Contra Severum - quick clarification

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 134722

hekatesheadband wrote: <snipped>
> > The only inference I feel justified in making, on the basis of the
text, is that Snape is more likely endangering than protecting Draco
by removing him from Hogwarts, and that that strikes me as not 
reflected well on Snape's intentions. ...
>
> bboyminn responded: 
> First let me point out that at the top of the tower, and as they
fight there way out of the castle, there are more Death Eaters there
than Snape and Draco. My guess was that if Draco wasn't able to kill
> Dumbledore, then the remaining Death Eaters would have surely killed
> him on the spot. But Snape stepped in and took charge, he dispatched
> Dumbledore and dragged Draco off with him. In my opinion, dragging
> Draco off in the moment saves Draco's life. 
> 
> Once everyone has had time to cool down, Snape will bring Draco to
> Voldemort who will punish him SEVERELY. But after the punishment,
> Draco will still be alive. Much better to be tortured for your
> misdeeds than to be killed for them. <snip>
> So, in a sense, you are saying that by taking Draco away with him,
> Snape has doomed Draco. However, I am saying that the fact that
Snape took charge, and removed Draco from the scene is the only thing
that saved Draco. Once they are away from the scene, Draco's death is
no longer a matter of DE discretion, but becomes a matter for Lord
> Voldemort to deal with. With Snape, Mr. Malfoy, and Mrs. Malfoy
> begging for leniency, I think the Dark Lord may decide that after
> punishment, he may be able to use Draco in the future. Draco is,
> afteral, very young and it would be understandable that the task of
> killing Dumbledore might have been more than he was able to do.
> Certainly, greater men than Draco have wanted to kill Dumbledore and
> failed. <snip>
>
Carol adds:
I agree with Steve that Snape stepped in, took charge, and not only
got Draco safely past the skirmishes but got the Death Eaters to
follow him off the Hogwarts grounds. His next step will almost
certainly be to present Draco's case to Voldemort, not pleading for
mercy but using logic, persuasion, and Occlumency to show the benefits
of treating Draco with a degree of leniency. I don't think Lucius
Malfoy's plea will count for much, though, even if he has the chance
to express it, and I think that Narcissa's pleas would fall on deaf
ears, and there we see one difference between Voldemort and Snape. The
only one who has the skill, the ability, and the authority to
influence Voldemort in the matter is Snape.

I think Snape will point out that Draco did partly accomplish his
mission. He did repair the vanishing cabinet and link Borgin and
Burkes to Hogwarts and he did let the Death Eaters in. If Draco hadn't
gone that far toward accomplishing his mission, Dumbledore would not
be dead. i think that Snape, who is still bound to protect Draco
either by the oath or by his own sense of duty (as shown by his
escorting him out safely and shouting, "Run, Draco!"), will speak for
him and point this out to Voldemort. Snape is also ending the duelling
 and getting the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts. And, as many people
have pointed out, he stops on the way to protect and instruct Harry
under the guise of taunting him. (Surely the fact that he's not nearly
as good at duelling as Snape is a revelation in itself to Harry.)
Snape does not join in the attack on Hagrid, nor does he fight the
Order members in the hallway. I think he is protecting the school to
the last--and protecting Draco for as long as the task requires.

Someone mentioned leaving Draco at the school. But even if it were
possible for Snape to get him away from the Death Eaters and hand him
over to McGonagall (who is busy duelling), Draco would not be allowed
to remain at the school. He has committed several crimes: two counts
of attempted murder (the cursed necklace and the poisoned wine); he
has Imperio'd Madam Rosmerta through a cursed coin; and he has
provided the means for Death Eaters to enter the school, making him
indirectly responsible for the attack on Bill by Fenrir Grayback, the
burning of Hagrid's hut, and any other injuries caused by the Death
Eaters. It's true that he was under coercion to let the Death Eaters
in and in particular, to try to kill Dumbledore, but it was his own
vain boasts that he had figured out a way to get into the school using
the vanishing cabinets that got him into trouble in the first place.
Nor do I think he was forced to become a Death Eater. It seems to have
been his own choice, and at first, he seems to have been pretty cocky
about it. At any rate, he would certainly be both expelled and
arrested, with his wand taken from him and broken as Hagrid's had
been. No, it would not be a kindness, or even a possibility, to leave
Draco at Hogwarts. Better to take his chances with the Death Eaters
and Voldemort, at least if Snape is with him to keep him silent and
inconspicuous. Maybe Snape could persuade Voldemort to send him home
to his mother until he's of age, a humiliating punishment for any
sixteen-year-old, especially if it can be magically enforced.

Carol, who wishes she could read all the posts, reread the book, and
still have time to live her life