Snape - what about the unbreakable vow?

[davenclaw]

No: HPFGUIDX 132953

Wow... what a book!  It wasn't until I started reading Yahoo groups 
that I began to consider the idea that Snape killed Dumbledore 
because Dumbledore asked him to.  It's possible... but my big 
problem is the Unbreakable Vow.  For this to have all been a plan, 
DD must have told Snape that if he needed to kill him in order to 
stay close to Voldemort, then he should do so.  Perhaps DD believes 
that Snape can help Harry find the remaining horcruxes?  But the 
problem I have with this is that DD couldn't have known that he 
would be so weakened and close to death at the time that Draco 
confronted him.  So it was possible, due to the vow, that Snape 
might have had to kill a perfectly healthy and powerful Dumbledore. 
Would DD really have arranged such a possibility with Snape?

I'll accept this is possible. But for now, I really don't believe 
it.  Snape has been too sincerely horrible to Harry all along for 
him to have any desire to help Harry destroy Voldemort.  I actually 
think Snape has been playing both sides noncommitally, waiting until 
the opportunity to jump to the "winning" side.  He's got stories to 
tell both sides.  I think he might actually be a good enough 
Occlumens to fend off Voldemort's legilimency.  I won't be surprised 
if it turns out that Snape was on DD's side all along, but for now, 
that's not what I'm expecting.

How funny though that in the end, the HBP story line really only 
served two purposes: it made Harry good in potions so that he could 
get on Slughorn's good side, enabling him to get that memory, and it 
earned him Felix Felicitus.  Oh, and he bloodied up Malfoy, which 
was cool.

Now, my list of things that I was surprised were missing in the book:

- minimal development of Luna and Neville
- No DA (stupid, really - seems that they REALLY needed a group of 
students well versed in genuine DADA)
- Minimal scenes of Snape teaching DADA
- Nothing about the 2way mirror or contacting Sirius
- Nothing major about Lily revealed
- Ron and Hermione STILL haven't REALLY gotten together - though the 
scene at the funeral might be the very beginning of a real 
relationship
- No details about Grawp - just that he's become more civilized
- Minimal significance of Harry inheriting 12 GP (till Book 7, I'm 
sure - Regulus and the locket...)
- No details about who is now guarding Azkaban

- davenclaw