Snape's part in death of Sirius - Revised Time

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 108308

Asian_lovr2 wrote:

Listed below are several HINDSIGHT solutions. They are very easy
speculations after the fact, but we must judge Snape's actions based
on what he knew at the time, and then temper what he knew with his
personality and his attitude toward Harry <snip>

Neri:

Erm... yes, I might have exercised a bit of hindsight there. That 
wasn't my intension. I don't think Snape should have foreseen LV's 
plot. I never accused Snape of lacking foresight (except when 
discussing those speculations that suggest he had enough data for 
it). I do accuse Snape of being irresponsible, mislaying Harry for 
several hours while knowing that he (Snape) is the last Order member 
at Hogwarts, and therefore responsible for Harry's security.

Snape responsibility here is very similar to Mundungus' 
responsibility for the Dementors attack in the beginning of the year. 
They both let Harry out of their sight. The motives were different: 
in Dung's case it was greed and in Snape's case it was dislike for 
Harry, probably coupled with his reluctance to ask for assistance 
from Sirius or Lupin. The fault was the same. Dung was luckier, 
though: the Dementors attack didn't cause any lasting damage. But 
imagine that Sirius would have appeared at the last moment to fight 
the Dementors and killed as a result. Would you have then said that 
Mundungus shares some responsibility for Sirius' death? I would.

Snape comes out of this comparison even worse than Dung. Dung left 
his watch for no more than an hour, when all was well and quiet in 
Little Whinging. There was no sign that anything is wrong. But when 
Snape left his watch he knew that Harry had just had a mind contact 
with LV, he is under a wrong impression that Sirius is in great 
danger, and Umbridge is trying to squeeze sensitive information out 
of him. A bad time to leave your watch for several hours.

Moreover, Snape's case was after Mundungus' case. The Order already 
had a striking demonstration how dangerous it is to leave Harry 
unguarded. And indeed they watch him very faithfully for the whole 
year. Until Snape's watch.

I don't accuse Dung of lack of foresight either. He certainly 
couldn't have foreseen that Umbridge will send Dementors to 
assassinate Harry. Snape couldn't have foreseen that LV will lure 
Harry to the DoM and that Harry will find the Thestrals in the 
forest. Both of them should have kept their eyes on Harry for a 
single reason: it was their duty.

Neri