I am at work right now so I can’t point to a specific chapter and verse, but I am sure it was in Order of the Phoenix. Harry asked Dumbledore if he trusted Snape so much why won’t he give him the DADA job. And Dumbledore responded that he thought that it would bring the worst out in Snape.
I will check OOTP tonight and try to find the exact passage.
I would be interested in seeing that. My recollection is that Dumbledore’s concern about Snape’s moral fiber is presumed / stated as fact by Harry and others, but never stated explicitly by Dumbledore himself - one of the common methods of misdirection used by J.K. Rowling.
I think it’s a passage from HBP that they have this conversation. Harry wants to know why Dumbledoor gave the job to Snape after all this time and knowing that it was Snape who told Voldemort about the prophecy. Harry is trying to keep his temper after finding out about Snape and the prophecy so that he can still go with Dumbledoor to get the Horcrux.
I just thought mentioning this would help in the search. I have them on audiobooks, and just finished HBP again, so it’s fresh in my mind, but I don’t have the hardcopy to search for it.
If I remember correctly, Snape’s last words to Harry in the HBP…
were instructions on what he needs to accomplish before he can defeat Voldemort. Snape was still trying to teach the little brat even then.
I think that it will also be given as the reason why Dumbledore never explained his plans to Harry.
It could be interpreted as mocking his lack of ability or helpful advice. I view it as advice also.
I hate to seem ungrateful, but it is definitely not in this conversation that Dumbledore mentions the reasons for refusing the DADA teacher job to Snape. What does happen in this conversation is that Harry calls Dumbledore a reckless fool for leaving the school right when Malfoy has succeeded in whatever he was trying to do, and Dumbledore, in a fit of righteous anger, tells him to STFU. Prediction: this scene has created an undercurrent of resentment in Harry Potter which will prove to be his eventual downfall. In his final battle against Voldemort, Harry will call out for Fawkes’ help, but Fawkes will remind Harry of his insolence during the conversation just mentioned, extend a flaming remige feather from his right wing to express his true feelings, and disappear in a flash. Without Fawkes’ help, Harry is doomed.
Nah! I don’t consider this ungrateful. I’m trying to remember where that passage is, too, because I remember it as you did. (and you’re correct that it’s not in the passage I referenced) But I’m still not convinced (and may be wrong) that the one I’m thinking of is in OOTP.
I’m relistening to the entire set right now, but had already restarted at the first book. It’ll be a bit before I get to the last two since I can only listen for 2 hours a day on my commute!
I apologize. I could swear it was in Order of the Phoenix. I did some research and it turns out the quote is from Rowling during a Q&A at Albert Hall with Stephen Fry.
Here is the entire interview.
Well, at least it was said. After scanning both my book and my .pdf file and not finding it, I was beginning to think I had dreamed it or something.
This is Snape we’re talking about, here. Is there any reason it couldn’t be both? Humiliation seems to be Snape’s most-used teaching tool.
Dear shamrock227 : Thank you for your diligence.
From Accio Quote! (I didn’t know about this website, good find!)
With some work I can make that fit into my pre-conceived ideas so that I don’t have to revise my theory. 
Dumbledore doesn’t trust Snape with the DADA job. But was this before or after Snape betrays Voldemort?
The events:
[ol][li]Dumbledore interviews Trelawney at the Hog’s Head in Hogsmeade for the post of Divinitations Teacher. During the interview Trelawney makes a Prophecy partly overheard by Snape.[/li][li]Snape is also interviewed by Dumbledore and hired to be Potions teacher (presumably on or around the same day as the Trelawney interview). Dumbledore does not trust him to be DADA teacher.[/li][li]Snape tells Voldemort about the prophecy.[/li][li]Snape finds out that Voldemort interprets the prophecy as meaning that he has to kill Harry Potter.[/li][li]Snape, overcome with remorse, turns to the Good Side.[/li][li]Snape starts teaching at Hogwarts.[/ol][/li]The order of these events is uncertain (I checked the Lexicon timeline, and they don’t specify), but if event 2 happens before 5, then my ideas could still apply:
At the time of hiring, Dumbledore didn’t trust Snape to be DADA.
