Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing Severus Snape, Voldemort, and Horcruxes. More specifically- we’re
going to be discussing whether or not Snape was aware of the fact that Voldemort had created
horcruxes- Voldemort’s key to immortality. Voldemort’s creation of Horcruxes- which
are arguably one of the darkest and most twisted forms of magic- started off with just a misguided
young boy, unsure of his place in the world. Tom Riddle was an orphan, abandoned by his
mother at Wool’s Orphanage before he ever got a chance to know her. His existence was
a tragedy- and the only reason that he was ever birthed at all was because his mother
had used a love potion on his father. When the effects of the love potion wore off, Tom
Riddle Sr immediately left Merope, and this meant that Tom Riddle started off his life
with nothing but abandonment.
After years at the orphanage, Dumbledore eventually discovered the young Riddle- and brought him
to the world’s finest magical school. While a student at Hogwarts, Riddle was very impressive,
and he expressed an unparalleled ability to learn. He constantly asked questions, and
he didn’t want to leave any stone unturned when it came to the wizarding world. There
is one particular branch of magic, however, that captivated Riddle, and it’s a form
of magic that he certainly should have never discovered. That magic involved Horcruxes-
objects in which dark witches or wizards have imbued part of their soul. The ultimate purpose
of creating a horcrux is to achieve immortality. However, the truly sinister component of creating
a horcrux is that in order to produce one, you must MURDER someone. As he grew older,
and as he learned more about Horcruxes, he began to create them for himself- and eventually,
he had many- being one of only two known wizards to have created them.
At one point in time Severus Snape was a full-fledged death eater and devoted servant of the dark
lord. Disgusted with the actions of the quote on quote ‘good guys’, and fuelled by the
torment that he had endured for much of his upbringing, Snape turned to the dark side
and became one of Voldemort’s right hand men. In fact, it was Snape himself that overheard
Sybil Trelawney discussing the fabled prophecy- and Snape too, who relayed the message to
Voldemort. The two were close- Snape trusted Voldemort and Voldemort trusted Snape, but
that all changed when Lily Evans’ life was in danger. Given that Snape was in Voldemort’s
inner-circle for so many years, and that he had formed such a close bond with him- I always
wondered, was Snape AWARE of Voldemort’s horcruxes? And if not- why wasn’t he? Snape
was a bonafide magical genius- and he knew more about magic than almost every other wizard
in the wizarding world- having gone down the rabbit hole of both sides of the wizarding
spectrum- good and bad. Not only that, but he was a master legilimens- a master of THE
MIND. He knew exactly how to read people, how to analyze their behaviours and patterns-
how could he have missed powerful dark magic at play?
The truth is Snape didn’t know about Voldemort’s horcruxes. But it’s not because he wasn’t
observant, or because he did anything wrong- he simply missed them because he didn’t
know what they were. Horcruxes are one of the darkest forms of magic, and the number
of witches/wizards aware of their existence is infinitesimal. The only reason that Tom
Riddle was lucky enough to have learned more about them is because Horace Slughorn was
his teacher- who JUST SO HAPPENED to have some info about them. In fact, Slughorn’s
inadvertent guidance was undoubtedly instrumental in Voldemort’s rise to power.
Though Snape had delved DEEP in to the Dark Arts, Horcruxes aren’t exactly a common
topic- EVEN in the realm of dark magic- that’s how taboo the subject is. When Hermione searches
for the books in the restricted section, none of them give details on Horcruxes, and only
one of them even mentioned Horcruxes.
“I haven’t found one single explanation of what Horcruxes do!’ she told him. ‘Not
a single one! I’ve been right through the restricted section and even in the most horrible
books, where they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions – nothing! All I could
find was this, in the introduction to Magick Moste Evile – listen – “of the Horcrux,
wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction” … I mean,
why mention it, then?’ she said impatiently, slamming the old book shut; it let out a ghostly
wail. ‘Oh, shut up,’ she snapped, stuffing it back into her bag.”
Furthermore, Dumbledore himself expressed that he didn’t believe the existence of
horcruxes to be known by ANY of the death eaters- some of which may have known more
about dark magic specifically, than Snape.
“Then you told me, two years later, that on the night that Voldemort returned to his
body, he made a most illuminating and alarming statement to his Death Eaters. “I, who have
gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality.” That was what you
told me he said. “Further than anybody.” And I thought I knew what that meant, though
the Death Eaters did not. He was referring to his Horcruxes, Horcruxes in the plural,
Harry, which I do not believe any other wizard has ever had.”
It was an area of magic that was generally unknown- entirely uncharted. Even Lucius Malfoy-
a dark wizard that DOVE in to some of the darkest forms of magic and boasted about it,
knew nothing of Voldemort’s horcruxes. He was a ‘magical object’ expert, yet he
was unable to recognize the properties of a certain magical object in his possession
- Tom Riddle’s diary.
“Of course, Lucius did not know what the diary really was. I understand that Voldemort
had told him the diary would cause the Chamber of Secrets to reopen, because it was cleverly
enchanted. Had Lucius known he held a portion of his master’s soul in his hands he would
undoubtedly have treated it with more reverence – but instead he went ahead and carried
out the old plan for his own ends: by planting the diary upon Arthur Weasley’s daughter,
he hoped to discredit Arthur, have me thrown out of Hogwarts and get rid of a highly incriminating
object in one stroke.”
Furthermore, it makes perfect sense that Voldemort would avoid mentioning Horcruxes altogether.
Why would he reveal ANY kind of information about the objects that ensured he remained
immortal? Discussing them would only prompt curiosity, and in turn lead to further investigation,
which would jeopardize his position.
As much as Snape was an all-knowing tactician that you couldn’t get anything past, we
have to remember that so was Voldemort. He didn’t become one of the most powerful dark
wizards to have ever lived by accident. He, like Snape, was fuelled by a childhood full
of abandonment and strife- allowing him to dive in to magic driven and undistracted-
motivated. Additionally, the timing at which both Voldemort and Snape attended Hogwarts
is of utmost importance. Here’s the thing: the majority of the knowledge that Voldemort
initially gathered on Horcruxes did actually come from the Hogwarts library. HOWEVER, we
also know that by the time Harry goes to Hogwarts there are no books to be found that broach
the topic. So- where did these books go?
We need to remember that when Tom Riddle started at Hogwarts,Dumbledore was still just a professor-
which meant that he was not yet in charge of the school. However, Dumbledore did eventually
become headmaster, and it was at this point that he removed all books from the Hogwarts
library mentioning Horcruxes- fully aware of the destruction that they can bring in
the wrong hands.
“Well,’ said Hermione, ‘I’ve been researching that.’
‘How?’ asked Harry. ‘I didn’t think there were any books on Horcruxes in the library?’
‘There weren’t,’ said Hermione, who had turned pink. ‘Dumbledore removed them
all, but he – he didn’t destroy them.”
In short, though Snape had the same affinity for learning as Voldemort, he didn’t have
access to the same dark materials growing up, which meant that he never learned of the
Horcrux- ‘Wickedest of magical inventions’
And that’s it for this video! DId you guys ever think about this? Let me know in the
comment section below
Until next time
There is plenty to be learned even from a bad teacher- what not to do, how not to be