Is Snape a reformed follower of megalomaniacal mass murderer Lord Voldemort, working as a double agent at extreme personal peril to keep tabs upon the plans and movements of the recently reconstituted darkest of wizards and his coterie for Dumbledore? OR is he in fact a treacherous TRIPLE agent who spies on Dumbledore and the forces of good for Voldemort?
On some level Snape is clearly BOTH, but where do his deepest loyalties lie, with Good/Dumbledore or Evil/Voldemort?
The latter appears to be most bitterly the case at the end of the sixth and most recent book in J.K. Rowling's series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, wherein Harry and readers witness in — literally — frozen horror the climactic killing of a weakened Dumbledore atop the Astronomy Tower at the hands of Snape, the Half-Blood Prince of the title, who then flees with Malfoy and fellow attackers into the blackest of nights.
Potterheads everywhere are speculating how Rowling will resolve the character of Snape in the seventh, and reportedly final, book in the series: Was sneering Severus Snape, like this new version of Judas, in fact acting out the wishes of the betrayed? As Harry and Dumbledore rush back to Hogwarts after the Dark Mark has appeared over the school, Dumbledore says, “It is professor Snape whom I need.” Hmm.
Was the apparent murder part of Dumbledore's grand scheme? Was Snape helping free Dumbledore from "the man that clothes him," or is he simply what he appears to be: the most vile and duplicitous of murderous traitors? Of course even from that angle Snape is fulfilling the Unbreakable Vow he made to Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissus to protect the boy.
Only Rowling knows for sure, and maybe she hasn't really made her mind up yet.
A special about the discovery, translation and ramifications of the Gospel of Judas will air on National Geographic Channel, Sunday, April 9 at 8 p.m., and is the subject of the May edition of National Geographic Magazine. And of course there is a DVD and companion books.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in paperback July 25.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Aaman
THis is evilly fiendish
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks, I think, Aaman!
3 - chancelucky
I'm not thinking Snape but he who must not be named himself, though I can't picture JK Rowling sitting around with a bunch of old scrolls.
It's very weird,but I was wondering why an old post of mine about Karl Rove and the Gospel of Jud*s had been getting so many hits, it wasn't until the National Geographic story came out that I understood.
Karl Rove's Book of Jud*s
4 - Dawn
I have thought long and hard about the whole Snape good vs evil delimma.
While I can with no certainty be sure, it is my humble opinion that Snape was acting on the orders of Dumbledore during his more murderous hour.
My reasoning has more to do with Dumbledore's ability to see fully through most events to the very end and I can't imagine him being so blind as to not realise that Snape is a traitor.
Snape is an angry resentful man, but we learn that much of that is somewhat justified however, I do not believe that he is capable of killing Dumbledore for the benefit of the Dark Lord.
I could almost as easily be convinced of the exact opposite.
Such is the beauty of the story and Rowling's ability to tell it.
Great analysis btw!
5 - Eric Olsen
thanks Dawn, I think it unlikely that things are just as they appear as well. There was an awful lot going on from the journey to Lake V. to find the horcrux through the end - lots of potential leads.
6 - Eli
When my friend first told me about the Gospel of Judas yesterday, my mind immediately free-associated its way to Harry Potter and this exact issue--the theory that Snape was acting under Dumbledore's orders.
Not that I think J.K. Rowling's been scrutinizing the Gospel of Judas, but betrayal and faithful friendship is just one of those universal themes that's bound to repeat itself!
Thanks for this post... I felt vindicated for my own thoughts last night when I google-news-ed "Judas" and this popped up.
7 - Aaman
EO, with your permission, this shall be cross-posted so more can appreciate your insights
8 - DJRadiohead
Do you think Judas will sue Rowling for copyright infringement? That suit could be worth millions.
On a more serious, less glib note... the parallels you make are interesting points of discussion.
9 - Eric Olsen
DJR, ask Dan Brown about the lawsuit, although that was in the UK!
Eli, and you vindicate me! I agree these are pretty universal themes but the parallels are pretty stunning. For me the weirdest part was the timing, having just finished reading Half-Blood earlier this week.
Aaman, of course, and I am flattered!
10 - Dawn
Just a head's up for commentors - Lord *****mort is a banned word for some reason, so if you get an error, just substitute it. Clearly his rein of terror extends into the muggle realm.
11 - Victor Lana
To play devil's advocate here (a real play on words I admit) one has to remember that there were about one hundred or more "gospels" written circa AD 80-150. That said, the church has always maintained that only four are God's word: the rest are supposedly heretical.
Still, anything like this inspires intelligent thought and discourse, but my own reading of the gospels and thought about Jesus's plan come into play here.
Jesus continually relied upon the malevolence of human beings to take Him where He hoped to be: He knew Pilate was a son of a B; He knew Judas would betray Him; He knew Peter would deny Him but regain his composure and lead the faithful.
Whether or not this gospel is genuine, one needs to remember that the "author" shades things as he/she wants them to be. Of course Judas thought he was Jesus's best friend; one could say the same thing about Brutus and Julius Caesar!
