Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. Today, I’ve got a theory for you which exposes Dumbledore’s true motivations for the school’s Defense Against the Dark Arts posting.
The Role of Severus Snape
The Severus Snape became the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor during Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts, and in theory, he was perfect for the position.
He had a profound understanding of both sides of the magical spectrum and knew more about the dark arts than most, making him the perfect candidate to teach students all about it.
Questions Arise
So why didn’t he assume the role sooner? If Snape was so perfect for it, why couldn’t he just have the job? Why did he have to wait until Harry was in his sixth year? Why did we have to first go through Quirrell, Lockhart, Lupin, Fake Moody, and Umbridge before Snape got his chance?
The answer may be more complicated than you think. But before we dive into this theory any further, I need to provide a little bit of a backstory on the position.
The Backstory of the Position
Defense Against the Dark Arts is a core subject taught at Hogwarts that teaches students how to defend themselves against dark magic, creatures, and curses—though historically, I’m not convinced this subject has been particularly successful in this regard.
Curriculum Overview
The curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including:
- Recognizing and repelling dark creatures
- Identifying curses
- Learning protective spells
However, for as long as Harry attended Hogwarts, and actually for many decades prior, the subject had a ludicrously high turnover rate.
The Impact of Lord Voldemort
Every single year that Harry attended Hogwarts, he had a completely different professor teaching the subject in an entirely different way. And who was responsible for this? Why, Lord Voldemort, of course.
This is explained to Harry by Dumbledore:
Oh, he definitely wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts jobs at Dumbledore. The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort.
The History of Tom Riddle
It all dates back to young Tom Riddle’s graduation from Hogwarts. Shortly after completing his studies, Tom Riddle expressed his desire to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at his alma mater, driven by his love for the school and his fascination with the dark arts.
He quickly submitted an application to then-headmaster Armando Dippet. After some time, Dippet refused Riddle’s application, citing his age but encouraged him to reapply in the future if he was still interested.
Voldemort’s Return
More than two decades later, Riddle emerged as the enigmatic and notorious Lord Voldemort. Seeking an opportunity to return to Hogwarts, Voldemort once again pursued the coveted Defense Against the Dark Arts position.
However, this time, Albus Dumbledore had assumed the role of headmaster. Recognizing Voldemort’s dark intentions, Dumbledore staunchly rejected his application.
Despite Voldemort’s ulterior motives of using the application as a pretext to conduct research on dark magic, recruit followers, and conceal one of his Horcruxes, he was enraged by the denial of his return to the school.
The Curse of the Position
After his denial, Voldemort sought vengeance by jinxing the position, ensuring that no one could maintain the Defense Against the Dark Arts post for more than one year.
As far as conventional understanding of the Harry Potter story goes, everyone has always accepted this fact at face value.
- No one can hold the position for more than a year, and that’s about all there is to it.
- There’s no explanation for why one year or how one year is actually enforced.
Thus, the position was cursed, with no professor able to maintain the role for more than one year.
Misconceptions about Snape
Conventional understanding would suggest that it was Snape’s dark past that impacted his ability to assume the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Even Snape himself assumed this.
Not quite,” said Snape calmly. “He wouldn’t give me the Defense Against the Dark Arts job, you know. Seem to think it might, uh, bring about a relapse, tempt me into my old ways.
Having been a former Death Eater, Snape’s past involvement with the dark side of magic is well known. The role of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor requires a teacher who possesses deep knowledge of both defensive and offensive magic.
Dumbledore’s Strategy
It’s reasonable to assume that such an appointment could bear the potential to reignite Snape’s darker tendencies.
Therefore, many individuals, including Snape himself, may have assumed that the decision to pass over Snape for the position was a cautious measure to prevent any potential regression or risk associated with his past involvement in the dark arts.
But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Here’s what I think—Dumbledore didn’t give Snape the Defense Against the Dark Arts job because he suspected the post was cursed and simply didn’t want to lose Snape from Hogwarts.
Dumbledore’s Foresight
Going by his suspicions, Dumbledore would have lost Snape in just one school year, and he knew that he would need Snape for his future plans.
Despite not being able to prove it entirely, Dumbledore had long suspected that Riddle had cursed the job and that anyone who assumed the post for more than a year would somehow invariably depart from Hogwarts in various ways:
- One sacked
- One dead
- One’s memory erased
- One locked in a trunk for 9 months
Dumbledore understood that if he gave Snape the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, he would lose him from Hogwarts within a year. The truth is that Snape was simply too valuable as an ally and informant to risk losing him in such a manner.
The Timing of Snape’s Appointment
However, in Harry’s sixth year, when Dumbledore learned of his impending death, he finally allowed Snape to take on the coveted post—only doing so because he knew that time was limited and that by the end of the year, Snape would be exposed as a Death Eater, having murdered Dumbledore, and would no longer be able to remain as a teacher at Hogwarts.
After years of turning him down, Dumbledore only grants Snape his desired position due to the looming end of their journey. In some ways, it may have also been a form of compensation to Snape for his ultimate sacrifice in ending Dumbledore’s life before Voldemort or Fenrir could do so.
The Consequences of Earlier Appointment
Had Snape been given the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor much sooner, there are many things that he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish—the most important of which was protecting Harry Potter.
For starters, his absence would have meant that he wouldn’t have been able to work quite as effectively in his role as a double agent throughout the series.
Throughout the books, Snape provides valuable intelligence to the Order of the Phoenix, while infiltrating Voldemort’s inner circle as a loyal Death Eater.
This allowed him to relay crucial information about Voldemort’s plans, strategies, and weaknesses to the Order, aiding in their efforts to thwart the Dark Lord.
The Unpredictable Fate
There’s also no way of predicting how Snape would have been removed from the position—something awful could have happened to him.
Quirrell died, Lockhart completely lost his marbles, Lupin was banished, Barty Crouch Jr. was exposed and subjected to the Dementor’s kiss, and Umbridge was carried off into the forest by a bunch of centaurs.
Had Snape assumed the role sooner, he very well may have faced his own unfortunate exit from the role. But perhaps the most important role that Snape wouldn’t have been able to fulfill is that of Harry’s protector.
Snape’s Complex Relationship with Harry
Despite his complex relationship with Harry, Snape’s primary objective was to protect him—an act of penance for betraying the Potters all those years prior. Throughout the book, Snape took significant risks to ensure Harry’s safety, even at times when it seemed he was acting against him.
Had Snape not been there to intervene in situations where Harry’s life was in danger, the books might have gone a very different direction. Inevitably, not even Snape—who’d vied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position for so many years—ended up being exempt from Voldemort’s wicked curse.
The Final Choice
The same school year forced Snape to begin taking action regarding his perceived allegiances. By the end of the school year, Snape was forced to choose his side—ruining his reputation with those he respected, even if it was all just for the optics.
At the end of the day, Snape’s deepest fear was that he would fail to fulfill his promise to protect Lily’s son, Harry, due to his own past mistakes. But had he been given the role of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor sooner, and inevitably ousted from the school, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this goal.
Conclusion
So, it’s a good thing Dumbledore paid heed to Voldemort’s curse. And that’s it for this article!
What do YOU think? What else would Snape have never been able to accomplish if he was given the role sooner? Let me know in the comment section down below.
