Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
Today we’re discussing Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort- and the massive question of Why
on earth Snape didn’t do MORE to stagnate Voldemort’s resurgence.
As the series unfolds, Snape's loyalties and motivations become a subject of intense speculation
and debate among fans.
Because you see, throughout the series Snape occupies a unique position, situated at the
crossroads of light and darkness.
Initially portrayed as a villain, his true allegiance is later revealed.
However, upon this big reveal I couldn’t help but also ask- why didn’t he capitalize
on an opportunity to eliminate Voldemort sooner?
Snape had fooled everyone, even the Legilimens Lord Voldemort, which put him in a better
position to assassinate Voldemort than anyone.
Sure, Voldemort’s Horcruxes would have kept him ‘alive’- but he would have been once
again reduced to a non-corporeal form, reliant on others (like Nagini and Pettigrew) to help
him return to a physical form.
Another aspect to consider is that the more time Voldemort is reduced to a non-corporeal
form, the more time there is to find and destroy the rest of his Horcruxes.
In this scenario, it’s entirely possible that by the time Voldemort is ‘back’ he
has no more Horcruxes to fall back on.
By killing Voldemort Snape could have effectively put Voldemort’s resurgence to a halt and
potentially saved countless lives in the process.
And all it would have taken is one ‘surprise’ Avada Kedavra.
So, was it unwillingness?
Fear?
Snape’s devotion to a grander plan?
Or something else altogether.
Let’s dive in.
Actually Pulling it off
The first thing we need to consider is that an assassination attempt is no easy task,
particularly on the dark lord himself who surrounds himself with keen, protective, and
loyal death eaters.
It would be risky, even for Snape, and there is always the chance that Voldemort could
have seen the attack coming.
Voldemort is a master at legilimency, which is the art of magically navigating the mind
of another - extracting their feelings and memories.
Snape DOES happen to be a master occlumens, which means that he is able to close his mind
off to legilimency (and very effectively at that), but here’s the thing: killing someone,
particularly with the killing curse, requires an abundance of emotion, and it’s hard to
imagine that a master legilimens like Voldemort wouldn’t detect it.
Snape was able to trick the death eaters for years, but he always tread carefully- stepping
out of line and plotting to kill Voldemort with an unforgivable curse is another story
altogether.
The following excerpts from the text describe the emotion required to cast the killing curse:
'Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get
your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much
as a nose-bleed.
But that doesn't matter.
I'm not here to teach you how to do it.'
'Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?'
she yelled.
She had abandoned her baby voice now.
'You need to mean them, Potter!
You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for
long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I?’
So my theory is that mustering up the necessary emotions required to cast the killing curse
would be noticed by Voldemort - making the mission unbelievably dangerous.
If Snape and Dumbledore had felt that this was plausible, then I’m sure they would
have gone ahead with it sooner.
Ease of Return
The next thing we need to consider is that if Voldemort had been brought back to a physical
form once, it could easily be replicated again- and likely even faster than before.
After re-achieving his physical form in the story, Voldemort gave a long spiel in the
graveyard to his death eaters about how it was done.
The first time he lost his corporeal form, things were a bit more dire, and that’s
why it took so long.
‘I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist ... I
settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited ... surely, one of my faithful Death
Eaters would try and find me ... one of them would come and per- form the magic I could
not, to restore me to a body ... but I waited in vain ...’
However, thanks to Wormtail, and Voldemort’s knowledge of a potion that would be able to
help him achieve a corporeal form once again, he was able to accomplish his goal.
“But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality.
I set my sights lower ... I would set- tle for my old body back again, and my old strength.”
“I knew that to achieve this – it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived
me tonight – I would need three powerful ingredients.
Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail?
Flesh given by a servant ... ‘My father’s bone, naturally, meant that we would have
to come here, where he was buried.
But the blood of a foe ... Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not,
Wormtail?
Any wizard who had hated me ... as so many of them still do.
But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been
when I had fallen.
