Snape: could he be on the good side after all?

Question

I know there is much speculation about which side Snape is in....I am re-reading all 6 books while waiting for the 7th one to come out and I have found several pieces of foreshadowing that Rowling has introduced, which at the time may not have meant much but with the knowledge acquired with the following books might make sense....while reading book 4, Goblet of Fire, in the scene where Lord Voldemort regains his body and his power, he is talking to the Death Eaters who have answered the call...at the time we know there were 3 "ex" Death Eaters at Hogwarts: Snape, Karkaroff and Crouch Jr....at some point Voldemort says that six of his followers are missing, 3 who are in Azkaban, one who is too cowardly to come back (probably Karkaroff), one who has definitely left his side (this could be Snape) and one who is still his faithful servant (obviously Crouch Jr.)...What do you think?

emirox....you can relax if you want to and I'll speculate if I want to!

Answer 1

I believe and have always believed that Snape is good. I even believe that he really killed Dumbledore but did it to keep Draco from passing the point of no return. (As opposed to the folks who think Dumbledore isn't really dead, and is just in hiding, or will be coming back.)

I believe that Dumbledore was simply too wise to be taken in by anyone, including Snape. I believe he kept Snape at Hogwart's not to keep an eye on him, as many people believe, but because Snape is the Order of the Phoenix's ace in the hole.

Voldemort is a tremendously powerful wizard, but his greatest weakness is not understanding love and friendship. That's quite clear from the fact that he didn't understand that Lilly's love would protect the infant Harry. He is so evil he cannot understand how love works.

I think Dumbledore's power was very great, but that the bulk of it came from wisdom, not skill. He also had a profound knowledge of love, compassion, and friendship.

I think Snape is probably the most powerful wizard in the wizarding world, because he understands both sides of the coin--I even think he is more powerful than even Dumbledore was. I think Dumbledore refused him the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes simply so that people would not understand Snape's complete power and mastery of all aspects of magic. I believe that since Snape understands not only evil but good, that makes him at the very least an equal to Voldemort, if not a more powerful wizard.

To borrow from Star Wars, I believe the force is strong in Harry. But he is young, and rough. I believe that he learned the importance of compassion, love, and friendship from Dumbledore. Now, for him to best Voldemort, he must learn the true power of wizarding, both the good and the bad, and I think Snape is the only one who has a complete understanding of both. It will be Snape who makes it possible for Harry to best Voldemort. The kid learned a lot from Dumbledore, but there are lessons he can only learn from Snape, and it's going to take a leap of faith on Harry's part to trust Snape enough to learn what he has to teach him.

I do think it's quite possible that Snape will ultimately give his life to the cause. But he will die for the Order of the Phoenix, and only after he has taught Harry what Harry must know. Snape will be recognized, finally, as a traitor, but only to the Death Eaters. (Which shouldn't really matter, because, as I said, he's very powerful--he can protect himself from a thousand Lucius Malfoys any day of the year.)

I guess we'll all find out in July, won't we?

Answer 2

Actually I don't think the author knows what she wants to do with Snape. I'm getting a little tired of trying to figure it out and to the point where I really don't give a rat's butt. Personally, I liked the kids when they were younger. I enjoyed the first two, but after that it starts to become more and more an adolescent story than a children's book. I didn't particularly care for Ron telling Harry to p*ss off in the last movie. That just tells me the language will just get a bit worse.

The problem with books and movies is that: In books you can stay as young as you like, but in the movies that's not possible. People grow up. Everyone loves the characters in the HP movies, so, they follow them to the better end. I never read any of the books, so I don't really know if Harry and the others stay the same age for a while.

Answer 3

Snape is somewhat of an antihero character. He is also the most complex character in J.K.'s novels. To add to the complexity, Harry doesn't like Snape, and this is understandable, looking at it from Harry's point of view. Dumbledore is very wise. He trusts Snape. Snape has saved Harry's life. He has kept a close eye on Harry because he has made a promise to someone some where along the way, maybe not just Dumbledore.

He has played both sides, but there could be many reasons for this. Maybe he wants Valdemort to believe he is his faithful servant, while gleaning what information he can to later aid in Valdemorts' demise. He is artful in Occlumency and the Dark Arts for these reasons . I believe Dumbledore knew Snape had to be the one to kill him. Snapes' hatred in that scene was not directed at Dumbledore, but the fact that he had to be the one to kill him.

Snape has helped Harry, but not in ways that Harry would consider. Here is a clue I believe. Snape has touched Harry, at least in the movies. If he were on Valdemorts' side and hated Harry, it seems to me he would get burned if he touched him!

He has given Harry advice that he would not have had to give him. This advice along with Harry's own growth will help defeat Valdemort.

Lilly was also good at potions and studied with Snape. I don't believe it says anywhere that she was in Griffindor. Harry has one thing Valdemort can never have, and that was Lilly's love and her sacrifice. Snape regretted her death.

She took up for Snape when he was taunted as well. She didn't have to do that. She saw something good in him others did not. Whether there was a romantic connection or not is beside the point. Snape is very good at hiding his true feelings. It has been told someone loves Snape. Love can shield him, too. He is not evil and is on the side of good.

