"Stopper death" (was Re: It's over, Snape is evil/Ruthless Dumbledore?)

[hogsheadbarmaid]

No: HPFGUIDX 138661


> >
> > The Barmaid now:
> >  
> > We know that  there is a potion to "stopper death."
> > 
>  
> Gatta says:
> I think a lot of us are reading this too  literally. I took it to 
mean
> "stopper death (poison) in a bottle until it is  needed."
> 
> 
> Julie says:
> That was actually how I read it originally--that Snape could
> stopper death in a bottle. It was the more literal translation
> to me--or, at least, the obvious one. It's only after reading 6 
> HP books, and seeing how JKR constantly ignores the 
> obvious to present the less obvious that I've come to question 
> whether "stopper death" could mean "stop death in its 
> tracks" (i.e., a potion that would keep one who should
> die from dying for a period of time, whether it be weeks,
> months or indefinitely).
> 
>  
> One thing I do know is not to make any assumptions when
> it comes to JKR. In fact, I don't know why there couldn't
> be a potion that would stopper death in a bottle, as  well
> as a potion that would stop death in its tracks. And it is
> possible that Snape used the  second one on DD when
> he nearly died from the ring horcrux. 
>  
> Julie 
> 

Barmaid Now:

YICKS!  Not sure how I ended up with the quote above being attributed 
to me!  I think maybe "Cat" said this.

The point I did make was that if one believes that Snape killed DD on 
DD's orders and that DD was perhaps already a "dead man walking" then 
that killing would not be a "murder" and therefore would not have the 
same impact on Snape's soul that a murder would.  Many in the ESE!
Snape camp argue that DD would not order Snape to inflict upon 
himself the sort of damage he tells Harry murder does to a soul.  I 
am saying this kind of killing would not inflict that same sort of 
damage.

As far as the idea that Snape has the power to "stopper death" -- 
either way of reading that can be interesting.  I guess the reading 
that sees it as "create a potion that can kill and hold it in a 
bottle with a stopper" seems a bit obvious.  I mean -- even a Muggle 
could create a potion that could kill, right.  The dramatic tone of 
Snape's speech seems to indicate something more along the lines 
of "hold death back."

That said, I mostly see this as a passing comment that does not hold 
a secret clue to whatever happened on the Tower that night. 

  --The Barmaid