George” is a theory that primarily serves to answer two popular backstory questions: why did Snape join the Death Eaters in the first place, and why did he later recant?
According to George, Snape joined the Death Eaters willingly, under few delusions as to the nature of their cause, and with no thought of betraying them at the time. George rejects the notion that any single catalytic event — such as the infamous Prank, for example — led him to choose this course of action. Rather, George maintains that this was the natural culmination of the path that Snape had already been traveling, probably since his early childhood. “He had a general idea of what the DEs were up to, and thought he’d be okay with it. When you’re an nasty, unpopular teenager with a suspicious knowledge of Dark Magic and a conviction that the people currently in charge are out to get you, it’s pretty easy to go around thinking you’re evil and even to get off on the concept.” [34,762] Similarly, when it comes to the question of why Snape should have then later recanted, George rejects all “catalytic theories” of Snape’s conversion, holding firm to the notion that his disillusionment
