Harry Potter The Three Brothers theory question.

[wyldeakasha]

I wasn't certain where to post this, so I started a new thread.

Anyway, so can I assume we're all familiar with the story of the Three Brothers and the Deathly Hallows?

Okay, so recently I've come across this meme (probably an old one) that has Voldemort, Snape, and Harry as the modern day equivalents of the Three Brothers. And apparently it's a pretty popular theory.

Voldemort - the Eldest Brother
Snape - the Second Brother
Harry - the Third Brother

Now, I understand Voldemort and Harry. Voldemort was an arrogant wizard convinced of his own invincibility - he sought power and the Elder Wand led him to his death. Harry, owner of the Invisibility Cloak, successfully evaded Death for years (seriously, anyone else would have been dead several times over at least) and only 'died' when he decided to go willingly.

What I don't understand is Snape? He has no connection to the Hallows, aside from a misunderstanding with the Elder Wand. Dumbledore had used the Sword of Gryffindor to destroy the ring/stone before eventually passing it along to Harry, so IIRC Snape never had anything to do with it.

I'm hoping someone can explain this to me - where is this coming from? Why wouldn't Dumbledore be the better choice for the Second Brother? He actually had the Resurrection Stone, had a lost loved one he wanted to recall from the grave, and it led directly to his death (which would have otherwise never occurred had he not given into temptation).

 

[Jynx]

I wasn't certain where to post this, so I started a new thread.

Anyway, so can I assume we're all familiar with the story of the Three Brothers and the Deathly Hallows?

Okay, so recently I've come across this meme (probably an old one) that has Voldemort, Snape, and Harry as the modern day equivalents of the Three Brothers. And apparently it's a pretty popular theory.

Voldemort - the Eldest Brother
Snape - the Second Brother
Harry - the Third Brother

Now, I understand Voldemort and Harry. Voldemort was an arrogant wizard convinced of his own invincibility - he sought power and the Elder Wand led him to his death. Harry, owner of the Invisibility Cloak, successfully evaded Death for years (seriously, anyone else would have been dead several times over at least) and only 'died' when he decided to go willingly.

What I don't understand is Snape? He has no connection to the Hallows, aside from a misunderstanding with the Elder Wand. Dumbledore had used the Sword of Gryffindor to destroy the ring/stone before eventually passing it along to Harry, so IIRC Snape never had anything to do with it.

I'm hoping someone can explain this to me - where is this coming from? Why wouldn't Dumbledore be the better choice for the Second Brother? He actually had the Resurrection Stone, had a lost loved one he wanted to recall from the grave, and it led directly to his death (which would have otherwise never occurred had he not given into temptation).

You underestimate the collective stupidity of people on the internet. Yep, you are utterly correct... Dumbledore would have made an excellent modern alternative but Snape is the more "romantic" choice.

On one hand, you have Dumbledore... this wise, old guy who always keeps secrets our intrepid heroes kind of needed to know, before croaking before the end battle. On the other, you have this bad guy who isn't really a bad. He is conflicted by his past and trying to be good for the sake of his doomed, true love, secretly helping our heroes and overall, very misunderstood. Snape is a fangirls dream. So yeah, they chose him.

Or the simpler answer. Voldie bad. Harry good. Snape, the perfect guy in the middle, skirting the grey edges of good and evil.

I like your version though. I could see that working well within the story of the three brothers.

 

[daniel_gudman]

As the guy that had a Horcrux - a magic rock of Death Insurance - Voldemort is thematically closest to the Second Brother.

Compared to that, Dumbledore was the First Brother, the one with the most direct power, who won every fight he got in, but died because of tricky tricks.

And Harry, of the Cloak, was the one who actually had a family and grew old normally, and (presumably) went on to die of old age, without regrets.

If you're going for parallels with the legend, that works the best.

Compared to that, Snape was more like, an all-around loser.

 

[lord geryon]

The second brother was the one with the stone, the one that wanted to see a cherished loved one again.

Snape had Lily, a cherished love one he wanted to see again.

 

[nixofcyzerra]

Well, yeah, but Dumbledore had Ariana. Sister trumps unrequited love/guilt for getting person killed.

 

[Rising Dragon]

Ultimately you can make an argument for both characters, but the fact remains that if you attributing Deathly Hallows to the three brothers with the attributes... Dumbledore did attempt to use the Resurrection Stone, while Snape never possessed any of those Hallows.

 

[Shirotsume]

Honestly, you could make an AU where Snape would represent (?) Antioch, but in-story it's pretty clear that the symbolism is that the cloak is Harry's, the stone Dumbledore's, and the wand Voldemorts, until they all unify under Harry who escaped Death's clutches through cleverness. (Even though it's not his own cleverness)

 

[daniel_gudman]

Snape is the fourth brother who never left home because he was too busy crying into his cauldron over how the girl he liked married a dude that actually finished growing up instead of him

 

[Shirotsume]

I'm imagining Lily saying something like that to Snape from the dead when he bitches about her marrying James.

It's glorious.