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harry potter - Did Voldemort know when he was being lied to by Snape?


We know Severus Snape was "an accomplished Occlumens." We also see that Voldemort, who was a powerful Legilimens, was unable to detect when Snape was lying to him.


Does this mean that Voldemort could not detect when he was being lied to because of Snape's Occlumency? Would he know that Severus was protecting his thoughts from being read, had Voldemort tried Leglimency on him?



Answer



If Voldemort had ever known -- or even suspected -- that one of his inner circle was using Occlumency against him, I don't think that person would have lived for very long. Therefore, either:




  1. Voldemort never tried to use Legilimency against Snape (which I find extremely unlikely; especially since, as stated at the beginning of HBP, Snape had to defend his actions of the past fourteen years after Voldemort's return); or

  2. Snape did use Occlumency against Voldemort, but Voldemort was unaware of it.


I lean toward the latter. I'm sure a clumsy beginner's attempt at Occlumency would be easy to spot, but perhaps a skilled-enough Occlumens is able to hide the fact that they're hiding anything -- to leave parts of their mind open while blocking other parts, and leave even a powerful Legilimens like Voldemort none the wiser.


Personally, though, I think that Snape had additional help, beyond even his skill in Occlumency: (spoiler for book 7)



Snape's love for Lily.



Love is the antithesis of everything Voldemort ever stood for; he never understood it, and it actually caused him pain when he possessed Harry in OotP. I think a skilled Occlumens like Snape could turn that to his advantage in steering Voldemort away from any thoughts relating to protecting Harry.


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