Predicting Snape's Motives (character analysis part 3)

Severus Snape was sorted into Slytherin house for a reason. Slytherin house is described as the sanctuary for the ambitious and cunning, sometimes a place for the pureblood and the haughty. We know Severus isn't a pureblood -- Tobias Snape appears to have been a Muggle, and Severus once used (for reasons to be discussed later) the nickname "Half-Blood Prince". He can seem quite haughty at times, but there is an insecurity lingering just below the surface. He's definitely cunning, managing to stay alive after publicly leaving the Death Eaters... managing to reenter the fold while remaining a member of the Order of the Phoenix, spying on both sides.

And what about ambition? There's loads of it. You don't join two opposing teams and play them against each other (and consequentially put yourself in harm's way) unless you have some serious goals... that require info from both sides to meet them.

But let's go back a bit.... Severus is a young wizard of mixed-blood. He takes up this nickname, a play on his witch mother's maiden name and his mixed heritage. The trio later assume he chose the name to play up the wizarding side of the family, not like he's the "prince of the half-bloods", but why would someone trying to play up the wizarding side even bring any attention to the "half-blood" part? He probably wouldn't have been popular in Slytherin for his heritage, so I don't think this would be a name he used freely. It might even be a name given to him by another student and he just liked it. Personally I think Lily Evans came up with the nickname for him. The trio might have it backwards. What if Severus chose to use the name, perhaps only secretly, as a reminder of his heritage... and as a reminder of his main goal -- to be a champion for the wizards and witches of mixed or Muggle heritage?

When Harry takes that first trip on the train to Hogwarts, he reads the Chocolate Frog card for Albus Dumbledore. He seems more impressed by the moving picture than by the info given for wizard. Imagine eleven-year-old Severus first reading or hearing about Albus Dumbledore, most famous for his 1945 defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald. How would this impress upon Severus? Then he's at Hogwarts, with the venerable Albus Dumbledore as headmaster. Snape starts to wonder how this wizard managed to defeat Grindelwald. He might start to think Dumbledore has lost his touch....

Oh, my. I have to stop what would have been a particularly long-assed post. I've been tainted by the chapter titles. My predictions haven't changed due to anything I've seen. However, I'm a bit weirded out by actually having seen what I've now ... seen....

Basically, what I want to get across is that I think Severus Snape (for whatever reasons, like a desire for fame or recognition) has developed a plan to defeat Voldemort. The biggest flaw in his plan is that Voldemort ended up choosing one of Snape's enemies as the target. Snape might feel indebted to James even if there was never a Life Debt. So it's bad news if you've triggered something that will lead to your "saviour's" death. Add to this that Snape probably really did like Lily, and he wouldn't have wanted her to die. To add insult to injury, Snape now has to rely on the abilities and shortfalls of his enemy's son to carry out his wish: Voldemort's defeat. And this child will grow up to hate Snape, not just because of Snape's involvement in the Potters' deaths, but also because Snape must treat Harry badly to maintian his cover. This makes it particulary difficult for Snape to train Harry or give him important info. Harry will almost instinctively rebel against anything Snape says or does. Harry will continue to despise Snape and trip him up every chance he gets until Snape's facade finally falls away... or Snape gets killed trying to make Harry realize where Snape's really coming from.

Maybe more on this later, but the book is arriving so soon I might not be able to get my muddled thoughts together in time for an even vaguely cohesive post.... (sigh)

Life Debts and how to contract them

I love the editorials and the discussion threads for Life Debts. I don't agree with everything, but it has made me rethink how Life Debts are made.

I've heard too many people claim everyone owes a life debt to Harry because he's inadvertently saved so many lives. Thank goodness Jo stated that not all instances of saving a life qualify for creating life debts.

There are two major camps on the Life Debt issue. (The people who think Life Debts are being contracted left and right don't count.)

