Þessi grein er spoiler-spoiler og ekkert nema spoiler. Ef þú hefur ekki lesið 6. bókina þá mun þessi grein skemma fyrir þér og svörin við þessari grein munu einnig fjalla um 6. bókina. SPOILER!


Mig langaði bara að spyrja um eitt atriði í lokin á fjórðu bókinni. Þetta er á bls. 536 í íslensku útgáfunni:


“Severus” sagði Dumbledore og sneri sér aftur að Snape. “Þú veist hvað ég verð að biðja þig að gera. Ef þú ert til… Ef þú ert reiðubúinn…”
“ég er það” sagði Snape.
Ég var bara að pæla hvað Dumbledore er að biðja hann um að gera, tengist það kanski því sem gerðist í lokin á bók 6?


Já og nei. Það sem Dumbledore bað Severus Snape að gera í lok 4. bókarinnar átti að sjálfsögðu að hafa áhrif á það sem gerðist í lok 6. bókarinnar en athugið að það sem Draco á að gera, það verkefni sem Voldemort er búinn að láta honum í té er út af því að Lucius Malfoy var sendur í Azkaban því að hann náðist í lok 5. bókarinnar.

Það sem Dumbledore biður Severus um að gera í lok 4. bókarinnar er vel útskýrt í 2. kafla 6. bókarinnar og hvað annað getur útskýrt þetta en orð sjálfrar Rowling (þið verðið að afsaka að tímabundið er eign mín á íslensku útgáfunni sennilega pakkað inn í gjafapappír og þar af leiðandi er voða erfitt fyrir mig að setja eftirfarandi texta á íslensku, en það mun sennilega breytast 25. des):


<quote=Harry Potter and the half blood prince- 2. kafli>

“Narcissa, I think we ought to hear what Bellatrix is bursting to say; it will save tedious interruptions. Well, continue, Bellatrix,” said Snape. “Why is it that you do not trust me?”
“A hundred reasons!” she said loudly, striding out from behind the sofa to slam her glass upon the table. “Where to start! Where were you when the Dark Lord fell? Why did you never make any attempt to find him when he vanished? What have you been doing all these years that you've lived in Dumbledore's pocket? Why did you stop the Dark Lord procuring the Sorcerer's Stone? Why did you not return at once when the Dark Lord was reborn? Where were you a few weeks ago when we battled to retrieve the prophecy for the Dark Lord? And why, Snape, is Harry Potter still alive, when you have had him at your mercy for five years?”
She paused, her chest rising and falling rapidly, the color high in her cheeks. Behind her, Narcissa sat motionless, her face still hidden in her hands.
Snape smiled.
“Before I answer you — oh yes, Bellatrix, I am going to answer! You can carry my words back to the others who whisper behind my back, and carry false tales of my treachery to the Dark Lord! Before I answer you, I say, let me ask a question in turn. Do you really think that the Dark Lord has not asked me each and every one of those questions? And do you really think that, had I not been able to give satisfactory answers, I would be sitting here talking to you?”

[...]

“Not quite,” said Snape calmly. “He wouldn't give me the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seemed to think it might, ah, bring about a relapse… Tempt me into my old ways.”
“This was your sacrifice for the Dark Lord, not to teach your favorite subject?” she jeered. “Why did you stay there all that time, Snape? Still spying on Dumbledore for a master you believed dead?”
“Hardly,” said Snape, “although the Dark Lord is pleased that I never deserted my post: I had sixteen years of information on Dumbledore to give him when he returned, a rather more useful welcome-back present than endless reminiscences of how unpleasant Azkaban is…”
“But you stayed —”
“Yes, Bellatrix, I stayed,” said Snape, betraying a hint of impatience for the first time. "I had a comfortable job that I preferred to a stint in Azkaban. They were rounding up the Death Eaters, you know. Dumbledore's protection kept me out of jail; it was most convenient and I used it. I repeat: The Dark Lord does not complain that I stayed, so I do not see why you do.
“I think you next wanted to know,” he pressed on; i little more loudly, for Bellatrix showed every sign of interrupting, “why I stood between the Dark Lord and the Sorcerer's Stone. That is easily answered. He did not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like you, that I had turned from faithful Death Eater to Dumbledore's stooge. He was in a pitiable condition, very weak, sharing the body of a mediocre wizard. He did not dare reveal himself to a former ally if that ally might turn him over to Dumbledore or the Ministry. I deeply regret that he did not trust me. He would have returned to power three years sooner. As it was, I saw only greedy and unworthy Quirrell attempting to steal the stone and, I admit, I did all I could to thwart him.”
Bellatrix's mouth twisted as though she had taken an unpleasant dose of medicine.
“But you didn't return when he came back, you didn't fly back to him at once when you felt the Dark Mark burn —”
"Correct. I returned two hours later. I returned on Dumbledore's orders.
“On Dumbledore's — ?” she began, in tones of outrage.
“Think!” said Snape, impatient again. “Think! By waiting two hours, just two hours, I ensured that I could remain at Hogwarts as a spy! By allowing Dumbledore to think that I was only returning to the Dark Lord's side because I was ordered to, I have been able to pass information on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix ever since! Consider, Bellatrix: The Dark Mark had been growing stronger for months. I knew he must be about to return, all the Death Eaters knew! I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do, to plan my next move, to escape like Karkaroff, didn't I?
”The Dark Lord's initial displeasure at my lateness vanished entirely, 1 assure you, when I explained that 1 remained faithful, although Dumbledore thought I was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had left him forever, but he was wrong."</quote>


Þetta síðasta segir okkur að Snape hafi farið á vegum Dumbledores til Voldemorts svo að hann gæti haldið áfram að leika á tveimur skjöldum, en jafnframt er Snape lýst sem fölari sem aldrei fyrr, (hve fölur er hægt að vera?) þegar Dumbledore bað hann um að fara. Er hann virkilega svona góður leikari? Getur hann líkað aukið fölvann í andlitinu?

Eitt er víst að með þessum útskýringum getur hann sagt við báðar hliðar að hann hafi verið að vinna fyrir þær. Hann yfirgefur ekki Hogwarts fyrr en Dumbledore segir honum að fara. Þarna hefur hann útskýringar sem hentar á báða vegu, hann getur réttlætt hverja aðgerð fyrir báða aðila og jafnvel enn eftir endalok 6. bókarinnar er erfitt að vera viss um á hvern var Snape að leika?

Þetta tengist lok 6. bókarinnar meira óbeint en beint þar sem “hlutverk” Dracos kemur ekki í ljós fyrr en í byrjun 6. bókarinnar.