Deathly Hallows, Chapter 33: The Prince's Tale, Part 2
Or, Severus Snape and the Stealer of Souls
“I know it’s all getting away, and it comes to me as no surprise:
I know what’s coming to me is never going to arrive.”
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), “Last”
The theme song for this installment is one of my favorites from Nine Inch Nails, a thrash metal classic called, “Happiness in Slavery,” written by Trent Reznor.
SLAVE SCREAMS
He thinks he knows what he wants
SLAVE SCREAMS
Thinks he has something to say
SLAVE SCREAMS
He hears but doesn’t want to listen
SLAVE SCREAMS
He’s being beat into submission
Don’t open your eyes,
You won’t like what you see.
The devils of truth
Steal the souls of the free.
Don’t open your eyes.
Take it from me.
I have found
You can find
Happiness in slavery.
SLAVE SCREAMS
He spends his life learning conformity
SLAVE SCREAMS
He claims he has his own identity
SLAVE SCREAMS
He’s gonna cause the system to fall
SLAVE SCREAMS
But he’s glad to be chained to that wall
Don’t open your eyes,
You won’t like what you see.
The blind have been
Blessed with security.
Don’t open your eyes.
Take it from me.
I have found
You can find
Happiness in slavery.
I don’t know who I am.
I don’t know where I’ve been.
Human junk,
Just words and so much skin.
Stick my hands through the cage
Of this endless routine.
Just some flesh caught in
This big, broken machine.
Happiness (SLAVERY)
Happiness controls you.
Happiness, it controls you.
(Sniff)
Whenever I read the hilltop scene between Scummywhore and Severus, I am reminded of the beginning of the Doors song, “The Soft Parade.” Dumbledore is the “god” of this universe, and Snape is the pathetic, broken petitioner begging for mercy. In fact, the scene and the song suit each other so perfectly, I strongly recommend listening to the first 90 seconds of the song (but no more) before reading further. It’ll put you in the proper mood for what comes after it. Jim Morrison’s rich, resonant baritone--surely the most beautiful voice in all of rock and roll--is even similar to both the voice of Alan Rickman and the voice fanfic writers usually give to Severus.
(Declared in a raised voice)
When I was back there in seminary school
There was a person there
Who put forth the proposition
That you can petition the Lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
Petition the lord with prayer
(Screamed at the top of his lungs)
YOU CANNOT PETITION THE LORD WITH PRAYER!
(Singing)
Can you give me sanctuary?
I must find a place to hide,
A place for me to hide.
Can you find me soft asylum?
I can't make it any more.
The Man is at the door.
I will quote the hilltop scene in full because it is one of the best in the entire book, or series, for that matter. But not for the reason Rowling and her dittoheads think.
...[H]e stood on a hilltop, forlorn and cold in the darkness, the wind whistling through the branches of a few leafless trees. The adult Snape was panting, turning on the spot, his wand gripped tightly in his hand, waiting for something or for someone....His fear infected Harry too, even though he knew he could not be harmed, and he looked over his shoulder, wondering what it was that Snape was waiting for--
Then a blinding, jagged jet of white light flew through the air: Harry thought of lightning, but Snape had dropped to his knees and his wand had flown out of his hand.
“Don’t kill me!”
“That was not my intention.”
Any sound of Dumbledore Apparating had been drowned by the sound of the wind in the branches. He stood before Snape with his robes whipping around him, and his face was illuminated from below in the light cast by his wand.
“Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?”
“No--no message--I’m here on my own account!”
Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.
“I--I come with a warning--no, a request--please--”
Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.
“What request could a Death Eater make of me?”
“The--the prophecy...the prediction...Trelawney...”
“Ah, yes,” said Dumbledore. “How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?”
“Everything--everything I heard!” said Snape. “That is why--it is for that reason--he thinks it means Lily Evans!”
“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born at the end of July--”
“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down--kill them all--”
“If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, “surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?”
“I have--I have asked him--”
“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little. “You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
“Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her--them--safe. Please.”
“And what will you give me in return, Severus?”
“In--in return?” Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, “Anything.”
I have read hundreds of horror stories over approximately 50 years. This scene reads like a horror story. Look at all classic horror tropes: the cold, windy, spooky setting; the pathetic terror and groveling of the supplicant; the light shining on the face of the “donor;” the cold ruthlessness, casual cruelty, complete indifference, and utter selfishness of the “donor” towards not just the supplicant, but everyone and everything else. People have a hell of a lot of nerve judging Severus Snape as wanting in this scene. He is Mahatma Gandhi compared to Albus Dumbledore.
And who is Albus Dumbledore? This entire scene is reminiscent of another classic horror trope: the desperate man begging for some great boon from Satan in exchange for his soul. J K Rowling is right when she perceives Dumbledore to be godlike. He is. Just not in the way she thinks.
