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[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by andViolins
Why did JKR spend so much time on the Hagrid/Aragog plot line? It seemed to be just filler in HBP. Is this a set-up for 7 in that the spider children choose a side in the "final battle?"

aV

I thought it was maybe to throw us off with chapter titles. "After the burial" or something like that had me very worried until I realized it was just Aragog. I imagine, though, that venom will come in useful later on down the line. My guess is that Snape will have a use for it, and Harry will have to figure out how to pry it out of Slughorn.

In other news, Mircalla expanded on her Snape theory. I especially like in the comments: "As for Snape, I agree, I think it would take more then just plain remorse for Dumbledore to believe Snape, which is why I'm afraid Snape will turn out to have been harboring kinky 'Lilly Potter is a MILF' feelings, made all the more torturous by his wild threesomes with the Malfoys."

For the livejournal impaired dtb:

• All Harry Potter, all the time.
  
  
  As promised (haha, bet you'd hoped I would forget!): Here are my thoughts about Snape.
  
  First of all: I hate Snape. I have always hated Snape. I always *will* hate Snape. He is a petty and twisted little tyrant. Ugh.
  
  That having been said: I don’t actually believe that he’s working on the side of evil. Or, let me rephrase that: I *do* think he is a nasty piece of work, BUT I think that his killing of Dumbledore was all part of the deep Dumbledorean plan for the universe. Shut up. I do.
  
  I’ve heard the “Dumbledore knew he was dying (because of the potion he drank in the cave) and he didn’t want Draco to have blood on his hands, so when Snape arrived he communicated with him via Legimancy (at which they are both experts) to kill him.” And I think that this theory is essentially correct. I think it’s missing a few pieces – for example, Snape must have known that there was a distinct possibility that the Unbreakable Vow he made to Narcissa would end with him having to kill Dumbledore, and that happened at the beginning of the book – but I *do* agree that Snape killed Dumbledore at Dumbledore’s own request.
  
  But I wanted to establish up front that this is not me trying to *defend* the man. He’s a prick.
  
  Secondly: This is very complicated, and I haven’t worked it all out in my head, so think of it as a theory-in-progress. But here’s why I think that Snape is working with Dumbledore, and why Dumbledore trusts him even in the face of all the evidence against him.
  
  Mircalla’s Long Involved Theory of Snapitude:
  
  I don’t believe FOR ONE SECOND that Snape felt remorse over the murder of Lily and James. Why on earth would he? He hated James with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, and Lily he despised for being a mudblood. He was a Death Eater and he’d probably BECOME a Death Eater just so he could get away with killing mudbloods, blood traitors, and people who picked on him in school. It was sort of his raison d’etre, I’m thinking. And chances are he’d already personally killed plenty of people, so why suddenly feel guilty about being indirectly responsible for the deaths of two people he couldn’t stand?
  
  Here’s what I think. Because James had saved Snape’s life, and because such an action creates some sort of bond or debt between two wizards (very deep magic, as Dumbledore said), I think that it is quite possible that causing the death of the person who had saved your life might cause a HUGE karmic backlash in the Potterverse. Like whoa.
  
  So once Snape realized what he’d done, he panicked. I think (here’s where things get a little murky, so bear with me) but I *think* that it’s possible that his only hope for salvation of sorts lies in Harry, the only survivor of the events that Snape initiated, and the last Potter. I think that if Harry dies before Snape has the opportunity to “pay off” his debt in some way, the consequences could be devastating for Snape. Like the SUFFER FOR ALL ETERNITY, YO kind of devastating.
  
  So it’s vital to Snape that Harry doesn’t die, until Snape does…whatever it is he needs to do to wipe the slate clean. Snape goes to Dumbledore for advice. AND THAT IS WHY DUMBLEDORE TRUSTS SNAPE. Not because Snape made a great show of contrition – come on, can you even *imagine* Snape doing such a thing? Can you imagine Dumbledore buying it if he did? -- but because Snape’s very SOUL is riding on ensuring Harry’s safety. He CANNOT do anything that might lead to Harry’s death, and in fact would do just about anything to ensure that Harry does not die. Dumbledore doesn’t trust Snape’s inherent goodness, but he DOES trust Snape’s self-preservation instinct. Snape is SCARED. That is one of the reasons that he reacts so strongly to being called a coward – his actions are motivated by fear. Not remorse, not guilt, FEAR. I really think that Dumbledore is too wise to trust someone like Snape under any other circumstances.
  
  Part Two to Come….
  
  Anyway…thoughts? Comments? Help me put my theory together, people!!
  
  Edit: You know, I just thought of something else, and I don't know whether it supports or contradicts my weird theory of Snape. Peter owes his life to Harry. He did appear to be trying to talk Voldemort out of using Harry for the revival ceremony in GoF. Is this because there's a little part of Peter that doesn't want to see Harry die, or is that because Peter knows that if he helps Voldemort kill Harry, then he (Peter) will be stuck in the same trap that Snape's in? Hmmm. I must ponder. Obviously I have lots of kinks to work out with this theory, but even if I'm wildly off-base, it's still fun to speculate.