After Snape turns good, Dumbledore would trust Snape to be the DADA teacher, but refuses him the post because Snape would only last a yeart at Hogwarts. This would be true during all the years covered by the books.
Notice JK Rowling says “I have to be careful what I say here.”
Another interesting point: the Lexicon timeline says that Voldemort applies to be DADA teacher around 1957 (how they guess these dates I don’t know.) That would be a very long time to be changing DADA teachers every year (40 years until the end of book 6, if we agree with the timeline that book 6 happens in 1996-1997).
J.K. prefaces everything with “I have to be careful what I say here”.
I can imagine someone says “good morning” and J.K. says “I have to be careful what I say here. Um, yes, good morning to you, too. I hope that doesn’t give too much away.” 
Of course she has to be careful! If she says “Good morning to you too”, that immediately raises a host of questions - what’s good about it? Has the writing been going well? Are you on track with the next book? Did you finally come up with a title for the next book? When is it coming out? Is Harry going to live after book 7 and that’s why you’re so happy? Tell me tell me tell me!
I’m kind of skeptical about Rowling saying that Dumbledore doesn’t trust Snape for the DADA job. She’s well-known for giving answers the way her characters would give them, and not necessarily the way she would give them. What I was wondering about, though, was this:
I’m not picking on you at all here, but should we really believe this? I know it’s what Dumbledore says, but something about the different accounts of this story just don’t add up to me. Dumbledore says explicitly that Snape was discovered halfway through and thrown out. That would imply some sort of ruckus, wouldn’t it? But we see clearly in Dumbledore’s pensieve memory that the prophecy was given from beginning to end; it was never interrupted. Yet Trelawney confirms that Snape was present; that he burst into her room, in fact. But she’s demonstrated that she has no memory of any actions once she begins a prophecy, so how could she remember Snape bursting in in the middle of something she can’t remember? We also know that Dumbledore says that Snape only heard the beginning of the prophecy and not the end, so Snape would have had to have been discovered after overhearing the first part and then bursting in, which clearly didn’t happen. Am I missing something here?
It could very well be that Dumbledore has been lying this whole time; Snape actually did overhear the whole prophecy and has been keeping it a secret from Voldemort at extreme risk to his own life. It would be an ironclad reason for Dumbledore to trust him–it’s verifiable up through book 5 that Voldemort doesn’t know the end of the prophecy–and we could chuck out the whole Unbreakable Vow/life debt hullabaloo.
This has some real potential for discussion.
I noticed that inconsistancy, too. But, I just let it slide (I should really know better than that with these books). I took Dumbledore at his word and just sluffed off the difference to Dumbledore maybe editing his memory the way Slughorn did. I never considered that Snape might have heard the whole thing and lied to Voldemort about it.
I don’t really believe that an Unbreakable Vow is Dumbledore’s Style. And, I don’t buy into that Snape heart Lily thing (and don’t see how that would make Dumbledore trust him, anyway, even if it were true). This line does have some potential. But, would it be enough? Dumbleore seems to really, completely trust Snape. Would knowing the whole prophecy and withholding information from Voldemort be enough to cause that kind of trust?
You are doubting my divinatory powers concerning all things Potter? humph!
Let me put on my Thinking Hat (which, alas, is not capable of singing songs) and unravel this knotted skein.
The first thing to note is that, from the Pensieve, we only see a “highlight” of Dumbledore’s memory - we don’t enter the room and see the whole scene, what happens is that a figure of Trelawney appearts above the pensieve and repeats the prophecy. So what happened in that room that would make sense of what we hear?
