What is the use of Ch2 "Spinners End"?

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 133854

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:
> And finally my biggest concern: we did NOT NEED to learn what was 
in
> that chapter!! Why do we need to know ANY of the things we learn in
> that chapter? Why do we need to know about the tense relationship
> between Bella and Snape, why do we need to know about the 
whereabouts
> of Wormtail, and why do we need to know about the Unbreakable Vow?
> 
> THE STORY WOULD HAVE WORKED JUST AS WELL WITHOUT CHAPTER 2.


Tonks:
Spinners End is my favorite chapter in the book.  It tells so much.  
We see the interaction between the two sisters.  We see Bella as 
someone's sister and not just this evil person.  We see, to my 
amazement, that Narcissus is a loving mother. In spite of the 
implications in her name, she *does* care for someone other than 
herself.  And we see her here for the first time in her own right.  
We also see something else..  We see Snape being kind and tender. 
Yes, he is.  He is happy to see Narcissus and it appears genuine.  I 
think that there may be more to this little tidbit.  I think that 
Snape was in love with Narcissus and her family being the purebloods 
that they are, they would not have approved of Snape and Narcissus.  
Maybe he stayed on as a "friend of the family".  That is not as 
unseal as it sounds.  It happens.  Lucius probably doesn't know 
about Snape's feeling toward Narcissus and he just sees them as good 
friends.  Maybe Narcissus herself does not know the depth of Snape's 
feeling for her.  But I will bet a years supply of Butterbeer that 
he cares for her very much.  

I think that Snape would have found some way out of that vow if he 
had really wanted to.  I think he took it for Narcissus.  Then what 
we see in the end is the battle between his love for Narcissus and 
his love for DD. 

Also think about the title.  Spinners End. I really like the title 
too. We are told that it is the street on which Snape lives.  As a 
spy it fits.  He is spinning lies; he is spinning a trap, etc.  And 
what happens in this chapter will be his end.  The crafty Slytherin, 
looking out for himself, doing what is in his best interest, all of 
the things we think a true Slytherin to be 
  and what happens
  he 
does something that will be his undoing.  And he does it for love.  
That is my theory, I could be wrong.  Maybe he is just covering his 
bets as a good spy, but I think that there is more to it than that.

I also like this chapter because it gives us so much background on 
Snape.  It answers so many questions that we, the readers, need to 
know and have been begging JKR to tell.  The book would not have 
made as much sense without it. It also shows the human interactions 
between the members of the *other side*.  We see their humanity.  I 
love this chapter best of all.  Course now I can not look at my 
screensaver (the one that shows the clasped hands entwined with a 
rope of fire) without bursting into tears.  We needed to see this 
scene and understand the implications of the vow in order to truly 
understand Snape killing DD.  Otherwise, it would have just come out 
of the blue and made no sense.

Tonks_op
Wearing black and still depressed and crying over DD.  Going out to 
get more boxes of Kleenex.