after the first reading...

[Mira]

No: HPFGUIDX 132957

So all my predictions were wrong, but who cares? Jo
found once again the very best way and gave us a
wonderful book. I didn't love everything in it (for
instance I would have liked a little more character
development, because most main characters seemed to me
as simplifications of their former selves, and I
didn't like at all the new Ginny, nor did I understand
why would Harry want an obnoxious bully of a
girlfriend; on the plus side, Horace is exquisitelly
written), but I LOVED the book on the whole. I
imitated the concept of the pensieve and wrote a lot
immediately after finishing it, but now I'll try to
summarize how I see the events.

During the summer, Voldemort set Draco the task to
kill Dumbledore. Snape knew about it and surely he
informed Dumbledore as well. Now, what would
Dumbledore do? His best not to let Draco's soul be
mutilated by a crime. The initial plan was surely the
offer Dumbledore made to Draco on the Astronomy Tower:
come to the good side and we'll protect you and your
family. You are not a killer anyway. A great plan.

Should it not been spoiled by the first complication:
the Unbreakable Vow Snape made to Narcissa. Why did he
make it? I believe that mostly out of pride. Let me
say it from the beginning: I believe Snape is
fundamentally a good person. I believe that most of
his abuse in class can be justified by the fact that
he knows how much more he can do than merely teach,
except he is forced not to use his many talents in
order to be useful to the war. It's not hard to
explain why he hates Harry with passion: Harry, whom
he perceives, probably right, as inferior to him as
wizard (Harry barely manages to do his homework, let
alone to invent new spells!), gets to act as the good
guy, as the hero, and be loved by everybody, while
nobody knows how much Snape is doing. Allowing
yourself to be hated requires immense strength of
character, and surely induces a lot of frustrations.
Neville, on the other side, is struggling through
every subject, yet he will graduate and probably get
to do a decent job, while Snape will still be locked
in his dungeon, teaching a subject he is not even
passionate about. This is mainly how I read his abuse
now. Why does he like Draco? Surely he understands
that the boy is in a sense as abused as he was and
will probably have quite a difficult life, without any
real fault of his own. Of course he wants to protect
him, as much as he can. In his place, I would feel
exactly the same on all three counts, and I hate abuse
with passion. So, in the vow to Narcissa, I believe
Snape hoped to prove part of his strength and
character. To himself, at least. And to protect Draco
as well. Perhaps also to help a mother with the
completely useless Lucius for a husband. Perhaps he
meant to stop Draco for killing Dumbledore, if at all
possible. He did not expect the third part, he did not
expect that Narcissa would ask him to do the deed
himself, if Draco was not able to fulfill it. But at
that point he could not go back. He had to agree,
otherwise what would the Dark Lord think of his
hesitation to kill the main enemy of the dark side?

Of course the first thing Snape did (at least in my
reading) was to warn Dumbledore about the Vow. What
was Dumbledore to do? At that point, either him or
Snape had to die. He is old. He is not that vital to
the Order anymore. Besides, he will NEVER allow
somebody else to suffer if he can help - see his
behavior after he drank the green potion, for
instance. Without Snape's work and protection, Harry
might not be able to kill Voldemort. Should Snape kill
Dumbledore, Voldemort would trust him completely and
therefore he might be able to help Harry even more.
Therefore, Dumbledore made his choice and asked Snape
to kill him, in order to spare both Draco and himself
a worse faith. Perhaps Snape refused, perhaps he said
that he had put his life in jeopardy to help the
Order, but no, this last deed, this crime he would not
commit. Perhaps this is the discussion Hagrid
overheard. Yet, Dumbledore knew Snape would do what is
right, therefore he finally granted him his wish of
teaching DADA. As a token of gratitude and surely
because in that way he gave Snape no chance to
continue his double spy work at Hogwarts.

Now, why would Dumbledore offer safe haven to Draco if
he knew he was doomed anyway? Perhaps to let Draco
know that he has an alternative, should he ever want
to use it. Or, I would find more likely, to show to
Harry that Draco is not a murderer. When Snape came to
the Tower, there were three possibilities: (1) Draco
would kill Dumbledore; (2) Snape would kill Dumbledore
or (3) Snape would help Dumbledore escape. In the
first case, Draco would be doomed. In (2) and (3),
Snape would die. Surely Dumbledore saw only one
option: to sacrifice himself and let everybody else
survive and continue the battle. Snape hated what he
had to do, he hated to know that his name would be
cursed and everybody would consider him a traitor, but
for the greater good, and because Dumbledore's orders
had to be fulfilled, he commited the crime. Of course
he hated Harry even more, when the little brat would
get to play the hero again and he, Snape, who had
actually saved everything (surely he will in the last
book) had to accept danger and unfair hatred once
again. Yet, he didn't kill Harry, he saved his life
once again, because Harry has to kill Voldemort and
nothing else is important except to rid the world of
evil.

I had no particular sympathy for Snape before the HBP,
only a little pity for his circumstances. Now,
ironically, I trust him completely.

On a more symbolic note, does anybody else thinks that
Dumbledore, commiting suicide, which is a crime by any
standards, got to split his soul and create a Horcrux?
Does anybody else think that he sacrificed himself so
that his soul, his word, his truth, his principles
would prevail, and that this is the biblical parallel
Jo promised to us?

One more little paragraph to say that, beind in denial
about the death of my hero, I am intrigued about the
parallels between Sirius and Dumbledore: both are much
beloved, the deaths of both are hard to assimilate and
truly believe, plus, each has a brother... perhaps,
just, just perhaps Jo wanted to kill Sirius so that we
would truly believe Dumbledore's death, although the
second is not true... but I don't believe it. I truly
believe he is dead, in body if not in spirit, because
the whole WW became his Horcrux, the depositary of a
part of his noble soul.

Mira

PS: 'I also miss DA, it was almost like having
friends'; 'Nobody has invited me to a party yet, as a
friend'; 'There's no need to call me Sir, Professor' -
for these lines, if for nothing else, I would forgive
anything to Jo.


		
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