Why didn't Snape go looking for Voldemort in order to draw him out and prevent his return?

Question

When Voldemort's fragile soul fled to Albania, either pre- or post his adventures on Quirrel's head, why didn't Snape travel there and seek to draw him out of his hiding?

This, to me, seems to be the best way to use Snape as a double-agent. This plan becomes much more feasible given that

• Dumbledore suspected that Voldemort was indeed hiding in Albanian forests,
• and Voldemort himself said that if his followers actively looked for him, they would succeed.

That indicates that if Snape attempted to find Voldemort, using the information he had access to as both a Death Eater and member of the Order, then he would probably have succeeded.

At that point, it would have been a matter of triviality to deal with Voldemort's soul. Perhaps he could not be killed, but he certainly could be contained.

Answer 1

He didn't think that Voldemort could come back.

From the man himself:

“You ask why I did not attempt to find him when he vanished. For the same reason that Avery, Yaxley, the Carrows, Greyback, Lucius” - he inclined his head slightly to Narcissa - “and many others did not attempt to find him. I believed him finished. I am not proud of it, I was wrong, but there it is."
_{(Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 2, Spinner's End).}

Snape was talking to Death Eaters here so it's possible to argue that he wasn't giving a true reflection of his views at the time. This statement could just be part of his cover story. However, consider how many totally committed Death Eaters also failed to go looking for Voldemort. I think it's probable that Snape, like everyone else, simply didn't believe that Voldemort could return.

It's true that Dumbledore knew better. He probably could have done a lot more to prevent Voldemort's return. We have no reason to suspect that Dumbledore shared his thoughts about Voldemort's whereabouts with Snape, however. In the period between the wizarding wars the relationship between Snape and Dumbledore was merely that of teacher and headmaster. Their conversations were probably about what should be on the Potions curriculum and the handling of unruly students. The Order was essentially dissolved in this period; Dumbledore wasn't sending its members on any missions. Snape just got on with teaching, which was all that Dumbledore asked of him at this point.

Answer 2

Nobody actually knew that voldemort was even alive except for dumbledore. even dumbledore was only guessing where he was. Dumbledore suspected that voldemort was hiding in Albanian forests much much later (4th part?) when rumors started spreading regarding some dark force there. you only know these facts in hindsight.

Also snape's main reason he gave to voldy in 4/5 th part on why he didn't kill harry yet was that everyone thought he betrayed voldy and so his safety was ensured by being on good side with dumbledore. so in that case, he wouldn't have got any help from other death-eaters even if he tried to search for voldy.

The facts you mentioned were never very clear in the plot and were only realized in hindsight. so obviously snape couldn't and wouldn't go looking for voldemort to kill or join him.