Snape's DADA OWLs Practical Test.
O.W.Ls was a written test in the morning and a practical test in the afternoon, right?
So what do think Snape's DADA practical exam was like? If the tasks and progress of the 1976 exam had been the same as the 1996 exam, Snape would have had to take the practical exam in the afternoon with a very precarious mind. he thought would get an O on the practical exam, but when I think about it again, I think I would have gotten an E instead of an O because he went through something like that at the time. What do you all think about this?
It's taken me a bit to figure out an answer because my first instinct is to say he would still do fine, but then I thought about it some more and started thinking he might've done worse than he should have, and I've been going back-and-forth on my answer.
Two things come to mind that make me think Snape still got an O regardless of circumstances, the first being his mental fortitude as seen in the series (which I won't go into too much, as I want to focus on the second point).
Voldemort selected Snape, a 20-year-old, to be his spy at Hogwarts as the DADA professor. It's true that the DADA post was cursed, and it's possible Voldemort either didn't care about Snape's well-being or was deliberately sending him to that fate for some reason (this is speculation, don't take it as the gospel truth); however:
- Voldemort wanted his spy to be hired, and it would be in his best interest to send someone whom he believed was qualified in the eyes of Dumbledore. Granted, Dumbledore doesn't have the best track record when it comes to DADA hiring practices, although what we see can be explained.
- Dumbledore knew about Quirrell and was using the Philosopher's Stone as bait to lure Voldemort out.
- Dumbledore wanted to expose Lockhart as a fraud.
- Dumbledore knew Lupin was competent.
- Dumbledore didn't know "Moody" was an imposter, which is more of a testament to Barty Crouch Jr.
- Dumbledore had no real choice when it came to hiring Umbridge.
- There is nothing wrong with Snape.
- Applying for the DADA post would mean Snape would need the qualifications to back it up at such a young age (19-20 at the time, barely out of school). There is no way Voldemort would assign someone that young to the most important spying role unless the candidate made up for it with their magical prowess, which we know Snape had.
Yeah, fully agree with @thegestaltprince. Snape won't settle for less than O in his OWLS and NEWTS, his mental fortitude was remarkable throughout the series.
As for Voldemort sending him for DADA job, I've always believed Voldemort could take away his jinx for his agents. Why that didn't happen for Quirell and Barty, Voldemort lacked his own body to perform that immunity spell at those periods of time, as per my theory.
Sending Snape made sense because Snape was already a Voldemort's favourite, even before killing Dumbledore, so it could be confidence in his abilities as well as his clean public record.
I only meant … that nobody has yet succeeded … Severus … please … you are, you have always been, Draco’s favourite teacher … you are Lucius’s old friend … I beg you … you are the Dark Lord’s favourite, his most trusted advisor … will you speak to him, persuade him –?’
thought that He’s mentality as a child and He’s mentality as an adult would probably be different. If you think about it, actually... the person who suffered the most that day was Snape himself, who went to apologize to Lily at night, right? Usually, when children experience something like that, they will calm down and talk about it a few days later, but the fact that he thought of apologizing to Lily first that night seems to be proof that Snape was mentally strong even at that time.
Maybe O.W.Ls finished it well somehow. Thanks to the opinions of The Gestalt Prince and Naaga, I was able to rethink Snape's mental strength. Thank you for the comments of the two people.🥰
