really on--the 'good' side or Voldemort's side. However, Dumbledore, the wisest character in the H.P. world, has continuously insisted that Snape's true loyalties lie with the good side.

Considering what Snape did at the end of the last book, it is difficult to still think Snape might be on the good side. Did Dumbledore die a naive fool, tricked by Snape all along? Or was it merely that his singular weakness was an overwhelming desire to see the good in all people? Do you think there is any chance Snape might still be a 'good guy' after this terrible act? Don't forget, Snape has saved Harry's life at least once. What are the thematic implications if Snape is really evil?

Answer 1

I believe Snape could still be a "good guy". He may eventually save Harry's life again, even if it is unintentionally. As for Dumbledore, he needed to die. It says Harry has to go on alone anyways. Who knows...maybe he'll come back in a chocolate frog card or something.

Answer 2

Actually, that is a very good question. I do sometimes wonder whether Snape is on the good side or the bad. But, in my opinion i think he may have did what he had done on purpose, maybe he and Dumbledore had planned it out-that if that situation occured, Snape would have to do what he had done.Because actually in the book, it said Dumbldore was "pleading" the words "Severus please..".So i still have hope that Snape is still on the good side, and that he had to do what was done.Yes, he has saved Harry's life at least once and I believe in the final book he will do it again.So no i don't think he is really evil, but just put into a character for Harry to follow.

Answer 3

I admire the way J.K. Rowling has kept us wondering about Snape, and I, too, keep going back to Dumbledore's steadfast belief in him.
The stubborn little kid inside me wants to believe that Dumbledore is not gone--that there's some catch, some trick, some magic. My own kids tell me that's foolish--they point to the funeral--and they may well be right.

However, let us not forget about Polyjuice potion, about how long we were fooled by Mad Eye, about devices that alter time, about the important element, irony: things are not always as they seem.

What bird does Dumbledore keep as a companion? A phoenix! What does a phoenix do when it expires in a burst of flame: It is born again!

And if we accept that Dumbledore is dead at Snape's hands, I almost think it's proof that Snape IS on the side of good--what did Snape accomplish? He protected Malfoy. I'm telling you, there is more to Malfoy than we've been lead to believe. Snape kept Malfoy from killing. This is huge.

Snape may also be, as we are lead to wonder, a double agent and has to convince the death eaters that his allegiance is with them. Would Dumbledore understand this and accept it by laying down his own life--or allowing Snape to take his life?

It's been a while since I read HBP, but I am eager to read it again, more slowly. I was one of those who got the book at midnight and read fast so others could get their hands on the book, and I'm sure I've missed important details. I remember thinking that it looked to me as if Dumbledore was fully aware of what was going on, and there is an important development re: the locket and the mysterious note signed by the initials R.A.B.

Thanks for reading!

Answer 4

I really think that Snape is good, that Dumbledor needed snape to kill him, because harry always hated him anyways and now harry will not only get angry with voldemrt but snape too, so i think it was a way for Dumbledor to insure that Harry will end the war. This is off the subject but Sirus is not dead and hell come back to help harry.

Answer 5

I don't think Dumbledore's dead. Snape and Dumbledore are going along according the the "Plan".. Whatever that may be to save HP and Malfoy, and to destroy Voldemort.

I guess we'll have to wait for the final book in this saga.....

Answer 6

The story isnt over yet! I think there will be alot more revealed about this in the final saga.No I dont personally think that Snape is evil,I think that he sacrificed his own reputation for the better of all in the long run.And so did Dumbledore.But is it the last we will see of Dumbledore?

Answer 7

J.K. Rowling certainly has kept her fans guessing about who Snape is truly loyal to. Most of my friends want to believe that Snape is really a good guy, but I disagree. I've considered the evidence that has them convinced and I still believe that he is a bad guy. I'll concede that he has done some good things, such as protecting Harry at least once, but he just because he isn't a two dimensional bad guy, doesn't mean that he is good.

I wouldn't ever say that Dumbledore was a naive fool, but I do think that Snape tricked him. He manipulated the one weakness that he is famous for, wanting to believe that people are good and deserve a chance to prove it (ie. Squibs - Filch, Mrs. Figg; werewolf - Lupin; half-Giant - Hagrid, and criminal- Mundungus). It is like Lupin said, Snape is an exceptionally good Occlumense. Plus, Dumbledore believed in putting trust and faith in people. And as wise and powerful as he was, he *did* make mistakes (ie. Quirrell, Lockhart, Barty Crouch Jr./ false Moody). Logic tends to go out of the window when emotions get involved though. Dumbledore did have some doubts about Snape's loyalty, but pushed them away and insisted he was loyal without further consideration.

I think that Snape is and always has been evil. I think he joined the Death Eaters because he wanted more power and he shared their beliefs about purity of blood. He was smart enough to realize Voldemort is a sociopath that is willing to torture/kill his allies as well as his enemies, so he protected himself by being valuable to him as a double agent with Dumbledore. He wants to be free of Voldemort, but he knows he'll be killed if he tries to quit like Karkaroff did. Having overheard some of the prophesy, he knows that Harry is the only one with the power to "vanquish" Voldemort, so he has been helping him even though he hates him. I don't think that he wants to become the new Dark Lord, just wants his freedom. I imagine he resented being a used as a pawn between Voldemort and Dumbledore, probably hated both of them.

I don't believe that Dumbledore arranged it so that Snape was to kill him in a given situation. Killing is the ultimate act of evil and tears one's soul -- an unnatural state. Dumbledore is a *good* guy and wouldn't ask someone to do that for him. Dumbledore stupified Harry, hidden under the invisibility cloak so that he couldn't interfere in (and would be forced to overhear) his discussion with Draco where he convinced him to turn to the Order for help. He believed that Draco was not beyond redemption and he wanted to make Harry realize that too, which he now does. Harry knows he wouldn't have killed Dumbledore and had been blackmailed into his attempts to. He wanted him to work with Draco when the time comes and now he will. I don't think they'll become friends, just allies with a common enemy. Draco probably has Horcrux information.

I think that Dumbledore was pleading with Snape not to truly turn to Voldemort, rather than for his life. He knows that the Order doesn't like or trust Snape and with him gone, he doesn't want Snape to return to the Death Eaters. I think that Hagrid overheard Dumbledore and Snape arguing about Snape and Harry, who he finds incredibly difficult to tolerate, as we saw when he quit teaching him Occlumency and when he tortured him when he fled the Hogwarts grounds with Draco. So, I think Harry will be basically safe from Snape until Voldemort is destroyed, but afterwards all bets are off!

Answer 8

The became something approximately him that i for my area enjoyed in HBP. a stable actor is attainable with the aid of expressions they shop on their face by using the scenes they are in. Tom Felton became stable at that. at cases he perfected the look of a tormented, pained being. And he's have been given the scowl down.

Answer 9

ket-koots answer here is correct. Snape was supposed to kill dumble dore to save himself (Unbreakable Vow) and the Malfoys (Voldlemort) from death. Dumbledore was willing to make the sacrifice.

Answer 10

snape only killed dumb. because he had that bond with draco . if he didn't kill dumb., he would have died himself.