Answer 4

Snape is Snape. He is beyond the sort of simplistic categorization as "good" or "evil", IMHO. I do believe he is not as evil as he appeared at the end of HBP. It would take too much space to really go into this in detail, but consider this:

It is well known that Snape played the double-agent prior to the death of Harry's parents, and there is no reason to believe he wasn't still a double agent on the anti-Voldemort side. Why then did he bind himself to the success of Draco's mission and then actually kill Dumbledore?
My answer: Dumbledore knew that destroying Slytherin's ring had fatally wounded him and Snape knew so too. Therefore he allowed himself to be bound to Dumbledore"s death, a death he knew was imminent and against which he knew Dumbeldore had taken precautions to ensure that his death would not derail the anti-Voldemort movement.

Now, on the other hand, if Snape has turned coats; why did he not kill Harry* or disable him and take him helpless to Voldemort? JKR made it clear that Harry is no match for Snape as a wizard (yet). If you look at Snapes "taunts" at Harry and put them into anyone else's mouth, they're very good advice on what Harry needs yet to learn to fight strong adult wizards on anything like equal terms.
My answer is that Dumbledore at some point shortly after Harry was orphaned made Snape take an unbreakable vow to protect Harry. This fits in perfectly with Snape's actions toward Harry in the books thus far. Yes, Snape is a mean SOB to Harry, but that is Snape's personality, and he didn't vow to be nice to Harry after all.

My conclusion is that in Book Seven, Snape will act covertly and eventually overtly to aid Harry, that he will likely live, and that Harry will be just as in the dark over Snape's motivations as when Harry entered Hogwarts. (BTW, the above is why I don't think Harry will die. If I'm right, then Snape dies too if Harry dies, and Snape is the ultimate survivor).

*My reading of the prophecy is that there is no requirement that either has to directly kill the other, just that one no longer lives, so I think Snape certainly could have killed Harry and talked his way out of it afterwards

Answer 5

Snape's the kind of character authors absolutely looooove to throw into their stories because they're so mysterious. Their true agenda is always hidden so there's no telling where loyalties lie with characters like Snape. Personally, I don't even want to speculate but I find myself doing so as the release of the 7th book draws closer. I think that maybe J.K. Rowling is going to shock us all one last time with the revealing of Snape's true characters. And no matter how many Snape-bashers argue he's a villain or how many Snape-sympathizers argue he's a saint, we'll never know until that last book comes out. So here's hoping to a bang-out ending (which I'm sure J.K. Rowling will deliver)!! ^_^

Answer 6

I agree with you on the 3 death eaters who failed to appear. Snape is the one Voldemort "believe has left me forever' And we find out In Snapes Exchange with LeStrange he waited 2 hrs to return so he could continue playing the spy. For which side is the question.
I have grown to love Snapes character. I think he is turning out to be one of the most complex characters in the book. Most of the character have plenty of anguish and turmoil but none of it is so much within himself as with Snape. He loathes Harry but save him in book 1, 3, and 6 just going off the top of my head. He struggles with his loathing of James and Harry but yet owes James his life and is in a very real sense responsible for Voldemort choosing to attack a 1 year old. Also in the pensieve we find that Lily stood up for Snape when he was being picked on though Snape did not appreciate it at the time. He also has his standards, low as they may seem. I keep wondering what Dumbledore insisted that Snape do. Harry overheard it in book 6 and Snape did not want to do it. I am not convinced it had anything to do with spying on Malfoy, possibly it was Dumbledore insistig Snape fulfill the vow he made to Narcissa. Dumbledore may very well have suspected that he would not survive retrieving many more Horcruxes. Anyway I definately think that Snape will turn out good in the end and maybe even save Harry yet once again.

Answer 7

Snape is on our side. Snape probably did stop being a death eater when he found out that Lilly died. I think the reason he hates harry so much is because harry has Lilly's eyes. Also remember in the 6th book when Hardgrid(sorry cant spell) told harry that snape and Dumbledore had an argument, well I think Dumbledore told Snape about his plans to find that horclux and snape knew that dumbledore would die trying to find it. So snape killed him to but him out of his misery.

Answer 8

I hope that Snape is good after all. I read an article somewhere that theorized that Snape probably is really good because he was only killing Dumbledore because Dumbledore asked him to. The person that wrote the article said that Dumbledore would have never begged Snape for his life. He was actually begging Snape to kill him so Malfoy wouldn't have to. I hope that turns out to be right. I'd really hate it if Dumbledore trusted Snape for all those years and he turned out to be evil. Thanks for getting me more excited about the next book!

Answer 9

I've got faith our boy Severus is going to pull through! Although I would pick him as one of the characters most likely to die in the last book- he's done some bad stuff, and he may very well have to pay.

I like him, though!

Answer 10

i find it annoying that everyone wants to figure out what is going to happen in this series before it happens. do you actually want to spoil it for yourself? i am a huge fan as well, but couldnt stand reading one of her books knowing what will happen you'll find out sooner or later, so untill then can you just RELAX?