For a whole host of reasons, Snape is on edge the whole night. He “snarled” at Dumbledore and yelled, “Miss Granger, HOLD YOUR TONGUE!” all in front of the Minister of Magic (PA390). Snape does not usually disrespect Dumbledore in public, nor is he as awful to his students when witnesses are around. He’s not acting wholly rationally, but he grows infinitely more unhinged when Sirius escapes.
“HE DIDN’T DISAPPARATE!” Snape roared, now very close at hand. “YOU CAN’T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS—HAS—SOMETHING—TO—DO—WITH—POTTER!”
[. . .]
Fudge, Snape, and Dumbledore came striding into the ward. Dumbledore alone looked calm. Indeed, he looked as though he was quite enjoying himself. Fudge appeared angry. But Snape was beside himself.
“OUT WITH IT, POTTER!” he bellowed. “WHAT DID YOU DO?”
[. . .]
“See here, Snape, be reasonable,” said Fudge. “This door’s been locked, we just saw—”
“THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!” Snape howled, pointing at Ron and Hermione. His face was twisted; spit was flying from his mouth.
“Calm down, man!” Fudge barked. “You’re talking nonsense!”
“YOU DON’T KNOW POTTER!” shrieked Snape. “HE DID IT, I KNOW HE DID IT—”
“That will do, Severus,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?”
“Of course not!” said Madam Pomfrey, bristling. “I would have heard them!”
“Well, there you have it, Severus,” said Dumbledore calmly. “Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I’m afraid I don’t see any point in troubling them further.”
Snape stood there, seething, staring from Fudge, who looked thoroughly shocked at his behavior, to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling behind his glasses. Snape whirled about, robes swishing behind him, and stormed out of the ward. (PA419-420)
This is a fascinating passage to read, because our interpretation changes completely based on whether you believe Snape knows about Hermione’s Time Turner. It could really be either one. Remember how Dumbledore relied on the Ministry’s stupidity to help Buckbeak get away? He does this again, banking on Fudge not realizing Hermione might have a Time Turner. But why risk it?
If Snape knows about Hermione’s Time Turner, then Dumbledore is sending Snape a discreet message: stop talking now! By mentioning time travel, which is quite obviously the answer Snape is seeking, Dumbledore would be saying to Snape that there is a lot going on Snape doesn’t realize. Dumbledore would be banking on Snape obeying the unspoken command, and to be fair, Snape does desist immediately after this. There is much to recommend this view on the passage, but I am a detractor.
For me, the problem is that Dumbledore does not know that Snape will obey him. Snape is livid, for a host of reasons,21 and it’s pretty clear Snape has run amok when he starts yelling at the Minister of Magic. I don’t think Dumbledore would trust Snape to be reasonable enough to shut up given a clue from Dumbledore. He would not risk giving Snape the answer to incriminating the Trio, given Snape’s state of mind.
It’s reasonable to expect Snape not to know that Hermione has a Time Turner. After all, I doubt he would care very much how Hermione maintains her academic schedule, and the only teacher confirmed to know about it is McGonagall. The whole Time Turner thing seems to be treated on a very need-to-know basis, given that Harry and Ron themselves don’t need to know. This points to Dumbledore: Dumbledore probably realized early on that Harry’s best friend having a Time Turner might come in handy, and all of Dumbledore’s information concerning Harry and co. is distributed on a need-to-know basis. Snape likely did not need to know and therefore didn’t. While Snape may have been aware of the existence of Time Turners in general, Dumbledore banked on Snape not connecting that to the situation at hand.
This echoes Dumbledore’s earlier behavior with the Ministry. Just as he banked on being smarter than the Ministry officials, he is now hoping Snape isn’t as clever as he is. And just as Dumbledore was amused when making a mockery of Macnair, he is now “quite enjoying himself” by seeing Snape goaded (PA419). And this is because Dumbledore is extremely disappointed in Severus Snape tonight.
Dumbledore was once full of “contempt” for Snape (DH677) but believed that Snape had redeemed himself. Over the last thirteen years, Dumbledore has worked with Snape, taken him into his confidences more than anyone else, and trusted Snape with the all-important task of protecting Harry. At this point, Dumbledore believes that Snape has become a decent person.
Then Snape completely shatters all of that in one night. In Dumbledore’s view, Snape shows himself to be cruel, vindictive, and irrational. Snape is willing to sentence an innocent man to have his soul sucked out. Snape appears unconcerned with uncovering the truth, not bothering with finding out about Pettigrew in his haste to fulfill a vendetta. This is the man to whom Dumbledore entrusts Harry’s wellbeing? Completely unacceptable.
When Snape continues this pattern of behavior, trying to pin the mess on Harry, Dumbledore does not like Snape at all in that moment. And when Dumbledore does not like someone, he quite enjoys goading them—in fact, I think most of the times we see Dumbledore mentioned as enjoying himself, it’s because he’s taking the mickey out of the Dursleys or various Ministry people. So it is entirely in character for Dumbledore to have some fun at Snape’s expense in this moment, just as he recently did with Macnair and Fudge.
Several very
