mary_j_59

Thanks, Katie! Yes, I do think Severus's besetting sin is pride - that, and anger. I point that out in the earlier essay Ahsley linked to, and what's interesting to me is that Harry, of all people, has exactly the same besetting sins. And, when you say of Snape, He seems pretty clearly to be a very broken, flawed individual, but despite that, I can really see him doing his utmost to protect Harry and work for the Light., you've pointed to something very important. My thesis, in this paper, is that in Severus we are seeing, from the outside, the development of a saint. In my tradition, the saints are often (I'd almost say 'usually')flawed and broken people. That God can bring wholeness and healing out of our brokenness; that He can bring good even from our evil actions - to me, that's an important and powerful message. Of course, the simplest and most powerful message I'm hoping to see, where Snape is concerned, is "don't judge by appearances!"

I found the whole adventure in the cave even more horrifying than the attack on the tower, and much more mystifying. What Synaesthete7 has said above - that, by drinking the potion, Dumbledore actually took a horcrux into himself - is perhaps the best theory I've read on that particular scene. I also very much like Jodel's (original) idea that Severus didn't kill the headmaster at all - Harry did, by forcing him to drink that potion. Snape merely knocked his dead body off the tower. But I just don't know; I don't have any ideas on it myself.

Thanks again for your comment and for the compliment!