This is another scene that has to be dissected lie by lie. I’ll give both my commentary and (when appropriate) what I believe the characters are thinking. Gird your loins, dear readers.
Why did they agree to meet in this forbidding setting? Was there nowhere indoors, or at least sheltered, they could have talked? I think Dumbledore chose this place for the main, if not the sole, purpose of further intimidating Snape. Loneliness, discomfort, fear, and unfamiliarity are all very effective brainwashing tools.
The old sadist makes an entrance that is deliberately designed to be as frightening and dramatic as possible by imitating a bolt of lightning. This is also a not-so-subtle way of evoking the “judgment of God” trope in both Snape and the reader’s minds. Scummywhore immediately disarms Snape; I’m not buying Snape dropped his wand because he was gripping it too tightly for that. Besides, it flew out of his hand, which strongly implies Expelliarmus was used. All this drama might make sense, except the two are supposed be there under a truce. They wouldn’t be meeting otherwise. This disarming is really just a further way for Dumbledore to degrade Snape.
Severus is clearly terrified--not just for Lily, but for himself, or the first words out of his mouth would not be a plea to spare him. There would also be no need to beg for his life if Dumbledore were really “the epitome of goodness” Rowling insists he is. Imagine this scene with Dumbledore replaced by Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King, Jr. You can’t, can you?
“Don’t kill me!”
Translation: “J. K. Rowling may believe you’re ‘the epitome of goodness,’ but I know better.”
“That was not my intention.”
Dumbledore doesn’t say something benign such as, “Of course I’m not going to kill you,” or even a curt, “Certainly not.” He says, “That was not my intention.” But we all do things we don’t intend, don’t we? A slight accident with a wand and--oopsie!--one dead Death Eater. Too bad, so sad. Besides, just because it’s not the old man’s intention at the beginning of their conversation doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind five minutes later. Severus has every reason to spend this whole scene cowering in terror.
Dumbledore continues the intimidation tactics by standing there looking down at Severus--thus signifying both contempt and superiority--while lighting his face from below with his wand. We’ve all seen people sitting around a campfire, telling scary stories with a flashlight illuminating their faces, on TV or in the movies, if not in person. A lone face looming out of the darkness is frightening on a deep, primal level. It reminds our reptilian and mammalian brains of a predator sneaking up on us at night, not revealing itself until it’s on top of us--and then it’s too late to escape.
“Well, Severus? What message does Lord Voldemort have for me?”
Translation: “You’re just a need-gratifying object. You can’t do anything unless somebody else gives you orders.”
“No--no message--I’m here on my own account!”
Translation: “I really do have a separate identity and will, even if you’ve never acknowledged it.”
Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him.
Of course, Dumbledore does not look “a little mad” with his straggling white hair flying around him. And when Ginny’s hair flies around, that proves how sexy, spunky, and all-around awesome she is. Yes, in the Potterverse, even hair is prejudiced in favor of Gryffindors. This is Rowling’s way of degrading Snape just a little bit more.
“I--I come with a warning--no, a request--please--”
Translation: “I know you’re a selfish arsehole, but I’m desperate, and I’ve got nobody else to turn to. Please be decent, just this once.” In this line and most of his other lines, we can see Severus is almost incoherent with terror and anxiety.
Dumbledore flicked his wand. Though leaves and branches still flew through the night air around them, silence fell on the spot where he and Snape faced each other.
Having succeeded in terrorizing the “evil DE” into groveling submission, Scummywhore can now afford to make them both more comfortable by eliminating the cold wind.
“What request could a Death Eater make of me?”
Translation: “Ooh, look how self-righteous I am. The only reason you became a Death Eater is because I didn’t give a shit about protecting you from the little Gryffindor pets I was brainwashing to be my followers. Now, after making it impossible for you to join the Order because you wouldn’t have been safe even there, let alone welcome, I assert my right to look down on you for being driven into the arms of Voldemort. Sucks to be disposable like you, doesn’t it?”
“The--the prophecy...the prediction...Trelawney...”
“Ah, yes,” said Dumbledore. “How much did you relay to Lord Voldemort?”
Excuse me? What? The? FUCK?
Look how blasè Dumbledore is about this prophecy that puts three of his people in mortal danger, including the very person who is vital to defeating the enemy commander. He clearly couldn’t care less about any of them. For all the concern he displays here, he might as well be saying, “Oh, yeah, I’m going to have to move the birthday party indoors because it’s supposed to rain that day.”