Dumbledore is interviewing Trelawney. Snape, ordered by Voldemort to spy on Dumbledore, is listening in at the keyhole or through some other means that requires strict attention and concentration. Trelawney starts the prophecy. Snape is so intent on getting this juicy tidbit that he doesn’t notice the Hogs Head bartender (Aberforth Dumbledore) tip-toeing up the stairs. Aberforth collars him while Trelawney is still saying the prophecy and starts shaking him around - “What are you up to, pipsqueak?” Albus hears the commotion but waits until the end of the prophecy to find out what’s going on. At this point Trelawney is “conscious” again and she sees Aberforth burst in with a firm grip on Snape’s nape. Dumbledore asks Snape “have you heard anything”? Snape, skilled at occlumency, convinces Dumbledore that he just happened to be walking by because he had set his watch wrong and thought it was time for his own interview.
Afterwards, in Snape’s remorseful period, he goes to Dumbledore and confesses everything. “What did you tell Voldemort?” Dumbledore demands, and then realizes that Snape had only heard half of the prophecy.
Et voilà!
What is the power greater than any dark magic? The power of Love!
I believe it’s when Dumbledore visits Harry Potter in sick bay at the end of Philospher’s Stone, but Dumbledore does tell Harry at one point “I may not tell you everything right away, but I will never lie to you.”
I don’t have the book on me, but I’m pretty sure he’s referring to just that specific situation. I don’t believe he says he would never ever lie to Harry under any circumstances, just that Harry can ask anything right then and get an answer or a deferral, but not a lie.
Dumbledore has also been known to say that the truth is generally preferable to a lie, which to me leaves the door open to a well-placed fib, even if it’s a last resort.
But do we even know that Snape really had an interview for that day? That part of the story is pretty fuzzy to me. The impression I got is that the interview story was just that–a story. Does anyone except Trelawney ever say that Snape was there for an interview? I realize it would be pretty tough for Snape to try a fake story gambit in front of Dumbledore, who would obviously know whether or not he had an interview scheduled with Snape, but maybe Snape when he got caught said something like “I’m here to seek employment wink wink” and Dumbledore was quick on the uptake and let Trelawney think it was pre-scheduled.
I guess I got the idea it was a cover story because whenever Dumbledore tells the story of that night, he never says anything about having a second interview with Snape, just that he was due to see Trelawney, Snape was still in Voldemort’s employ, &c. The implication is strong that Dumbledore was caught off-guard, which is what Voldemort would want to hear.
Your version of the story could work, but it seems to me to rely on a lot of luck and timing. Aberforth is the one (and the only one) to catch Snape listening, and does so at exactly the right moment to do the most damage to Voldemort. He overpowers a Death Eater (who was distracted, but still) with enough volume that Dumbledore hears it but isn’t bothered by it (this is the Hog’s Head after all; anything could be happening). Aberforth shakes Snape around just long enough for the prophecy to be delivered and Trelawney to come around. I suppose it could work–stranger things have happened in Potterland–but it just doesn’t feel right somehow.
Edit: just thought of one other thing: if Snape did have an interview scheduled that night, why would it be suspicious that he’s hanging around waiting for Dumbledore? Why would Aberforth think twice? He would only arouse suspicion if he weren’t supposed to be there, wouldn’t he?
I agree. I don’t think Dumbledore would flat out lie to Harry, but I don’t think he’s above pulling an ObiWan on him.
[hijack]What I don’t get is Dumbledore’s patience with Harry. Harry has been acting worse and worse through each book. He’s angry. He has a way overinflated sense of entitlement. He’s rude to his teachers, other authority figures, his friends, and Dumbledore himself. He has no respect for anyone. Thinks he’s above any and all rules. And, Dumbledore hardly reacts to any of it. I realize he’s a teenager. But, he’s way beyond “acting out” and “teenager stuff”. And, I think Dumbledore is the problem. Harry keeps pushing and Dumbledore keeps giving way. So Harry feels like there is nothing wrong with the way he’s acting. Isn’t it funny that the one person who does not put up with it is the one who is labeled as “mean” and “evil”?
ok. I realize that I am not the age of the target audience. I am the same age Snape is in the books. Which meant my reading experience was more like “why is that brat being so mean to that teacher” instead of “poor Harry, that teacher is picking on him” 
but I’ll stop now - this thread is about the Wonderful Prof S. Snape and I don’t want to derail it 
[/hijack]