i can't help thinking that there is more to Snape than meets the eye. for a start, i dont think he is a Death Eater, but i dont think he is loyal to the Order either. is it possible that he is infact on no one's side? he is just looking out for himself? is there a middleground in the wizarding world or is evryone forced on to Voldies side or Dumbledore's side?

That is a point I have been arguiing in various places since I read HBP. The general idea I get from Snape is that, in many ways, he is the archetypical Slytherin and does nothing unless he can see how it benefits him

Hello Mrs S Finnegan, you've been around for some time now but is it possible you are not yet aware that there are many topics dealing with Severus Snape?

In fact the Pre-Book 7 Forum has a topic discussing Snape's loyalties that is presently running its seventh thread, and its poll has been updated to include the possibility that Snape is "a middle man" not loyal to anyone except himself.
This thread, and its new poll, can be found here.

We really have to be careful to avoid this thread to become a duplicate of what has already been discussed elsewhere. If so, a Moderator will have to lock it.
Perhaps you can edit the premise of the thread to make the discussion here more general, not about Snape but concentrating on the loyalties / betrayals of other wizards?

I guess there is of course a kind of middleworld, but it is very influenceable (just as all in between states mostly are), so in the HBP times, everyone who was never considered to be either good or bad has to choose a side.

There is an assumption that Mr Olivander was one of these 'neutral' people, and as we know he vanished in a mysterious way. There is of course Snape, whose case is fairly different, but he is/was (?) seemingly also an in between man. But I would even say that werewolfes were neither good nor bad before Voldemort came to power: they lived on the periphery of the wizarding world, and were avoiding getting in touch with wizards. However, evil 'factors' like Voldemort and of course Greyback appeared, an army of werewolves was raised against wizards, and today they are mostly evil.

It is very easy to turn someone in a specific direction if he/she is hesitating. In addition, even if there is no hesitation, a third party is likely to act like 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend', and align with the enemy for a better reason.

nice question, there. I have never ever ever thought about the possibility of snape being a no-man. BUT, if snape was such a middle-sider, why would he waste his time teaching and pretending to be on one side or another. I`m sure that a life of quiet would suit one who has failed to take sides.

now that i read my comment, it sounds absolutely corny, but hey, it`s the thought that counts, right?

I think that most people in real life and wizarding world are middleground. There may be people who are absoluetly bad or good, but I think that most people can do both good things and bad things. It's not what they are born to be but what they choice to be. And i think that ''bad'' people can do good things and ''good'' people can do bad things, wheter they mean it or not. Isn't it what DD said to Harry in end of Cos?

Yeah, I think there's definitely a middle ground. As, I think it was sirius, pointed out; there were many wizards who definitely weren't as extreme in their views as Voldemort was, but they did think he had the right idea. Also, I think wormtail is another example of a wizard who really isn't on sides. He just goes with whoever he feels can help him.

thats a really good idea ! there is a good possibility of that. snape does seem that sort of character i think ... he could well be just looking out for himself !

This is a good idea, and I definitely agree with it. Another example of a middle ground could possibly be sirius' parents. They agreed with Voldemort's general idea, but weren't putting themselves out for the cause. They thought Voldemort was too cruel. They are probably more evil than good, but they weren't pure evil.

I like the 'middle-ground' theory. It doesn't put anyone in the series directly against another unless they choose to align themselves. As marire said, the majority of the wizarding world and the 'real' world (Muggle world) seem to be fairly unaligned but still view ideas in varying ways. It could be thought of political parties, where the members of a given party are those that feel passionately about their cause. The general public, on the other hand, tends to agree with a single party individually and their ideals. However, these people also live normal lives outside that of politics, even though politics is an important topic to them. So, just as politics is important to us, the course of the war is important to the wizarding world. They realise the outcome of the war will shape their lives, but they just try and live normal lives through it (as evident in such things as the amulets to 'protect' people from harm, thus avoiding the effects of the war).

So I see it as two armed camps that are actively at war with each other, and their battlefield just happens to be the territory between them occupied by citizens harbouring various outlooks on which side has the 'righteous' cause. Enough of my ranting - I'll let you all respond...

i think there is a middle ground in book 8 but by book 7 all the sides must be chosen vooldmeorts killing spree will force this opon everyone makeing unlikily allies.

Also snape is just a double agent working both sides for his gain.

I think Sirius said something like "the world isn't divided between good people and death eaters" or something a long those lines. While there are a lot of people on either side, there are also a lot of people who are neutral and dont take sides. I think these people might have the right idea so an extent. If you think about it... if they don't take sides... no one from either side will try to do them in. Like if they're not working with DD, then VD will have no reason to want to kill them, and vice versa. They kind of go under the radar most of the time. Anywho, just my opinion. Ciao.

I definatley think there is a middle part in the wizarding world and as was said earlier a perfect example of this was Sirius's parents. They weren't death eaters, despite believing that what vldermort was doing was a good idea, yet neither were they heros like harry trying to stop voldermort and being just erfect and good and brave etc!

Middleground -

Is there a middleground within the wizarding world? Yes. It's assumable that there are wizards throughout the world that have no stake in any preservation of life (outside of their own).

You have to realize that as was stated in DH, those of the non-wizarding line also do not carry a stake in wizard wars. As such they couldn't qualify as good nor evil.

Between white and black, there are always a few shades of grey.