Brian's Own Harry Potter Conspiracy Theories

Well, I keep threatening to write my own version of Harry Potter 7, because I just can't wait until Ms. Rowling gets around to writing it. I have lots of interesting ideas, some of which are original, and some of which, I admit, I got from reading every word everyone has ever written about Harry Potter. If you haven't read all of the books released, until now, reading what follows could ruin it for you. And no, seeing the movies is not even remotely adequate.

Is Snape Good or Evil? (12/6/2005)

For many people, this is probably a silly question. After what Snape pulled in the closing pages of Half Blood Prince, many people finally believe what Harry has been thinking all along. There are, of course, many reasons to believe that Snape is evil — his background as a Death Eater, his close relationship with the Dark Lord, his making of the Unbreakable Vow, his general unpleasantness with Harry, and of course the cold-blooded murder of Albus Dumbledore. However... there are also a number of counter arguments that have been presented over the last months. Snape supporters are quick to point out that Snape could have killed Harry at any time, and in fact has saved Harry (and other members of the Order) on several occasions. They point out that there must be something that Dumbledore knows that no one else does.

I submit that this is probably true. Snape, by his own admission, spun a tale of deep remorse to gain Dumbledore's trust. We know that his remorse was about the Dark Lord's interpretation of the prophecy. But why the sudden change of heart? His detest for James Potter is well documented.

I hypothesize that Snape was secretly in love with Lily Potter. The latest book has revealed that they had much in common. Potions and their Half-Blood heritage, in particular. We saw that Lily was one of the few people to come to Snape's defense. And while we saw Snape respond negatively to her help, we know that boys mature — James was being a bit of a twit then, too. James settled down, and Snape fell in love. And we know from an interview with Ms. Rowling that Lily was a bit like the Ginny of her year — very popular with the boys. So it isn't unlikely that Snape had a secret love for Lily.

So why would Snape betray her to the Dark Lord? In an interview I read recently, an astute observer asked Ms. Rowling why the Dark Lord gave Lily a chance to live, if she would only surrender Harry, and asked further if the Dark Lord really would have spared her. Ms. Rowling said that he would indeed have spared her, and that the "why" was a very interesting question. I hypothesize that Snape bargained with the Dark Lord for Lily's life, perhaps feeling he could comfort her in her loss of husband and child, and maybe convince her to start a new life with him.

So many Snape supporters would agree that this is precisely the sort of circumstances that would send him straight to Dumbledore. They explain away Snape's behaviour as it is explained away in the book, except for the murder of Dumbledore, which of course has not yet been explained. The prevailing theory of Snape supporters seems to be that Dumbledore and Snape had agreed upon this end in advance, and that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him, in order to save Draco, and to once and for all convince the Death Eaters that Snape was truly one of them. And that no harm was done, because Dumbledore was dying anyway, as a result of the potion in the cave.

I would like to offer another alternative. The Slytherin alternative. Snape is neither good, nor evil. Merely a man seeking an end. And that end is revenge upon the Dark Lord for killing Lily. To exact this revenge, he knew he had to remain close to the Dark Lord, but at the same time, covering all angles, he allied himself with the one man who was most likely to defeat the Dark Lord — Dumbledore. Snape has no true allegiance to either side. His one goal is the defeat of the Dark Lord, by any means possible.

And besides, what true allegiance could he have to the Death Eaters? While he fancies the Dark Arts, he realizes that blood purity is nonsense. And the Death Eaters would destroy him if they knew his background. But Snape has patience — he realizes that the Dark Lord has protected himself using powerful magic, but I don't think he's yet discovered what Dumbledore and Harry know. Snape knows that he cannot simply kill the Dark Lord.

I have not yet decided what will be revealed in Book 7. Harry has a lot of growing up to do before he can take on Snape. It's unfortunate that Harry is motivated by revenge — I don't believe that Dumbledore would approve. More musings will of course follow.

Comments

By the by ever thought about why Dumbledore was knocked off the tower even though he had apparently been hit by the killing curse avada kedavra which as we witness in book four kills instantly and without force.
And maybe also that there is more than one spell that emits green light and also non-verbal spells.
And I could go on forever but I won't all I'll say is Albus comes from Alba.

Interesting hypothesis, however I have two responses. First, he was knocked off the tower for literary effect. Second, I find it highly unlikely that Dumbledore would fake his own death -- or that Rowling would allow something so cliche. Dumbledore was likely dying anyway from the potion in the cave, and then there's the Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa -- if Dumbledore wasn't actually dead, then the vow would have been broken and Snape himself would have died. None of us want to lose Dumbledore, but I'm afraid he's gone for good, at least until his portrait in the Headmaster's office awakes.

Sweet hypotheses, man. Well done.

very interesting theoris. i think dumbledore is definitely dead or else snape would be dead aso with the whole unbreakable vow but i think that there is more to snapes alligences to dumbldoe and the dark lord and i can't quite decide who he is really standing with or against for the final confrontation. roll on july 21st!!!!!

I never thought of that before... Thanks!

when snape and narcissa did the unbreakable vow..not once did either of them mention the actual plans of malfoy, narcissa simply assumed snape knew of the plan because he claimed to have known. the unbreakable vow could have then been loopholed.
I think Dumbledore is definatly dead. As J.K Rowling said in an interview, nobody really cares if you kill of the extras, but i think snape is good. And Dumbledore meant for Snape to kill him, but Snape didnt want to... the arguement Hagrid overheard in the forest..
i could go on forever....

Hmmm, apparently when Rowling appeared in New York in August with Salmon Rushdie and Stephen King, Rushdie said his opinion was that Snape is good, and Rowling responded that Rushdie is correct. I can't believe I missed that, and that the debate has raged on. We will see.

I think that Snape and Dumbledore planned it before beacaue witht the potion in the cave, if somone had been there and got the locket before him then all the potion would have gone so maybe Dumbledore/Snape had been there before and swapped the potion for another, The Draught of the Living Death maybe and then when Snape appeared to have killed him he had used a non-verbal spell as well and also in book 4 and 5 it says that to use an unforgivable curse you really have to mean it. .. hmmm

It does suggest that Snape was in love with Lilly Potter in the Last book. I for one think he's good because in the book it tells you that Snape was pretending to play both sides 4 Voldemort but he was really working 4 Dumbledore and his murder in Half blood prince was planned by dumbledore and himself. He is really trying to protect harry for as brian said Snape had numerous chances to kill harry.

Also Dumbledore plotted with snape to kill DUmbledore because of a horcux(Voldemorts soul split into seven parts)placed in a ring which dumbledore put on(it had a curse on it and was slowly and termanilly killing him).So snape was supposed to kill him and did because if he didn't Draco Malfoy would have to and Dumbledore didnt think he had the guts to do it. And if Draco didn't then Voldemort would kill him( Draco).So Snape did but eventually Snape is killed by Voldemort. Talk about ironic.

Sorry!!!! I posted my comment before i read the article!!!!!