the Unbreakable Vow (wasRe: "revulsion and hatred etched in

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 135408

 
> zgirnius:
> The difficulty with this discussion is that we do not know the 
> motivations for *any* of Snape's actions. And how we would construe 
> any one of them clearly rests to some extent on how we had 
construed 
> the others. And what, generally, we expect of him.
snip

Potioncat:
Good post, Zgirnius. Here's my (rather long) take on the vow.

What really happened at Spinner's End? What did Snape really promise 
to do? Narcissa shows up, distraught, her emotions on her sleeve and 
asks Snape for help. He spends a lot of time looking into her eyes. 
Very touching, wasn't it? Offered her refreshments too. He didn't get 
it himself, but told Kreacher...erm Wormtail...which wine to bring 
out.

>From Narcissa's and Bella's bits of conversation, it sounds as if LV 
called Cissy, Bella and Draco into his office and gave them orders. 
We don't know for sure, but it sounds that way to me. They were told 
not to talk. Snape says he knows The Plan. Does he?  Snape could be 
lying. If he didn't know the plan when they first came in, he knew it 
after a few teary eyed gazes; and for some reason decides to align 
himself with the sisters by agreeing to the UV. One can only wonder 
how he would explain this to LV, but he must not think it's 
unacceptable to the Big Guy.

Is he telling the truth? LV may have told him that Draco was assigned 
to kill DD, but that LV was in no hurry. He may even have given them 
a very long dead line (excuse the pun) knowing that would drag out 
the discomfort for the entire Malfoy family; and he may already have 
assigned Snape to kill DD once Draco had failed. In this case Snape 
has lost nothing in LV's eyes by making the UV and has raised his 
esteem with the sisters. They are somewhat in his debt now, after all.

If Snape already knew The Plan, then DD probably already knew it too. 
Apparently, DD's strategy was for Snape to keep tabs on the project, 
but to leave Draco free to make his choices. They may already have 
discussed what Snape was to do. In that case, Snape hasn't really 
hurt those plans either; although the final condition may have made 
it more intense.

Now, whether or not he expected the last condition is up in the air. 
Let's assume he didn't, but couldn't back out. Let's assume he did, 
and had his own way of getting around it, particularly if he and DD 
had already made plans of their own.  The UV is harder to explain if 
DD didn't know about The Plan, unless Snape was only expecting the 
first two conditions.

So, what did he promise?

"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to 
fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?"

No big deal. Snape has been watching over Draco for 5 years now. 
Particularly if DD and Snape are aware of what's going on now, he's 
already going to be watching over him.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

That goes with part one, and is nothing new. In fact, it allows Snape 
to caution Draco against certain actions, thereby actually sabotaging 
The Plan but keeping to the letter of the UV.

"And, should it prove necessary
if it seems Draco will fail
" 
whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not 
draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has 
ordered Draco to perform?"

Uh-Oh, not so good. But even here, Snape might have an out. Just how 
do you define "if it seems Draco will fail" or "if it becomes 
necessary"?  Draco was able to make several attempts without Snape 
having to step in.

It did get him in the end. At that last moment when (we think) DD is 
already dying and Snape will die if he doesn't carry out the Dark 
Lord's wishes as per the UV, because by now, Draco did try and did 
fail. Perhaps without the UV he could have left DD on the tower, 
leading the DEs in a retreat from the castle. DD most likely still 
would have died, but Snape wouldn't have had to help him on. 


We know (by the end of the book) that Snape is a Legilimens, that 
Bellatrix is an Occlumens, but not whether Narcissa has any 
Occlumency skills. I'm basing this on Snape's comment later that 
Bellatrix must be teaching Occlumency to Draco. What if, unknown to 
Snape, Narcissa has picked up some skills on her own? The real 
question might be, 'At Spinner's End, in the emotional scene between 
Narcissa and Snape who was the spider and who was the fly?'

Potioncat