Author’s Notes:
The argument this essay is responding to is that of the common belief that Voldemort was persuaded to give Snape a hearing and Snape's skills as an Occlumens would have protected him from exposure via Voldemort's use of Legilimency.
This essay also supposes Voldemort had addressed all the Death Eaters at the graveyard, plus those who weren’t there with no good reason. (We believe Mulciber, Jugson and Travers were part of those ten DE who broke out from Azkaban with the three Lestranges, Rookwood and Dolohov. Two of the 10 are still unnamed.)
There’s also the possibility that this was only Voldemort’s inner circle, those who had been called at the reviving ceremony. But Snape had his mark calling him, no doubt about that.
If we start off from the fact Voldemort did not name them all, and that Snape had been in fact part of the group in the reviving ceremony, we wonder why he didn’t attempt helping Harry and why Voldemort didn’t question Snape about Dumbledore defending him on trial then as he questioned the other Death Eaters.
Considering the time-lines, Snape was with Dumbledore and McGonagall not much after Harry was back, and he witness how Karkaroff fled after the third task, so he must have been at Hogwarts at the time. Supposing he was the last to respond to the call and the first to leave once dismissed after the reviving ceremony, we might wonder why then Dumbledore asked him: "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready ... if you are prepared ..." and why Snape was looking paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely. If he had already met with the Dark Lord, what could he fear?
As you can see, that last quote works both against my theory and supports it. It works along the counter-essay Snape fighting Voldemort’s Legillimency, but hints also that Snape was not there and therefore might be “[who] has left [Voldemort] forever.”
We wonder if what Snape fears is not asking for Voldemort’s forgiveness but something else.
As last point, Bagman also fled from the place after the Triwizarding Tournament, and that might make us wonder if one of the two absent Death Eeater was him (he was cleared on trial, though). Only wonder is, where does Snape fits if so? Karkaroff is of course one of the two.
With that I hope I have addressed most counter-proofs that might appear and the other side of the argument for you to draw your own conclusions. Plus, the essay intends on opening the question of the involvement of the Malfoy family, how exactly and the why of their actions. It relates to the theory of a rather strong tie between Severus Snape and the Malfoy family, whether it’s friendly-affective or formal-extortive or some other. Only time can tell.
Sources & Notes:
- CS = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (British Edition)
- GF = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (British Edition)
- OP = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (US Edition)
DE stands for Death Eater. |