What is the use of Ch2 "Spinners End"?

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 133833

Del wrote:
> Greetings all!
> 
> Whenever I think of the second chapter of HBP, "Spinners End", I 
get
> the nagging feeling that JKR is playing with us. Mainly, my main
> concern is: what is the POINT of that chapter??
<snip>
>Telling
> us that so early in the book is simply NOT LOGICAL (IMO, of 
course).
> It takes away SO MUCH from the shock of Snape killing DD. Right 
from
> Chapter 2, we know that Draco is going to be working on something 
big
> for LV, and that if he fails, Snape will have to do it. This just
> doesn't make sense to me.
<snip again>
> THE STORY WOULD HAVE WORKED JUST AS WELL WITHOUT CHAPTER 2.
> 
> And that bothers me greatly, and it's why I do definitely think 
that JKR is playing with us.


Hannah: Oh, JKR is always playing with us!  As to what purpose the 
chapter served, it gave us an insight into why Snape was allowed 
back into the fold of Death Eaters, something many had wondered.  
Indeed, not all fans were even convinced that he had returned to 
spy - there has been no unbiased canon evidence of that up to now.  

This is information that would have been hard come by realistically 
in Harry's POV.  Plus the chapter gave us our first ever look at 
Snape from a point of view that isn't Harry's.  It was an 
interesting departure from the canon norm.  It told us where 
Wormtail was, and introduced us to Narcissa and to a more rounded 
picture of Bella.  It gave an insight into Death Eater dynamics.  
And weren't you just desperate to know from then on what 'the plan' 
was?

Another interesting thing revealed here was Snape's position as 
LV's 'favourite, his most trusted advisor.'  This too would be hard 
to come by anywhere else via Harry.  Finally, any and all of the 
information given in that scene could be significant in book 7.  
Remember, books 6 and 7 are like two parts of the same book.  

I don't think it gave away that Snape would kill DD, at least it 
didn't to me, expect maybe right at the very end when he burst in 
through the door, at which point it's almost done.  We know Draco is 
working on something big and that Snape has sworn to try and help, 
but we don't know what the something is or that Snape is actually 
going to be able to help him.  Then later on we see that Draco isn't 
cooperating with Snape anyway.

The other purpose is to tell us as readers that Harry isn't just 
being paranoid, otherwise I probably would have suspected that.  It 
adds to our frustration as people brush aside Harry's concerns about 
Draco and about Snape.  

I suppose the chapter also adds to the argument that Snape isn't 
evil - though I guess it could also be used to argue that he is.  
It's just another bit of evidence about Snape for us to use, and it 
tells us that he's going to be important in the story.
Hannah