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We all remember the great Snape debates before DH came out. About where his loyalties were as of the end of HBP, when they changed if ever, how many times they changed. I think we agree that DH settled this question (even if we don't know the exact time-point we know which events triggered the turning points in his path). Another question was how far he went as Death Eater. After DH the consensus in this forum seems to be that canon suggests either at that he did not go as far as killing, or that if he did he fully repented for such killings and healed his soul to the extent that is possible. It is clear from canon that whatever he was as a Death Eater, the man we see during Harry's Hogwarts years is a man with a strong conscience, with a clear view of right and wrong (despite having to act on the edge due to his role as a spy), who does not make light of having to commit harmful acts for a long-term beneficial goal.
But even without ever killing anyone directly, with his own hand/wand, there is much he could have done. The most obvious is the brewing of poisons and other harmful potions that were then administered to innocent victims by others. Then there is the invention of new harmful, potentially lethal spells, and teaching such spells to other DEs, thus resulting in injuries and deaths among their victims. I think the worst I have seen in fanfics is Mengele!Snape - Snape in his DE days using captives (mostly Muggles) to test properties of newly invented potions. Some scenarios get extremely gruesome, with a team of DEs at Snape's command cutting through a still living victim so that Snape could observe damage to internal organs as it took place.
So my question is, would knowing something like that change anything in your attitude to Severus Snape? Is his complete repentance enough for you as a reader to disregard anything, however cruel, he may have done in his dark period, or would the thought that this was a man who may have been capable of such horrors disturb you enough to feel you cannot forgive him completely? Do you think a man who had commited such actions is capable of abandoning them for good or would he always be at risk of backsliding?
But even without ever killing anyone directly, with his own hand/wand, there is much he could have done. The most obvious is the brewing of poisons and other harmful potions that were then administered to innocent victims by others. Then there is the invention of new harmful, potentially lethal spells, and teaching such spells to other DEs, thus resulting in injuries and deaths among their victims. I think the worst I have seen in fanfics is Mengele!Snape - Snape in his DE days using captives (mostly Muggles) to test properties of newly invented potions. Some scenarios get extremely gruesome, with a team of DEs at Snape's command cutting through a still living victim so that Snape could observe damage to internal organs as it took place.
So my question is, would knowing something like that change anything in your attitude to Severus Snape? Is his complete repentance enough for you as a reader to disregard anything, however cruel, he may have done in his dark period, or would the thought that this was a man who may have been capable of such horrors disturb you enough to feel you cannot forgive him completely? Do you think a man who had commited such actions is capable of abandoning them for good or would he always be at risk of backsliding?
Re: First War, part 2
Since we are given many indications that Harry's year had some 40 students initially, and OTOH we see many indications that the Hogwarts student body was much larger than can be expected if this cohort size was typical - especially over 100 occupied desks when Severus' cohort took their DADA OWLs, it seems Harry's year was smaller than past years. (Even if the 100+ represents both OWL and NEWT students, Severus' year was much bigger than Harry's considering that not everyone can make it to NEWT level - in Harry's times out of 40 students 25 took DADA for NEWTs). A small cohort can be explained by people delaying having children because of the unstable situation (though note that of the 40 students in Harry's year at least 8 came from families that were involved in the war, 4 from each side). The oldest children in Harry's cohort were conceived around December 1978, so I would say fear was widespread by this time. If so then perhaps we should look for the reason behind the increased fear elsewhere. Too bad, I liked the idea of linking it to the locket Horcrux, because I like theories that give a rational (or semi-rational) motivation to why characters do things, especially characters that are supposed to be brilliant, like Tom was originally made to be. If he changed his policies he must have had a reason.
Regarding attitudes towards the Order - we know Slughorn was not happy to be associated with the Order, but then his position was delicate as former Head of House to most DEs. And we see how easy it was to turn public opinion against Dumbledore.
I agree about the photograph, I think Peter made a copy and brought it to Voldemort.