12 - Aaman
Good extension of Eric's parallels here in another direction
13 - Hans Andrea
Surely no one can argue that there is not a great similarity between this Judas and Snape. This does not surprise me in the least, because all the great tales that have dominated nations for thousands of years are inspired by the Masters of Compassion who aim to lead humanity's spiritual development. These great tales all have one thing in common: they are based on the Great Universal Trilogy: The Fall, our imprisonment in the undivine universe, and Liberation from suffering, evil and death. The Way of Liberation is an alchemical process that involves the transmutation and transfiguration of the whole human being. It's a very radical process involving many organs and aspects of the personality, and these are personified and symbolised so that they are easy to understand. The one step which the majority of people have not been able to make so far is to understand that all the great epics and gospels describe a journey that each of us can go if we wish, and that the characters are aspects of our own self. All the characters in the New Testament, the Greek Legends, the Old Testament, The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross, Harry Potter and all the rest, personify or symbolise aspects within ourselves. I see Snape as personifying our dark side, our occult experiences, our "Black King" as he is called in The Alchemical Wedding. Nevertheless, Snape is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, just as Judas was a member of Jesus' circle of 12 disciples. A person who goes the Path of Liberation, whether today or 2000 years ago, has to devote his entire being to this inner process of bringing back to life the original Divine Human being. Every aspect of the alchemist has to participate and sacrifice itself to the utmost. This includes our dark side, the tendencies we have inherited from past deeds of occult experimentation, and of magic powers or mental achievements. When we do go the path of liberation, we cause the release of a divine force which causes our being to be cleansed, purified, and finally transfigured. This force is personified in the New Testament by the Christ and in Harry Potter by Dumbledore. There is a mystery to all this, because we human beings of the earth find it extremely difficult to understand the following: this divine force cannot achieve its goal fully unless it dies in us and for us. To put it into more scientific language: this force is of an extremely high vibration which is far above what we can tolerate. It therefore surrenders itself to us totally, so that it "dies" in us. It is absorbed by our earthly personality as it carries out its healing, sanctifying work in our mortal being. And this dying is caused by our friend Judas/Snape. It is this force of darkness within that makes the supreme act of killing the Christ radiation, and thus also signing its own death warrant. We know that Judas killed himself, and in The Alchemical Wedding the Black King submits to decapitation. This is why I am convinced that Snape will sacrifice himself. Both the death of the healing, hallowing divine force and the death of the black side of our character are essential to the alchemical process of turning lead into gold. Out of these two deaths arises the Phoenix which brings home the prodigal son to the loving arms of the eternal Father.
14 - JK's Brain
I am very sad that the "Gospal of Judas" has come out at this time. Now I have to rewrite what I've already written for the darn book!
15 - snapeluster
Perfection.
Read the article in my paper, now smacking self on head for missing the Snape/Dumbledore parallels.
Yessss!!!
16 - Elron
Interesting take on things, lol. Nice examination :)
17 - Matrinka
Oh my goodness... I'm Dumbledore's girl, through and through, so I still believe in Severus Snape... but the prelude to this blog is HILARIOUS. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Pure genious!
18 - Eric Olsen
Hans, fascinating exegesis - I agree these are fundamental mythic archetypes we are talking about here so he parallels aren't surprising, but it should be noted that it is rather an astonishing accomplishment for Rowling's work to be considered in these terms just a few years after their creation; in fact, in the process of their creation!
Thanks snpaeluster and Elron!
19 - Steve
Dumbledore could also rise again, if he used a horcrux.
20 - reggie Von Woic
Steve,
To have a horcrux he'd have to have killed someone willfully...doubt that hapenned.
Some analogy you got there Eric, i look forward to the show 2moro!
21 - Steve 2
Interesting article, Eric.
I agree with you Dawn as far as Snape and Dumbledore go, definitely a previously agreed upon plan between the two of them, IMO.
Given the fact that both Dumbledore, and Arthur and Molly, gave their answers to personal questions that would identify whether or not they were being impersonated by Death Eaters, I suspect at least one of them (probably Dumbledore) is going to be impersonated by a Death Eater in the last book (kind of like Mad Eye Moody was impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr. in the Goblet Of Fire). Just a hunch.
22 - with karate ill kik ur ass
i havnt been here in years (well, 4 months,) but still!
23 - Eden-Avalon
Though I recall at first reacting in a typical Dumbledore-Fan manner 'THAT EVIL (various insults)' as time went on and I studied the depths of this book I firmly believe that Snape was acting in accordance with Dumbledore's wishes.
I also believe Dumbledore will make some sort of comeback
24 - Eric Olsen
thanks guys, very interesting theories - I'd love to see Dumbledore make a comeback but she seems pretty consistent with "when the 'good' are gone they are gone." Wouldn't he at least be in his portrait in the Headmaster's office?
25 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Eric, I suspect that Dumbledore will be advising Harry from that portrait. Harry enters the seventh book seiously deficient in quite a number of skills, and will still need advice - advice that would best come from Dumbledore.