Malice and Ulterior Motives

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 138783

Jen:
> I'm really torn on this one. Dumbledore proved 
> in OOTP that he believes the good of the community 
> outweighs any one individual, including himself. 
> I really believe Dumbledore trusted Snape to do 
> the right thing until the very end: Save Draco, 
> get the DE's and Fenrir the hell away from Hogwarts, 
> and keep Harry > from harm. Those three things would 
> be more important to Dumbledore than his own life.
 
> *But*, the big but, DD has much reverence for 
> the power of love and an untarnished soul. 
> You can't enjoy the next great adventure 
> without them, I'd imagine. So no, I don't 
> believe DD was pleading with Snape to AK him. 
> And that's where I always run into a brick wall<g>. 

houyhnhnm:

That's why I've come to the conclusion that the pleading didn't refer 
to what was happening on the tower.  As soon as Snape came through the 
door I think both men knew there was only one way down for both of them.

Dumbledore knew that his death was approaching, even before the 
complication of Draco's "task".  He must have been concerned about what 
would happen after he was gone, especially with regard to Snape.

As someone else has pointed out, Snape fits the profile of an 
authoritarian personality very well.  If he is loyal to Dumbledore, I 
would imagine it is to Dumbledore as an individual, not to what 
Dumbledore stands for.  I doubt if Snape groks the love magic.

I know there is no solid canonical evidence, but I suspect Dumbledore 
wanted Snape to look out for Harry, or in some other way further DD's 
plan, after DD was gone.  This could be what the argument in the forest 
was about.  Dumbledore has managed to extract some kind promise from 
Snape.  In the forest, Snape says DD takes too much for granted; he 
doesn't want to do it any more.  DD says "you promised and that's all 
there is to it" (paraphrasing)  It fits. On the tower, Dumbledore 
pleads again--do what you promised to do when I'm no longer around to 
control you by your need for my approval.

If this is indeed what happened then Snape has already made his choice 
at the end of book 6. He gets the DEs out of Hogwarts and watches 
Harry's back as he does it.  (Personally, I think he performed the 
freezing charm on Fenrir Greyback.  Remember how bad Harry is at 
recognizing voices.) Maybe this is why Dumbledore is sleeping so 
peacefully in his portrait.

As for "killing tears the soul", we've been over this ground again and 
again. People are just black and white on this issue.  I certainly 
would agree that, in the real world, killing damages the soul.  I've 
always stopped a little short of absolute pacifism.  I'm just not 
sure.  But we're discussing the Potterverse here, not the real world.  
There is just *one line* (out of how many thousand pages?) that 
supports this view and it specifies *murder*.  I don't understand why 
people are so fixated on this.

What will it do to Snape to have killed Dumbledore, if it is out of 
necessity and without malice?  I guess we will find out in book 7.  
It's just my fantasy about the characters, with only tenuous support 
from canon, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dumbledore didn't mind 
teaching Snape a lesson.  It may not tear Snapes soul to have killed 
Dumbledore (if it was not murder), but it may well tear his heart.  
Dumbledore may have been willing to break Snape's heart in order to 
force him to acknowledge he has one.