ESE!Snape - possible clue!

[catjaneway]

No: HPFGUIDX 135561

"davenclaw" wrote:
> > I just finished re-reading HBP, and something caught my about 
the scene on the Astronomy Tower.
> > When Malfoy tells Dumbledore that Snape made the Unbreakable Vow 
to his mother to help him, Dumbledore doesn't say "I know, I told 
him to" or "Yes, but he was bound to me already" or anything like 
> that. He says "Of course he would tell you that."  In other words, 
> > Dumbledore didn't know about the vow, and thought Snape was 
lying to Malfoy.  I think this is a big check mark in the "Snape is 
Ever-So- Evil" column.
> > 
> 
> zgirnius replied:
<Snip> [DD] must consider the possibility that in the 
> immediate future he will be killed by Draco, and Draco will then 
> leave with the DEs to report back to LV. Where he will certainly 
> report back on that final conversation. If Draco tells LV that 
Snape 
> had discussed the UV with DD, Snape's cover would be jeopardized. 
If 
> Draco can sneeringly confirm to LV that DD bought Snape's act 
hook, 
> line, and sinker, it strengthens Snape's position.

Now me:
I agree with Davenclaw that this is one of the strongest pieces of 
evidence pointing to ESE!Snape or at least to only-in-it-for-himself!
Snape. So I will do my humble best to refute zgirnius' crafty logic:

The "plan" discussed at Spinner's End that must be kept secret at 
all costs has nothing to do with the UV. It is of course for Draco 
to assassinate DD. DD does in fact find out about this plan, 
probably from Snape, and DD tells Draco that he knows about it. He 
even says that Snape was keeping watch over Draco "on my orders." So 
Draco will have every opportunity to tell LV that Snape told DD 
about the super-secret plan -- but it won't matter because Snape 
will be able to say that it was all part of his double-agent role.

In terms of Snape's cover, why would it be any more problemmatic for 
LV to know that Snape had taken the UV than that had had told DD 
about the "plan"? If DD had replied to Draco by saying, "Yes, Snape 
took that UV on my orders" and then Draco reported it right back to 
LV, Snape would say what he always says: "I let DD *think* that he 
gave me the order, but I was working for you, Dark Lord." And the 
fact that Snape killed DD would be pretty persuasive evidence that 
he was telling the truth. 

So, whether DD has planned his own death or not, he has no more 
reason to lie to Draco about the UV than he has to lie about knowing 
the "plan". This implies that he did *not* know about the UV, and 
therefore did not arrange for Snape to kill him.

Looking at it from Snape's perspective, he has reasons to hide the 
UV from both LV and DD, but IMO those reasons are much stronger in 
the case of DD. The reason to hide it from LV is that Snape has 
taken it on himself to do something that LV did not specifically 
order. That is, Draco and only Draco was supposed to kill DD. Snape 
goes beyond that by promising to do it himself if necessary. This 
might make LV angry since his "servants" weren't following orders; 
but the upshot of Snape taking the vow -- i.e. to KILL DUMBLEDORE -- 
could not be more pleasing to LV. (And Snape even speculates that LV 
will require him to do it if Draco fails -- so he's just doing what 
LV wants done anyway.) So if LV finds out about the UV -- big deal.

On the other hand, if DD finds out about the vow (assuming that it 
wasn't part of a grand plan) Snape is in big doo-doo because he 
will have given himself away.

So, in the game that Snape is playing, who is he more likely to have 
lied to about the UV? I leave it to you to decide for yourself!

JMO,
Janeway