"Behind the Mask"

Severus Snape, contrary to apparent evidence, is not a supporter of Lord Voldemort. Yes, he killed Albus Dumbledore. However, if one examines the evidence, it becomes apparent that Snape’s actions in the twenty-eighth chapter of the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series were not to further Voldemort’s cause. Rather, they were quite obviously performed on the orders of Dumbledore himself.

As early as the second chapter, apparent proof of Snape’s loyalty to Voldemort arises. When Bellatrix Lestrange accompanies her sister to Spinner’s End, she is very vocal in her belief that Snape is a traitor. Snape has an answer for each accusation of treachery that Bellatrix launches at the Potions Master. However, most of these answers are shaky at best, despite the fact that Voldemort believes them. When Snape takes the Unbreakable Vow, the wording is tenuous—he swears to complete Draco’s task if Draco cannot, but as David Haber points out, Draco had more than one task given to him by the Dark Lord. For example, one of his tasks was to fix the Vanishing Cabinet, which Draco successfully completed. Whatever it sounds like Snape promised, the Vow is vague enough that it could mean anything. (Rowling, 22-37; Haber, Unanswered Questions)

It might also be looked on with suspicion that Dumbledore gave his spy the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when he knew that the job was jinxed. It seems as though he was expecting Snape to be leaving the school then, for he had to know that there was no way that Snape could hold the position for more than a year. Even the students at Hogwarts could see the pattern.

“Well, there’s one good thing,” he [Harry] said savagely. “Snape’ll be gone by the end of the year.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ron.

“That job’s jinxed. No one’s lasted more than a year . . . . Quirrell actually died doing it . . . . Personally, I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for another death . . . .” (Rowling, 167)

Dumbledore himself admits to the knowledge that Voldemort has jinxed the position in chapter twenty of the Half-Blood Prince.

“Oh, he deffinately wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job,” said Dumbledore. “The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort.” (Rowling, 446)

The jinx had been in place for twenty-five years at this point. There is no way that Dumbledore would have placed Snape in the position if he expected the professor to be staying at Hogwarts the following year. (Ark, Worley, and Kearns, 20)

It should also be noted that Dumbledore spent a great deal of time preparing Harry to face Voldemort. While it could be argued that Dumbledore would have done this anyway, it seems to me that some of the lengths Dumbledore seems to have taken seem extreme if he was expecting to still be available the following year. For example, he deals with the preparations for Harry’s next summer before school begins when he usually deals with that at the end of the school year. Dumbledore also takes great care in preparing Harry to face Voldemort alone and the long hours making sure that Harry knew what to look for with the Horcruxes, possibly even hiring Horace Slughorn just so that the required memory would be on hand. If he was expecting to be dead, however, then the steps taken to make sure that Harry knows what he needs to so that he can defeat Voldemort are reasonable.

It must also be pointed out that Dumbledore never expressed any doubt in Snape’s loyalty. He firmly brushed off the possibility that there was any importance in the conversation that Snape and Draco had during Slughorn’s Christmas party. He is also the one who kept Snape from Azkaban by speaking for him before the Wizengamot. (Bunker)

In the twenty-seventh chapter, Dumbledore says a very simple line that gives no hint to its meaning. “‘Severus . . .’” . . . “‘Severus . . . please . . .’” (Rowling, 595) The line taken on its own could be Dumbledore pleading for Snape not to kill him, but it seems highly unlikely. Haber points out that the comments that Dumbledore makes in the first book about it being the “next great adventure” seem to indicate that Dumbledore would not plead for his life. (Snape Clues) Bunker points out that Dumbledore gave Snape a grim task after Voldemort rose again—could this have been it? Is it possible that Dumbledore was not asking Severus to spare him at all, but instead to murder him? (Mysteries & Misconceptions)

The greatest evidence against Snape being loyal to Dumbledore stands in a few small points—but J. K. Rowling loves to leave little hints. Bunker points out that Snape was visible in Barty Crouch Jr.’s Foe-Glass along side Dumbledore and McGonagall; if Snape was loyal to Voldemort, he should not have shown up in the mirror. He also notes that Harry has been suspicious of Snape since the first book, and yet he has always been wrong before this. Isn’t it possible that he’s wrong on this count, too, especially since Snape tends to say things that go completely contrary to his actions? She also notes that Snape is a very powerful Occulmens, and so it is possible that he could hide his true alignment from Voldemort despite the Dark Lord’s skill at Legilimency. (Mysteries & Misconceptions)

Hagrid’s innocuous evidence is the last point that should be raised in Snape’s defense. The half-giant had overheard “a heated discussion” between Snape and Dumbledore, and Harry manages to get him to talk about what he overheard. Hagrid’s answer suggests that Snape is loyal to Dumbledore, and even that he wanted to stop playing the part of a Death Eater and spy.

“Well—I jus’ heard Snape sayin’ Dumbledore took too much for granted an’ maybe
he—Snape—didn’ wan’ ter do it anymore—”

“Do what?”

“I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin’ a bit overworked, tha’s all—anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he’d agreed ter do it an’ that was all there was to it. Pretty firm with him. An’ then he said summat about Snape makin’ investigations into his House, in Slytherin. Well, there’s nothin’ strange about that!” Hagrid added hastily, as Harry and Hermione exchanged looks full of meaning. “All the Heads o’ Houses were asked ter look into that necklace business—”

“Yeah, but Dumbeldore’s not having rows with the rest of them, is he?” said Harry.

“Look,” Hagrid twisted his crossbow uncomfortably in his hands; there was a loud splintering sound as it snapped in two. “I know what yeh’re like abou’ Snape, Harry, an’ I don’ want yeh ter go readin’ more inter this than there is.” (Rowling, 405-406)

If Snape was loyal to Voldemort, he wouldn’t be chaffing under the necessity of his obligations, and the argument between the two would not have taken place. This seems to be definitive evidence that Snape is not loyal to the Dark Lord.

It is obvious that Dumbledore was expecting to be gone after Harry’s sixth year. He spent too much time preparing Harry to fight Voldemort without him for his death not to be foreseen. His actions also show that Snape would be leaving Hogwarts at the same time. What is more, Snape’s actions are not consistant with the assumption that he is a Death Eater. Finally, Dumbledore trusted Snape, and Dumbledore’s trust was always, prior to his death, good enough to make most put aside their doubts of a person. I declare that Severus Snape was, when he used the Killing Curse on Albus Dumbledore, following the direct orders of the man he murdered.

Works Citied

Ark, Steve Vander, Michele V. Worley, and John Kearns. “A Reader’s Guide to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” The Harry Potter Lexicon. November 7, 2005. Updated August 12, 2005. Accessed September 11. 2005.

Bunker, Lisa Waite. “Severus Snape.” The Harry Potter Lexicon. October 22, 2000. Updated September 6, 2005. Accessed September 11, 2005.

Haber, David. Dumbledore is not Dead. Unanswered Questions. 2005. Accessed September 11, 2005.

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2005.

© Chailyn Cole Runewood