Re: Dumbledore’s flawed plan - Snape's Vow

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 136291

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "zgirnius" <zgirnius at y...> wrote:
> Eggplant wrote:
> > If Snape is good then he would have to be brain dead dumb to make 
> > the Unbreakable Vow, every explanation I've read trying to explain
> > this away are lame in the extreme.
> >
> 
> Hi There! (zgirnius):
> 
> I found this to be the single most problematic action in the book, 
> personally. You consider the explanations you've seen presented here 
> lame. Do you have a better one? 
> 
> Preemptively, I would like to point out the three word annswer 
> "Snape is evil"  is not the answer to every question about Snape. I 
> am quite willing to entertain the idea that Snape is evil, either a 
> loyal DE, or in it for himslef somehow, and evil. The problem is 
> that Snape is not stupid.
> 
> An evil Snape who cares about noone/nothing but himself ought not 
> take a UV to protect Draco. Why risk his own life in this way? 
> ...edited...
>
> zgirnius

bboyminn:

I'm reminded of a Genie's Wish . The typical Genie story is that some
poor soul finds a magic lamp or other enchanted object, rubs it, and a
 Genie comes out and grants him three wishes. But Genies are notorious
for trying to pervert every wish, trying to twist your words around so
that they can grant the wish literally, but not necessarily as intended. 

For example, for one of your wishes you could wish to be rich, and
suddenly a suitcase filled with a million dollars in $100 bills would
appear. But what can you do with that cash? You can't put it into the
bank because any deposit or withdrawnal over $10,000 will send flags
and raise questions with the tax man. Most stores won't take large
amounts of cash. For example, you are very unlikely to be able to buy
a house or even a car for that matter with a suitcase full of cash. So
while you have cash, you are by no means rich, and you have lots of
problems.

So, the point is, even when your wish is very straight forward, the
Genie is always looking for loopholes, looking for ways to twist your
words and wishes against you.

Now let's transfer this to the Unbreakable Vow, and see if we can find
the loopholes.

The Vows -

"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to
fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"And, should if prove necesary... if it seems Draco will fail..."
whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not
draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has
ordered Draco to perform?"


1.) '...watch over...as he attempts...', well, that's not too hard or
even dangerous, and it really is a vow that can't be broken. All he
has to do is 'watch'.

2.) '...to the best of your ability...', now that's certainly a
loophole. Again, he only has to do his best, he doesn't have to succeed.

3.) Three points here; a)'should it prove necessary', 'if Draco will
fail', b)Snapes hand twitched, c)'carry out the deed'.

Let's look at 'b)' first, Snape's hand twitched. I think it is clear
that Snape realizes that he has reached his limit. He knows what comes
next is more unqualififed, no 'try' or 'attempt', but he's already in
too far, he can't back out. 

But still 'the deed' is never mentioned, nor is there an implied time
frame. Exactly what 'deed' is it that Snape is Vowing to perform? Yes,
we naturally assume that it means he will kill Dumbledore if Draco
can't, but you're thinking like a human, not a Genie or Snape. 

Draco's primary on-going objective was to fix the Vanishing Cabinet so
the DE's could get in; maybe that is the 'deed' that Snape vowed to
help with. 

Also, note that no time frame is specified. So even if it is iron-clad
'kill Dumbledore' does he have to do it that second, that day,
...week, ...month, ...year, or merely at some point in Dumbledore's
lifetime? That looks like a really big loophole to me. As long as
Snape maintains an intent to finish Draco's work, to kill Dumbledore,
he is safe. 

Also note regarding 'the deed', Snape says he knows what the Dark Lord
plan is, and what Draco is suppose to do, but I think it's pretty
clear he is bluffing. If he really knew then why all the questions to
Draco? So, how can Snape vow to fulfill a 'deed' when he doesn't know
what the deed is? In this case, he is vowing to nothing, because he
really knows nothing of 'the deed'. 

So, the question here is, and this is critical, is he bound to what he
knew when he made the vow, the 'deed' as he understood it them, or can
he be bound to something he finds out after the vow was made, and more
important, who gets to decide?

To the one who is making the Vow, I think you want things as vague and
general as possible because it introduces that maximum possible number
of loopholes. For the person to whom the Vow is being made, I think
you want things written up by a lawyer and spelled out in excusicating
detail to prevent any loopholes. Fortunately for Snape, his Vow is
based on Narcissa's verbal request in a time of deep emotional stress
which I personally feel leaves tremendous room for loopholes and 'outs'.

Despite getting in over his head, I think Snape understood the
Unbreakable Vow well enough to know that if you have the right
attitude, you can find plenty of loopholes.

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn