Harry
Potter: Magic and Spycraft, By James J.
Murtagh, M.D.
"Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J K Rowling
Reveals Snape as the True Double
Master SpyMaster Triumphant
Spoiler
alert: Consider seeing the movie and reading the entire Harry Potter series
before reading this Op Ed
Magic
and Spycraft: both are Faustian bargains, and both are front and center in the
final conclusion of Harry Potter's story. Along with ancient ethical dilemmas
and dangers of double agents.
Just
as he prepares to lead his forces into a final battle that appears hopeless,
Harry discovers he is being helped by a double Spymaster.
Severus
Snape has been the puppet master, deep under cover for decades, exercising
incredible self-control, pretending to torment Harry, when in fact he was all
along the guardian angel. In a flash, we now understand how Harry and friends
escaped so many impossible situations- Snape was protecting them.
And
now we know: the entire seven part series belonged as much to Snape as it did to
Harry. No other literary character in history, as far as I can tell, ever
maintained a secret double-agent cover for seven books (thick books, too)
spanning more than 19 years under the most intense scrutiny, fooling the most
powerful wizards of all, even those able to read his mind. Truly, Snape became
an extraordinary mixture of good and evil.
Confused?
Naturally. None of this could work without the maximal confusion. That makes
Snape by far the most interesting character of the Hogwarts world.
Sun
Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli, John le Carré and Shakespeare all would applaud.
Who is the double Snape really working for? Can he tell a hawk from a handsaw?
Really good double agents don't even know. Snape is an anti-hero that must
integrate every level of his story double story, and present himself as monster
even to their closest friend to avoid detection. The divided double-agent
consciousness often drives them to believe themselves mad.
Snape
(and by extension the puppet's puppet master Dumbledore) was directing both
sides of the wizarding civil war! Snape becomes Voldemort's consigliere, and
effectively decapitates the leadership of the renegades.
Snape's
secret is as shocking as Darth Vader revealing he is Luke's father! Snape
effectively became a stand in for Harry's father, to protect Harry for the sake
of Harry's mother Lilly, the love of Snape's life.
A
love triangle leading to a torn conscience and a double spy? That worked in
Hamlet, in Casablanca, and the Odyssey. It seems many of the best
deep-cover double agents have Oedipal conflicts very directly linked to
disintegrating psyches.
To
maintain his cover, Snape must not hesitate to do horrible deeds. Just one
example: Dumbledore actually orders Snape to kill Dumbledore to absolutely
remove any doubt of Snape's apparent evilness.
Incredibly
effective, but at a huge cost! Dumbledore rationalizes that he is dying anyway.
But Harry doesn't know, and blind rage almost cripples Harry and his friends.
Did they deserve to be in the dark? What did effect did all of this manipulation
have on the souls of the allies? What mark did decades of a double life leave on
Snape? His soul surly in the end was a fragmented as Voldemort's after decades
of a double life.
How
is it that the so-called good magicians such
as Merlin, Gandalf, Prospero and Dumbledore
are called wise, when they routinely use such Machiavellian tactics?
Raising
the question: were the tactics of the good side of the force and the evil side
any different here?
Do the ends justify the means? Magic or spy craft? Both are Faustian bargains.
Clearly, the ethical loose ends left by Snape will be debated for many years.
Snape
resigns himself to a life of duplicity in order to further "the greater
good." But Harry grasps the danger of the ultimate powers, and after
winning the battle, abjures further duplicity, scatters his powerful weapons,
the Hallows, and bury the ultimate weapon- the elder wand. Just as Prospero,
after accomplishing his mission, broke his magic staff, drowned his magic books
are ten thousand fathoms deep. His Brave New World was over.
On
a different level, Rowling understands that she herself has a magic power over
her audience, and that she, like Harry, must break her magic stick, abjure
power, and vows to end her series. Rowling herself has been a kind of
double agent, and now she must come in from the cold.
Just
as Shakespeare ultimately decided to put his artistry aside. I can just imagine
Rowling, standing in the Globe, vowing as Shakespeare did:
'Our
revels now are ended'
Our revels now are ended. These our
actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
—William
Shakespeare
From The Tempest, Act 4 Scene 1
Farewell Harry Potter! We will miss you. We always knew you would do well!