One camp argues that a Life Debt is contracted when the saved person feels obligated. This would place Snape in the category of owing James a Life Debt, regardless of James's motives. It explains why Crouch Jr., having fallen ill at Azkaban and removed by Crouch Sr., could later kill his own father: he felt no sense of obligation in his demented mind. It doesn't quite explain why Wormtail owes Harry, though, since Wormtail keeps saying "thank you", but he might not mean it - he seems to mean it at the time, but he's being desperate - Wormatil might not be truly grateful or feel indebted, but he owes a Life Debt anyway. True, Wormtail avoided eye contact with Harry in the graveyard, but he avoids eye contact with others, too. People who avoid eye contact cannot be trusted. Wormtail will probably fulfill his Life Debt, but not because he wants to.

The other camp claims a Life Debt is contracted when the threat is immediate, the savior is presented with a clear choice, and the savior chooses to save the other person, regardless of motives, and the person wants saving. This lumps Snape in the "doesn't owe James" category, since James wasn't explicitly asked to choose, and Snape didn't ask James to save him. It clouds the issue for Crouch Jr., since the choice seems to have been his mother's, who died shortly after the switch, not Crouch Sr.'s - this makes the Crouch issue moot, and Crouch Jr. was "free" to kill his own dad. However, it reaffirms that Wormtail owes Harry, since Remus and Sirius left the choice up to Harry whether Wormtail got to live, and Wormtail was pleading for his life, even begging Ron to save him.

I want to emphasize that Dumbledore places so much emphasis on choice. It's how Lily protected Harry (though her self-sacrifice created something quite different from a Life Debt); it's how Harry saved Wormtail. Sure James made a decision to stop Snape from going any further toward the shack, but no one presented James with a clear choice to make. Also, Snape thinks he would have died, but was he really in immediate peril? Could he not have backed out of the tunnel in time and escaped possible death himself? There were four possibilities: get killed, get injured/maimed, get bitten and become a werewolf, escape unscathed.

The more I think about it, the more I think Snape didn't really owe James a Life Debt, he simply felt indebted anyway. This makes me ponder Dumbledore's trust in Snape. Snape thinks people who wear their hearts on their sleeves are weak, but he makes no comment about having feelings. (Snape doesn't say feelings=weakness, he says brooding=weakness.) If Snape never owed James a Life Debt yet feels so indebted that he will protect and save Harry, then I should think all of Snape's feelings run deep. He sure carries a grudge and can feel deep hatred, but then again he can also feel deep pain, perhaps deep regret/remorse, perhaps even deep love....

When asked whether Snape had ever been loved, Jo said "yes" and that it makes him more culpable than Voldemort, in some ways. Voldemort doesn't feel guilty/culpable for his actions, the only things he seems to regret are the opportunities he didn't take full advantage of. Snape is very different - he feels guilt. Someone loves/loved Snape. Snape knows love. Snape is more culpable only because he can feel guilty.

By Dumbledore giving us these very different explainations for Snape's "getting even" and Wormtail's Life Debt, he's not only making a differentiation between debt and no debt, he's giving Harry a clue about a hidden facet of Snape's true personality.

But I'm supposed to be talking about Life Debts, right? Yeah. So, I think this is the run-down:

• Snape never owed James a binding Life Debt, yet he feels indebted anyway. He is compelled, not by a magical contract but by the pursuit of "piece of mind", to step in whenever possible to save and protect Harry.


• Crouch Jr. probably didn't really owe his father a Life Debt. He might have owed one to his mother (it was ultimately her choice to switch places), but his mother died at Azkaban - she didn't really give her life to save his, she was dying anyway - and Crouch Jr. probably wouldn't have been able to save her life, even if he had tried...or cared.


• Wormtail clearly owes Harry a Life Debt. I doubt he will pay it willingly, but pay he shall.


• Harry does not owe Snape any Life Debt...yet. However, Dumbledore suggests going to Snape if Harry needs healing from dark magic. This is a perfect set-up to have Snape help Harry in Book 7.


• Dumbledore might owe Snape a Life Debt, but we will need to see what happened when Dumbledore came to Snape for help after the ring incident. I think, since Dumbledore is so polite, that Dumbledore would have asked Snape for help. This would give Snape clear options, and we know Snape did help. There might be a real Life Debt here.

I'm not aware of any other situations where there might be a Life Debt, but I'll keep looking.