I wanted Harry Potter’s blood.
I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago, for the lin-
gering protection his mother once gave him, would then reside in my veins, too..”
Because the Death Eaters now knew how easy it was for Voldemort to once again assume
a physical form, it’s unlikely that Snape would act impulsively and kill Voldemort-because
what would it achieve?
The first time took many many years, but if he could now return to his physical form in
a week- would it really be worth it for Snape to blow his cover?
Compromising his role as a double agent
Snape was a double agent - which means that for the duration of the books and films Snape’s
loyalties were still very much unclear to many.
Both sides thought that they had an ally, but we later find out that, despite his dubious
past, Snape is good all along.
This means that he likely would have had many opportunities to attack Voldemort.
HOWEVER- if the attack on Voldemort was unsuccessful, OR if killing Voldemort ultimately only had
a marginal impact on his resurgence, then losing the Dark Lord’s trust could have
been very dangerous.
As a double agent and part of Voldemort’s inner-circle, Snape had access to all sorts
of vital intelligence that allowed him to potentially save lives.
It’s entirely possible that a futile attempt on Voldemort’s life would have only severed
his access to vital information and ultimately cost MORE lives in the long run.
Furthermore, one of Snape's primary motivations throughout the series was protecting Harry
Potter.
Any premature action that jeopardized Snape's cover could have indirectly put Harry at risk.
Without Snape's guidance and protection, the Order would have been more vulnerable to Voldemort's
attacks and manipulation.
The Final Horcrux
The final reason that Snape didn’t kill Voldemort, is that his final horcrux, the
horcrux inside of Harry, needed to be destroyed by Voldemort himself:
“Tell him that on the night Lord Voldemort tried to kill him, when Lily cast her own
life between them as a shield, the Killing Curse rebounded upon Lord Voldemort, and a
fragment of Voldemort’s soul was blasted apart from the whole, and latched itself on
to the only living soul left in that collapsing building.
Part of Lord Voldemort lives inside Harry, and it is that which gives him the power of
speech with snakes, and a connection with Lord Voldemort’s mind that he has never
understood.
And while that fragment of soul, unmissed by Voldemort, remains attached to, and protected
by Harry, Lord Voldemort cannot die.’
Harry seemed to be watching the two men from one end of a long tunnel, they were so far
away from him, their voices echoing strangely in his ears.
‘So the boy … the boy must die?’ asked Snape, quite calmly.
‘And Voldemort himself must do it, Severus.
That is essential.’
For Voldemort to be properly destroyed, it was essential that Voldemort himself be the
one to destroy his final horcrux- which meant that it was imperative that he maintains a
physical form of some kind.
If Snape had killed Voldemort prematurely, it would have only delayed the inevitable.
Additionally, Despite being on the inner-circle of both sides of the battle, Snape is still
very much unaware of a lot of things happening behind the scenes.
He doesn’t know about the relationship between Harry and the horcruxes- and this is because
Dumbledore had been very vague when discussing plans with him.
Snape also doesn’t know about the connection between Harry and Voldemort as a result of
Lily’s sacrifice- all he knows is that Dumbledore made it abundantly clear that Voldemort would
have to be the one to kill Harry.
Conclusion
While the idea of Snape assassinating Voldemort might hold an initial appeal, it is unlikely
that such an act would have yielded a lasting victory for the "good" side.
In reality, the complex dynamics of Voldemort's immortality and the intricate strategies employed
by Snape and the Order of the Phoenix ultimately played a more pivotal role in Voldemort’s
ultimate downfall.
Snape killing him may have bought a bit of time..But how much?
A week?
He would have risked his life, cut ties with the death eaters, and Voldemort would have
been back again in a corporeal form in no time at all.
Additionally, with Voldemort’s corporeal form gone, the Horcrux in Harry would have
lived on - only further perpetuating Voldemort’s existence.
While a compelling thought, Snape’s actions in this scenario would have ultimately been
futile.
And that’s it for this video!
What do you guys think?
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live