Professor Severus Snape

Why Severus Snape is not working
for the Dark Lord

At the end of book six of the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling), Snape kills Albus Dumbledore using the unforgivable Avada Kedavra curse in place of Draco Malfoy, who was supposed to perform the task. This bit of treachery to kill Dumbledore, Snape's biggest supporter and confidante, along with the evil nature of using the curse itself to kill someone (using Avada Kedavra is considered an "unforgivable curse" that will land the user in Azkaban, the witches and wizards prison) would seem to put to rest the question transpiring throughout the six books on the true allegiance of Professor Severus Snape--whether he be the repentant prior Death Eater turned spy for Dumbledore or whether he be the spy for Lord Voldemort entreched at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in order to provide the Dark Lord details on Dumbledore and the Order of Phoenix.

This action of killing Dumbledore does not, in fact, prove his true allegiance despite all appearance to the contrary. In the following essay, I intend to show that Severus Snape is not working for the Dark Lord but still following the dictates set forth for him by Dumbledore via book extracts and logic.