dream_labyrinth | I never noticed...

Don't worry, there are no spoilers. Not that I expect anybody who's afraid of spoilers to still read the flist, which raises the question why I'm still posting HP related stuff, but there you are.

If Tom Riddle really didn't know about Horcruxes - that is, how to know make one - by the time he asked Slughorn about it, he did not make the Gaunt ring a Horcrux when he killed his father.
Because in the memory Slughorn tampered with, Tom already wore the ring when he asked Slughorn, so it would have been too late after that one murder to create the Horcrux. Dumbledore suggests something like that when he tells how he found the ring and says that After Tom made the Horcrux, he didn't want to wear the ring anymore, but I never really noticed before.

Also, Dubledore is a strong enough Legilimens to break through Tom's memory spells on Morphin Gaunt. Wouldn't that mean that he would notice if Snape was lying to him?

I suppose when it comes to the question of Snape's loyalties, it's still all a question of whether Lord Voldemort or Albus Dumbledore would work harder to find out.

Also, Phineas Nigellus seems to know why Dumbledore trusts Snape. And as he's a Slytherin, he's unlikely to think that love, as suggested in the theory of Snape's love for Lily, is a good enough reason.
Speaking of Phineas, the scene when he wanders off at the end of OotP to look for Sirius in Grimmauld Place - the idea of seeing him walking from portrait to portrait, calling out for him, after claiming over and over again that he's worthless, a blood traitor - ouch.

Dumbledore wears the Gaunt ring when he and Harry visit Slughorn. Dumbledore counts - and rightly so - on Slughorn recognising the ring. But does Slughorn recognise it as the ring Tom Riddle owned, does he know it is a Horcrux, what actually does he know?
I must say I can't decide on Slughorn's loyalty. He is extremely fixated on his own interests, and he loves to know famous people. Who's more famous than Lord Voldemort?

Another funny thing: In "Snape's worst memory", Harry actually sees Severus use the Sectumsempra curse. Severus uses it on - James, I think and cuts his cheek open. Yet when he uses it on Draco and sees what it does, he doesn't realise that. He doesn't realise that he's seen it before.