( continues...)

The first possibility, like I mentioned, is that Snape is evil, that he had worked for Voldemort all along, that he hid his true self for as long as he could, just like Voldemort did behind the handsome face of Tom Riddle, that he has no respect for anybody's life, only to the power and strength that he can gain from whatever is around him. He exploits Dumbledore and his shelter when it's convenient, he stays isolated in Hogwarts, no friends out of choice, and reveals his true nature when he can gain most of it. Just like Voldemort. With an addition of a pretence of deep regret, to fool Dumbledore, which Voldemort never managed to do, a background of being picked upon as a child, which again Voldemort never had, and nothing like the admiration and following that Tom Riddle already won. A sadder hurt version of Voldemort. And just like Peter Pettigrew, in another reflection, he won the strong shelter of the wizard world, when in fact he's a real traitor in disguise.

The second possibility is, of course, the complete opposite. In a pretense-inside-a-pretense, Snape can be the good trustworthy person Dumbledore believes him to be all along. He could have agreed to use the unforgivable curse himself on Dumbledore, in the flow of events that may bring the worst, which seemed to be happening after the cave and in the tower. If Dumbledore must die, then in his hands, in the way that may still give some advantage, that may keep the fight going in more than one front. Accused of evil, while still being on t he side of faithful and right. In that he may resemble Sirius, as much as the two hated each other. And in his faithfulness to Dumbledore, with following a set of orders which were horrible and painful and against his true nature to follow (as that argument overheard between them may suggest), he also mirrors Harry himself, following Dumbledore's orders in the cave, forcing him to drink the probably-poisoned potion, hurting him, in the onward look for the greater good, trusting that old wise wizard regardless of his own instincts and nature.

The third possibility is that he made an unbreakable vow. Breaking it results in death, and it could be that Snape was forced to make that vow, and now is simply afraid of death and is willing to do whatever he has to in order to save himself from that fate. But that also mirrors another character, another motive. Voldemort's greatest fear is death. That's what he's trying to avoid all along, that's what he fought hardest, created the horcruxes for - and won. But it still remains his greatest fear. And if Snape did what he had done out of the same fear, regardless of where his moral compass turns, then he reflects that fear, that made Voldemort do all these strange and horrible spells, in a most human - and horrid in itself - way.

And pretty much all that happened throughout the six books, and especially on the tower and in the run from it, may fit each one of these motives, all the way through. Even Snape's sharp denial of Harry's calling him a coward works in each one of those scenarios - either it's true and he's ashamed of it, or he had just done the bravest thing he ever had to do, or he finally revealed his true self. Dumbledore's plea was not specific, it was just a plea, which again could mean either that he wanted him to fulfill his most difficult part, or find courage and truth in himself, or appeal to the trust he had had of him for all those years.

So it all comes down to trust. Trust of a character's right choices. James trusted Sirius. The he wanted to show trust in Peter Pettigrew, and made him his Secret Keeper, showing him the deepest faith a friend can show, trying to make him feel as welcome and loved as possible, appealing to the best parts of him. Just like Dumbledore has been doing all along. And it failed. It was that same trust that threw James, Lily and Harry straight into Voldemort's wand. (continued...)

( continues...) In a strange sense, though, it was that trust who provided the chain of events that ended with Voldemort's curse being reflected upon him and his loss of power. And now, Dumbledore's ongoing trust of Snape, who wasn't just an untrustworthy friend, but also proved himself at least once as a member of the other side, by joining the Death Eaters, that trust seemed to result in Dumbledore's own death. Another failure. Another choice of betrayal.

From, IIRC, "Chamber of Secrets", I thought that one of the final confrontations in the end of the series will be Harry forced to trust Snape, without Dumbledore to lean on, to reassure him that this is the right way, to lead him. Plain and naked trust, either to give or not to. In "Half Blood Prince" while, as always, completely suspecting Snape himself, Harry trusted the Half Blood Prince's book wholeheartedly, without a second's hesitation (in fact it was Hermione, who follows Dumbledore in his trust of Snape, who mistrusted the Prince). He did go along with Snape, even without knowing it. And now what? Will he trust Snape? Will he trust Draco? Will he be right in doing so? Was Dumbledore? James wasn't - will Harry follow his father, or choose his own path, and in what ways?

And that's why I love that it could go either way, I think, why I like that complex structure that is playing in my head, the mirror images and reflections and twisted ones and then again. The very fact that it could go either way in a believable way that can be argued about. Even without any connections with the actual results and future events in the 7th book. Because now it's all up to the characters' choices. To looking at the situation and who they want to be and what they want to do with where they are and what they have, and that's what defines them. Not what already happened, but what they choose to happen next.

And, um, if you want to blame somebody for this long ramble, please hold responsible our system administrator who didn't e-mail us the needed passwords and kept me from the data I need to work on. Of course, I have other things I simply must do, but I preferred trying to write the obvious (though I really like the mess that it makes in my head), instead of feeling sorry for myself and trying to work on actual, well, other work. Ahem.

[Edit: Oops. I knew it was long. I had no idea it was that long. Stupid sieve.]

t does the dance of getting to read Nilly's HBP post first.

Good points, Nilly. I'll have to reread it when I';m not stuck at my desk worrying about my bosses walking by...

Second!

I love the way your mind works, Nilly. A lot of your points I'd thought of myself, but you've given me some new ones, too.

t stares at Nilly's post

You're just brilliant. So much I hadn't thought of before. So much to ponder over again.

So much in fact, that the only coherent thought my under-caffienated brain can make right now is "FREE STAN SHUNPIKE!"

I finally got a second to threadsuck and read, but haven't yet read Nilly's post as I realized I'm going to have to think about it.

What I was going to say was this: Gandalf still fulfills the death-of-mentor trope because Frodo never knows Gandalf has been returned to Middle-Earth until after he, Frodo, completes his quest.

If DD comes back as Dumbledore the White, but rather than helping Harry deal directly with The Big V, goes off to rid the Centaur leader of the influence of Lucius Malfoy (and incidentally forcing Malfoy to lock himself in a tower with Peter Pettigrew, while the Forbidden Forest surrounds it), then collects Lupin, Hagrid, Hermione, and the Aurors and heads to the defense of London, while unifying the armies of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to come help also....okay, then you've got a Gandalf Syndrome.

Oh, and based on Wolfram's links, I'm a Gryffindor. Which I was afraid of. Damn.

Wahey! Book VIII, in a nutshell. (But you forgot the House Elves.)

I was all kinds of happy to talk HP with Buffistas, but have realized that this is a conversation I can't dive into without some serious catching up, as anything I can think of to say has doubtless been thought of by someone brighter than me, written about, and already been debated and put to death.

Off to read! Will hopefully be back with coherent thoughts.

Wahey! Book VIII, in a nutshell. (But you forgot the House Elves.)

Do they revolt? I know they are kind of revolting...

From the Leaky Cauldron interview:

MA: Has Snape ever been loved by anyone?

JKR: Yes, he has, which in some ways makes him more culpable even than Voldemort, who never has.

Possibly taking it too much at face value to say that if she refers to Snape as "culpable" then he is in fact guilty. Of something.

I am also embarrassed to admit that I never clued in to the four houses representing the four elements (or even that Slytherin's common room was under the lake). Although I have been wondering if anybody's done a Harry Potter tarot deck.

JKR also said that she's sure some careful re-reader has already identified one of the remaining phylacteries Horcruxi.

Tying those two concepts together, the one that RAB got to before Harry and DD would be a "water" Horcrux. The diary...shrug... So can we think of earth, air, and fire Horcruxi? Or am I over-engineering?