Dumbledore is also admitting that he knew Severus had told Voldemort about the prophecy! Think about that: The commander of one side knew an enemy agent was conveying vital information to the enemy commander, and he allowed him to do it! Rowling loves to make a Big Stinking Deal about how her gangland rumble in these books is just like World War II, so let’s hold her to that comparison. Imagine if a Nazi agent had found out about the D-Day plans. Now, try, just try, to imagine Dwight Eisenhower allowing that agent to run back to Hitler and tell him all about those plans. You can’t do that either, can you?
“Everything--everything I heard!” said Snape. “That is why--it is for that reason--he thinks it means Lily Evans!”
Snape haters love to make another Big Stinking Deal about the fact Severus refers to “Lily Evans” rather than “Lily Potter.” They probably also like to argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Lily was an Evans far longer than she was a Potter. Furthermore, Severus knew her for seven years when she was an Evans; he never knew her as a Potter. It’s natural for him to slip and refer to her by her maiden name. Is the slip also indicative of his resistance to her having married James? Quite possibly. I’m merely pointing out there are several other good reasons for him to call her by her maiden name.
“The prophecy did not refer to a woman,” said Dumbledore. “It spoke of a boy born at the end of July--”
As others have noted, the prophecy says nothing of the kind. It refers to “one” who was “born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.” That could refer to a person of any age or sex. Actually, in this universe, the prophecy might not refer to a human at all. It could just as easily mean a goblin, a centaur, a dragon, a house elf, or any number of other creatures.
Think what a world of fanfics that possibility opens: What if the prophesied savior turned out to be a house elf who’d been so broken down by servitude it was incapable of fighting Voldemort? After all, the Dull Lord is still technically human, and house elves aren’t allowed to harm humans. What a last laugh Hermione would have over that! It might really be her last laugh, too, if the savior was killed and Voldemort went to town on the mudbloods.
Or maybe the savior was a hedgehog McGonagall used in her Transfiguration classes. Too bad it was killed by an incompetent second year student who was unable to return it to its animal state after changing it into a pincushion.
And isn’t it sad Buckbeak was executed by Macnair before it was discovered the prophecy referred to a hippogriff? Boy, is Fudge’s face red!
For those who want to object none of those creatures could have had parents who “defied” the Dull Lord, I would remind them that Rowling has said “defying” Voldemort could mean the slightest resistance, so anything from fighting the DEs in battle to refusing Voldy’s dinner invitation would qualify. If the house elf’s parents were free, like Dobby, they could easily defy him. (Imagine Dobby vs. Voldemort! They’re both so annoying, who would you root for?) A hedgehog could have bitten Voldemort, and hippogriffs are punctilious about demanding respect from others. If the savior were a cat, well, they defy people all the time!
Oh, wow. What if the savior were Mrs. Norris? What if she was the cat Lily referred to in her letter to Sirius, and Filch had adopted her after the Potters were killed? I just love the thought of all those wizards who’ve treated Filch and his cat like garbage through the years having to crawl to them, begging for forgiveness, promising anything, anything, if she’ll just save them all from Voldemort. The only one Filch might listen to is Severus because he’s the only wizard who’s treated Filch decently. That would also give Severus leverage to extort a plethora of concessions for himself from Scummywhore and the Ministry. I’m cackling fiendishly just imagining that.
“You know what I mean! He thinks it means her son, he is going to hunt her down--kill them all--”
Translation: “Quit splitting hairs, you arsehole! The kid’s just a baby! Of course if Voldemort goes after the kid, he’ll have to go through the parents! What’s it matter whom I’m referring to specifically, when the whole family is in danger?”
Also note Severus says Voldy is going to “kill them all.” Snape haters like to overlook this, but it indicates he’s concerned about at least Lily and Harry, if not James. If Severus is not concerned about James, so what? There’s no reason he should be. James is the evil bastard who tortured him relentlessly for seven years, completely without provocation, and helped to drive away the only friend Severus ever had. Only a complete fool could believe James would care about Severus--or any of James’s victims--in the same circumstances.
“If she means so much to you,” said Dumbledore, “surely Lord Voldemort will spare her? Could you not ask for mercy for the mother, in exchange for the son?”
This is a false choice, and Scummywhore knows it. He is perfectly well aware how evil Voldemort is. Hell, he helped teach him to be evil! Mercy is not in Voldy’s vocabulary. Scummy also knows Voldy doesn’t care about his followers (any more than Scummy cares about his), so he’d be extremely unlikely to make a bargain like the one Scummy’s suggesting. The fact he did make it is just more ludicrous authorial fiat.
