Dutchess42 wrote:I'm not married to this idea but at this point I'm Still thinking:
That Snape is on the side of the Phoenix.
(To me it seemed obvious that he had no idea of what Narcissa was talking about at their meeting at Spinners End. He was on a fishing expedition there). I believe he learned what Draco's task was only just before (or even at) the meeting with Dumbledore by the forest. That it was because of the nature of Draco's task that he wanted to quit because he knew Draco would fail and he did not want to be the one to have to complete the task. That Dumbledore asked him, at the end, to do the necessary.
I don't think we'll find out what Snape did to prove to Dumbledore that he was on his side until Book Seven.
BUT I reserve the right to change my mind.
(One of the things that makes me doubt Snape is not from the books but from Rowling's interviews. She really seems to hate Snape)
Well, that and the fact that she seemed genuinely surprised (or as much as she
could seem, from just reading the words but not seeing facial expressions, etc.) that there are people who are still thinking Snape is good. (Her answer when asked flat-out if Snape is good was "Well,
you've read the book, haven't you?")
It hadn't occurred to me that Snape was bluffing the whole time about knowing about the plan... still doesn't seem likely, but it's definately an interesting twist. I still think he could have gotton out of making a vow altogether. And I don't think Dumbledore would consider his own death "doing the necessary." As noble as Dumbledore is, I think the Order would be much more crippled by his death than by Snape's, and regardless of any personal feelings either way, he would side with what was best for the common good (him staying alive).
Enchanter wrote:Has anyone thought that even if Snape IS good that he would have a difficult time explaning it to others?He would never be able to convince Harry. Imagine the conversation!
Snape-"Oh no, I'm not evil. Dumbledore wanted me to kill him. Everyone knows it was his dearest ambition to be killed by me"
Harry- " Oh i knew you were always on my side. How would you like to adopt me?"
Snape- "oh i would love that"
that
would be an interesting conversation!
The thing to remember, whether Snape is on the side of the Order or not, he holds grudges, and he holds an especially strong grudge towards James and Sirius, and therefore towards Harry, because Harry is so much like them. Even if (and that's one BIG "if") Snape is still working for the Order, and this was all on some unexplainable Order thing, he will never ever ever have warm fuzzies for anyone, particularly Harry.
Something else occurred to me... ever noticed how all the major twisted plotlines are resolved within the book. Assuming for a moment he was good (and I am not saying I think he is), this would really be the first time there's been a MAJOR cliffhanger like that. Yes, of course there are many many things that have carried over, but:
In P/SS, you find out who the bad guy (Quirrell) is, exactly.
In CoS, you find out who the bad guy (Tom Riddle, age 16) is, exactly.
In PoA, you find out that Sirius is in fact innocent.
In GoF, you find out that Moody was the bad guy throughout the book.
In OotP, there was a slight turn from the "bad guy" stories (Umbridge was so obviously bad from the beginning).
I don't see that she'd leave something like that (Snape being good) left up in the air, having no closure. However, if you go with how things really appear to be (Snape being bad), you have closure at the end of the book.
Let us not forget, also, that he
ran. Yeah, I know, he'd just not want to get in trouble with uninformed wizards for killing Dumbledore, but it does seem like Dumbledore would manage to find a way to make sure that
someone else knew about what was going on and what could happen, to save Snape since he was following orders. But at the funeral, it's clear that no one expected him to have died.