Hogwarts Herald

In her article, “Snape - the Good, the Bad & the Ugly” Denise Witmer offers up several points to consider regarding Severus Snape. While I don’t agree 100% with what is said here, it’s food for thought…such as the question most of us keeping going back and forth on:

Did Snape kill Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders? The author of this article thinks so.

“Snape killed Dumbledore I believe on Dumbledore’s orders. Dumbledore knew this would insure that someone close to Voldemort would be on Harry’s side. This was the argument Dumbledore and Snape had in the woods that Hagrid overheard. What else could Dumbledore be begging Snape to do in that situation?”

————–

She also thinks Snape will not survive Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

“Snape is a good guy, many agree. I just hope Harry figures that out and is able to thank him in some way before Snape is killed. Oh! Didn’t I mention that I don’t think Snape will live?”

That’s certainly a good guess. I think Snape is right up there in “likelyhood of death” with Voldemort and Harry.

A couple more interesting points were brought up by (I’m guessing) readers of Ms. Witmer’s Harry Potter articles:

“Snape’s advice to Harry at the end of Book 6 that Harry must learn to close his mind when dueling, since he knows all he can do to help destroy the enemy is assist Harry in any way that he can.”

“Perhaps Dumbledore was dying from the potion or knew he was to die soon and had instructed Snape to kill him beforehand so Snape could gain the trust of the death eaters which would lead him to Voldemort, that’s why Snape had made the unbreakable vow for Malfoy and why Dumbledore was being so stubborn for Harry to call upon Snape instead of Madam Pomfrey…Snape never hurt any of the people fighting in the tower. THE MAIN REASON I think Snape may still be good is that he was overheard arguing with Dumbledore by Hagrid. Now when Hagrid said “I shouldn’t have said that” all those times in the first book, everything he said was important. Even in the rest of the books. Now why would Rowling put that in the story if it hadn’t been important. She wouldn’t put the whole scene in the book if she was just going to ignore it. I think they were arguing because Snape was refusing to kill Dumbledore, that’s why Dumbledore pleaded in the end. Dumbledore said ‘Please Severus.’”

All interesting points.

Snape’s loyalty is indeed one of the biggest questions in Potterworld leading up to Book 7. I keep wavering back and forth. Part of me feels his character is destined to redeem himself (maybe through saving Harry’s life while sacrificing his own?), while the other part of me feels there’s no going back to the good side for him now.

Personally, I believe the wild card in all of this is going to be Lily Potter…the key to Snape’s goodness or badness lies with Harry’s Mum. I think we’ll get to learn more about Harry’s parents in their Hogwarts years, especially the extent of Lily and Severus’s friendship…if there was much of a friendship there at all. If there was, it’s a good bet Snape will be a “good guy” and is really looking out for Harry out of devotion to Harry’s Mum. If there’s more teenage torment than there is friendship between the Potters and Snape, Snape will most likely be a “bad guy.”

…