Snape is one of the most complex characters in Harry Potter and these complexities helped save the Wizarding World.

In the Harry Potter movies, one of the best aspects of Severus Snape as a character is how complicated he is. He has many flaws and failings that result in him becoming the bitter and spiteful teacher fans would love to hate throughout the original seven books. Then the truth came out about how he was always on Harry Potter’s side, motivated by his unrequited love for Harry’s mother, Lily. Everything good deed Snape did in the books was to honor the memory of the woman he loved because though he might not have been able to stand Harry at times, he knew Lily loved her son more than anything, and that alone was enough of a reason for Snape to fight for him.

Yet, his role in the books came down to constantly deceiving the most powerful dark wizard in history: Lord Voldemort. Snape not only accomplished this, but even after Voldemort killed him, he still believed that Snape had been loyal to him. This is owed almost entirely to Snape’s skill as an occlumens, a person who has the ability to shield their mind from mental intrusion. Yet, given that Voldemort is history’s greatest legilimens, one can’t help but question how he accomplished this. There is a theory, though, that suggests that Snape managed to subtly fool Voldemort with false memories.

Snape’s Talents As an Occlumens

In the books, Snape was an accomplished legilimens, a wizard capable of navigating the complicated layers of another person’s mind and emotions. Crudely summarized, it would best be described as mind-reading, though practitioners of the art find this highly undersells what is actually happening during its use. However, while Snape was gifted at the art, employing it regularly when interacting with others and even in combat to give himself an edge, his true skill was in the art of Occlumency, the polar opposite of Legilimency.

An occlumens could close off their mind and feelings to the intrusions of others. Given that Snape was always someone prone to walling off his emotions to avoid showing weakness, he had a natural aptitude for this particular form of magic. Ironically, this made him distrusted by both sides of the First and Second Wizarding War, as no one could be entirely sure which side he was on since he could hide his true intent. The one exception to this was Voldemort, who always believed he understood Snape’s true motivations. In reality, Snape had been hiding his deep, everlasting love for Lily Potter from Voldemort since the moment he joined, feigning that he had moved past his affection for her a long time ago when, in reality, it was one of his greatest strengths. Voldemort, having no true concept of how powerful a motivator love could be, never questioned this.

In fact, even when Voldemort was in the same room as Snape, which was many times during the final year of the war, he was never truly able to read the mind of someone he counted among his most useful followers. Granted, Voldemort would have had no reason to do so. Snape had killed Albus Dumbledore, the one person Voldemort feared and respected, earning him the Dark Lord’s unquestioning trust. This certainty that Snape was nothing more than his pawn was maintained right up until the moment of his death. In the end, Snape deceived Voldemort with his talents in shielding his mind, the cover crafted by himself and Dumbledore, and a superb level of acting.

It Doesn’t Make Sense That Snape Could Resist Voldemort

As impressive as all this is, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yes, Voldemort would have had no explicit reason to distrust Snape after he killed Dumbledore, but as a matter of principle, if one can read the thoughts and intentions of others, especially during wartime, that is a skill that must be constantly employed. It’s baffling to imagine why Voldemort wouldn’t want to verify that Snape was on the up and up with this skill. He was the greatest legilimens in the history of the Wizarding World. No one could match his talents for mental intrusion. Yet, Snape resisted him, suggesting that he was history’s greatest occlumens.

This creates a problem, though, because if Voldemort at any point attempted to read Snape’s mind and was rebuffed, it would instantly put him on guard. Why would Snape feel the need to shield his mind from the master he claims to be ready to die for if he has nothing to hide? That question would have burned in Voldemort’s mind until he finally had no choice but to force Snape to speak the truth through more physical means. Voldemort has regularly abused servants whom he deemed had no purpose, as was the case with Peter Pettigrew. For a servant, he suspected of treachery, though? Snape would have endured horrors he couldn’t have imagined.

So, looking back, the fact that Snape got away with blocking Voldemort from entering his mind seems unlikely, at least, not without severe repercussions for him. The only possible explanation is that Snape allowed Voldemort to enter his mind. This would have involved the obscure ability to alter one’s memories to prevent the truth from being revealed.

Snape Might Have Been Feeding Voldemort False Information for Decades

The idea behind this is that Snape, being a master of mental magic, would have known that outright blocking Voldemort from entering his mind would only put him in danger. So, he would instead allow the Dark Lord to see his memories but would have carefully cultivated them to appear in a way that the Dark Lord would not find dangerous and, more importantly, would not suspect were false. Though this may sound like a stretch, this talent has been seen before in a much less refined form.

Horace Slughorn was also a gifted occlumens, able to fend off the likes of even Albus Dumbledore. What memories Dumbledore did get from Slughorn, though, were altered to show Slughorn in a more favorable light, rather than reveal his shame. These memories were stated to become distorted when the altered parts began to occur, suggesting that Slughorn wasn’t very versatile in this skill and that a more accomplished occlumens could alter a memory so well that it would be impossible to tell the difference between fact and fiction, something that is made even more blurry considering how memory can blur the line between one’s perception of events and reality.

If the theory holds true, then Snape would have been feeding Voldemort perfectly crafted false memories to calm any rising distrust he may have had in Snape. Given how talented Snape was even by the time of the First Wizarding War, it is possible that he had been doing this to Voldemort well before he defected to the Order of the Phoenix. His enduring love for Lily Potter would have been considered shameful and quite possibly labeled him a “blood traitor” among the ranks of the Death Eaters. Voldemort’s later claims that Snape said he would find a more worthy partner for himself could be proof that he tricked Voldemort with false memories of Snape letting go of his childhood love for Lily. If so, then Snape wasn’t just the greatest occlumens of his time; he was the greatest master of the mind to ever live.