“I have--I have asked him--”
We don’t know what Snape asked Voldemort because Scummywhore does not allow Snape to finish his sentence. Maybe he asked Voldemort to let the Potters leave the country, as long as they promised never to come back. Maybe he asked Voldy to wait until he had the complete prophecy before going after anybody, in case it didn’t refer to Harry at all. Maybe he asked Voldy to wait until Harry was an adult, and attacking him would be a fairer fight a fight more worthy of a wizard of his extraordinary power. But if Scummy allowed Snape to finish his sentence, that would admit the possibility Snape might say something reasonable, thus making it harder for Scummy to beat him down and act superior, so Snape can’t be allowed to speak.
“You disgust me,” said Dumbledore, and Harry had never heard so much contempt in his voice. Snape seemed to shrink a little.
Sure he disgusts you, you shithead. You’re putting words into his mouth, making him out to be something he’s not, then attacking your false image of him. Straw man, anyone?
Of course, Snape shrinks. He’s experienced nothing but abuse and neglect his entire life, and now, when he risks his life to ask for help, he’s being verbally abused again--by the very scumbag who forced him into this position! Who then has the unmitigated gall to act like he’s the morally superior one! Dumbassbore exhibits enough assholery in this one scene to provide an entire career to a proctologist.
“You do not care, then, about the deaths of her husband and child? They can die, as long as you have what you want?”
This is more putting words into Snape’s mouth. Again, we don’t know what he wants because he has not been allowed to speak his piece!
Snape said nothing, but merely looked up at Dumbledore.
Translation: “Why won’t you let me talk? You agreed to see me, to hear what I had to say, but you’re not allowing me to say it! Then you’re condemning me for something I never said! I might as well keep my mouth shut, since you obviously prefer talking to yourself to hearing what I have to say.” Of course, this is a symptom of narcissism.
Snape haters like to point to his silence here as “evidence” he’s agreeing with Scummywhore. There’s enough fertilizer in that belief to supply every farm and garden in North America for a decade.
First of all, Severus is an introvert. They don’t think well in the moment when under stress. They’re the kind of people who always think of the perfect thing to say when it’s too late to say it. This is exacerbated by Snape’s abusive and neglectful background. People with such histories learn to keep their mouths shut as a self-protective measure, particularly when dealing with hostile authority figures. Add onto that the personal history between these two men: Snape knows entirely too well what it’s like to tell Dumbledore something important the old man doesn’t want to hear, only to have it ignored, such as, “Your Gryffindor pets are running around the countryside with their werewolf friend on full-moon nights.” Hell, he was almost killed by Dumbassbore’s favorites, saw the crime covered up, and then was forced to keep silent about it, as if he were the guilty party. For Snape to come begging to this man he has every reason to hate and fear is conclusive evidence of both his desperation and his need. It’s no wonder he can neither think clearly nor come up with clever replies to statements of such epic idiocy.
Snape’s silence is also a fine example of a form of instinctive behavior deeply rooted in the mammalian brain. I assume most of my readers have heard of the Western Hemisphere marsupial called an opossum. Opossums are among the most primitive of mammals, and their behaviors reflect that. A common method of protecting themselves when threatened is to collapse on the ground and “play dead.” This is an involuntary reaction similar and related to fainting. When Snape falls silent here, he is reacting with self-protective automaticity in the face of Dumbledore’s verbal attack. That is not my opinion. I saw a doctor on TV saying that’s what is happening when people go quiet and still in threatening situations such as this one.
“Hide them all, then,” he croaked. “Keep her--them--safe. Please.”
Translation: “All right, you arsehole. You obviously decided who I was and what I was going to say before I even showed up. You also are obviously not going to allow me to speak unless I say what you want to hear. So I’ll give you what you want. I’ll play the ‘evil DE’ and let you feel superior. I’ll do anything you want as long as you protect the family. That’s all I care about.”
“And what will you give me in return, Severus?”
Translation: “Hah! I’ve got you by the short hairs, and I know it. Now I can extort from you whatever I want.”
“In--in return?” Snape gaped at Dumbledore, and Harry expected him to protest, but after a long moment he said, “Anything.”
Translation: “You have to be kidding me. Why the hell should I give you anything? These are your people I’m asking you to protect! It’s your job to keep your soldiers from getting killed if you can! What are you, nuts? Why does everybody act like you’re so loving and compassionate, when you don’t even care about protecting the members of your precious Order?
“Oh, bloody hell. It’s obvious you’re not going to do anything to help unless I continue to give you what you want. So here it is: the deed to my soul. Now will you protect them?”
The answer is “no.”
In the next scene, Snape has just found out Lily is dead. It’s pure authorial contrivance that he cares, since she didn’t give him any reason to care in the last several years. What gets me is this exchange:
“I thought...you were going...to keep her...safe....”
“She and James put their faith in the wrong person,” said Dumbledore. “Rather like you, Severus....”
YES! THEY ALL DID! THAT “WRONG PERSON” WAS ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!
WHY IS THIS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED?