Severus Snape was one of Lord Voldemort’s most loyal followers and Death Eater (or so he thought), but Voldemort decided to kill Snape during the Battle of Hogwarts, in The Deathly Hallows. Why was this so? Could he not just Disarm him?
Here’s what you need to know.
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Why did Voldemort want to kill Snape?
“There was a terrible scream. Harry saw Snape’s face losing the little colour it had left; it whitened as his black eyes widened, as the snake’s fangs pierced his neck, as he failed to push the enchanted cage off himself, as his knees gave way and he fell to the floor. “I regret it,” said Voldemort coldly.”
– Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
A Deathly Hallow is a gift bestowed by Death itself on three men who outwit her and eventually escape her clutches. The Elder Wand is one of those three gifts. Other Hallows include the Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone.
And as the tales of Beedle the Bard is told, Death can only be mastered by whoever can reunite all three.
Voldemort had been trying to acquire the Elder Wand for a long time, and the only way he was able to acquire it was by defeating Snape, who had previously owned the wand.
And if you are asking yourself, why could Snape not have just been disarmed? Is that not what Harry Potter did to Draco Malfoy? Sure, he could have disarmed him instead of killing him, but Voldemort had no use for Snape afterwards.
That is why he chose to kill Severus instead of just disarming him and taking away the Elder Wand. You see, Voldemort had never trusted Snape completely, much like he never truly trusted anyone aside from Nagini, not even Bellatrix Lestrange!
Despite all the loyalty Severus had shown, he would never have obtained total trust from Voldemort. It was never his nature, and he was certainly never known for leaving any loose ends. Voldemort had no use for Snape after he obtained the Elder Wand.
Therefore, the easiest way of ensuring Snape would not switch sides or offer insight into the opposing side – was in having him killed.
A possible factor that we can consider as to why Voldemort might not have trusted Snape would be that Severus was using Occlumency to close his mind off to the Dark Lord’s Legilimency.
Therefore, the only exposure Voldemort would have had into Snape’s mind to find a ‘connection’ of a sort to tether him as a Death Eater, would have solely been the fact that Snape was not fond of Muggles – such as his abusive Muggle father, Tobias Snape or Petunia Evans Dursley, the Muggle that made the love of his life and only friend, Lily Potter, feel so insignificant. Clearly, there was an overlap in the Venn Diagram of Snape and Voldemort’s lives lived.
Why did Voldemort not want to kill Snape himself?
As it was never officially answered as to why Nagini was used by Lord Voldemort to kill Snape, here are some of the theories being discussed across the internet:
#1 Dramaticism of a Slow and Painful Death
Harry Potter Wiki user @JCM10313 argues that there was no rhyme or reason beyond creating a dramatic scene and dragging out the death for a slower pace considering the books and movie adaptations were often depicted with fast-paced scenes.
#2 Create Room for Sympathy for a Love / Hate Character
Harry Potter Wiki user @Mushroompawsdraws hypothesizes this was to create an air of “Slow sorrowful pain” – which is highly likely as well. J. K. Rowling is trying to create a pivotal point for the character, so she wants the viewers and/or readers to feel sympathy for Snape.
This creates a sliver of sorrow for the passing of the man, which the author used to clearly show how Snape was really not ‘as bad’ as we thought he was.
And in fact, was on ‘our side’ the entire time. An Anti-hero and underdog if you will!
#3 Not Worthy of Lord Voldemort’s Time
Quora user @Eleftherios Tserkezis speculates that Voldemort had learnt a lot about wands by torturing Olivander.
He thought, incorrectly of course, that the loyalty of the wand passes through the murder of the last owner. Through his own order, Snape had killed Albus Dumbledore and, unknowingly, became the master. Whoever killed Snape would own the death stick. So, he had to kill Snape…
But kill with what? The wand he was carrying was loyal to Snape and had not been working properly for him. That much he knew. Would he risk another wand mishap? What if his curse backfired?
He could use another wand, but whose? He had already lost two.
He could, of course, ask another Death Eater for their wand. But they would then ask questions. For all they knew, he had a perfectly working wand with him. Only he knew the wand wasn’t working as well as it ought to… all too inconvenient.
He could also choke Snape to death. Snape, the most faithful and useful servant, would oblige of course. But that is too crude, and where is the magic in that? That would be how Muggles kill each other. That would be beneath him.
Then a brilliant plan comes to him. Have Nagini kill Snape.
After all, the loyal snake had his soul in her. It would involve the deepest of magic. And it would win him the loyalty of the wand…
One loyal servant, for another….
#4 Maybe, Remorse and almost Regret.
Quora user @Chloe Butler believes that actually having Voldemort utter the words, “Avada Kedavra” needs him to have strong feelings of hate for the victim and maybe, perhaps, Voldemort did not really hate Snape. After all, he was an ally.
A soul that has had similar hardships in his life that Voldemort had felt during his early years as Tom Riddles.
Why did Snape not fight back against Voldemort?
Reddit user @NerdofHeart stated it best saying – “If Snape did defend himself, that would have jeopardized a major part of Dumbledore’s and Snape’s plan of preventing Voldemort from earning the “allegiance” of the Elder Wand.” And this makes perfect sense. Snape had played his part. He had protected Lily’s son, done Dumbledore’s bidding and deceived Voldemort.
What more did he have to offer beyond this? He had no need to keep going. Also, we need to keep in mind, fighting Voldemort for life could have gone two ways ultimately:
Snape Managed to Live: What then? He goes into hiding or he stays and fights. What then of his tears that led Harry Potter to know how this plot was supposed to unravel? The whole series of events would have changed. The outcome of the battle being won was solely dependent on the timing of the events that proceeded from that point onwards. If Snape had not given his tears in time, maybe Voldemort would have won!
Snape Dies in Battle: Again, the efforts put in by all those involved in the fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters would have been in vain. Snape would have died; the tear would have been lost and therefore Harry would not know the fundamental information he needed to know by pouring Snape’s tears into the Pensieve.
Circling back, even though we cannot say for sure the battle would have been lost without those tears, we know for a fact that It was necessary for Harry to take his tears so that he would know what he needed to do to defeat Voldemort.
To conclude and offer closure to those of us burdened by the death of this complex character, we need to reflect on the legacy created, by Severus Snape.
Aside from the instrumental role that he had played in the Dark Lord’s demise, Snape’s true heroics in the long battle against Lord Voldemort resulted in Minerva McGonagall ensuring that his portrait was hung alongside those of the other ex-Hogwarts headmasters.
And subsequently, led to Harry eventually name his second son Albus Severus Potter, after the two headmasters of Hogwarts who had helped him greatly.
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