-2

I have wondered this because of Snape being a double agent and the power of the Dark Lord to read minds using Legilimency.

Was Snape able to resist this or was he able to temper it so that he only revealed the parts that he wished?

Was he more accomplished in this than He Who Must Not Be Named, as Snape says that the Dark Lord is very gifted in this area of magic?

3
  • 1
    Note: Occlumency and Legilimency are not the same thing. Leglimency is reading others minds, Occlumency is shielding your mind from being read. Presumably Snape was a better Occlumens than Voldemort was a Legilimens.
    – DavidS
    Feb 8, 2016 at 15:33
  • Obviously, Snape was better at Occlumency than Voldemort was at Legilimency. How good Snape was as a Legilimens, we don’t really know, I think.
    – chirlu
    Feb 8, 2016 at 15:34
  • 4
    Related are scifi.stackexchange.com/q/17009/4918 "Did Voldemort know when he was being lied to by Snape?" and scifi.stackexchange.com/q/29390/4918 "Did Lord Voldemort not know that Snape was an accomplished Occlumens?"
    – b_jonas
    Feb 8, 2016 at 17:15

1 Answer 1

2

You are confusing legilimency with occlumency. Occlumency is the art of concealing thoughts and mind against external penetration, while legilimency is the art of performing external penetration into someone's mind. Hence Snape was extremely good at occlumency, he could even conceal his mind from the dark lord's strong legilimency. So we can say that Snape was a more proficient occlumence as compared to Voldemort as a legilimens.

3
  • Yes, while at the same time, it's also proven that Snape is worse at Legimency than Voldemort (at least Snape vs Voldemort+Harry's Fragment). Voldemort easily accesses Harry's mind, both when Harry is blocking and not blocking it. Snape however struggles at first when teaching Harry how to block it
    – Oak
    Feb 8, 2016 at 18:23
  • 2
    @Oak Voldemort may have actually found it easier to enter Harry's mind due to their unique situation.
    – user40790
    Feb 8, 2016 at 22:22
  • 1
    Hence why I said Voldemort+Harry's Fragment
    – Oak
    Feb 9, 2016 at 0:31

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.