A Cold Equation (was Re: The Trial Of Severus Snape)

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 141329

 
Carol wrote: 

So let me ask you again: If Snape had the choice of 1) dying from  the
broken UV and accomplishing nothing except endangering everyone  else,
with Dumbledore and Draco killed by the DEs, Harry in grave  danger,
and the DEs running all over Hogwarts OR 2) killing the  unsaveable
Dumbledore, saving Draco and Harry, and getting the DEs out  of
Hogwarts, wouldn't "2" be the better choice, or at least  an
understandable choice?

I'm only posing this question as a "what  if," not arguing that this
interpretation is the correct one.

*If*  Dumbledore could not be saved, and *if* the only way Snape could
save Harry  (and Draco) and get the DEs out of Hogwarts was to kill
Dumbledore, did Snape  really have a choice? 

And *if* he made the only possible choice, making  himself a murderer
to give Harry a chance of destroying Voldemort, doesn't he  deserve
forgiveness?



Julie now:
Not only would #2 be the understandable choice for Snape, it would
also be the better choice to Dumbledore, and exactly what he would
ask of Snape ("Severus, please...").
 
There is a classic science fiction short story by Tom Goodwin  called
"The Cold Equations." Hopefully I'm remembering it right, since I no
longer have a copy of it, but the gist is this: A pilot is shuttling  an
emergency supply of medicine to a planet. Without the medicine's
arrival in a timely manner, thousands will die. The spaceship has 
just enough fuel to get the pilot and the medicine to the planet, yet
the pilot discovers the ship is overweight and the fuel will run out
before he can land on the planet. He then discovers the cause
of the extra weight is a teenage girl who is a stowaway. After
much discussion with ground control? and getting to know the girl
(who thought the ship was going somewhere else, and basically
made a mistake/committed a minor crime without malicious intent),
the pilot must make a decision. The choices:
 
1. The pilot can refuse to take any action and deny reality, the
ship will run out of fuel before they get to the planet, the ship  will
crash, he will die, she will die, and thousands on the planet will 
die from the disease.
 
2. The pilot can jettison the medicine and/or return with the girl to 
the origin, in which case it will be too late to take another load of
the medicine to the planet, as the thousands of infected people
will have died. 
 
3. The pilot can space the girl, thus keeping enough fuel to get
himself and the ship to the planet and deliver the medicine, which
will save thousands of lives. (Note: the girl cannot fly the ship, so
he can't space himself while letting both her and the thousands of 
sick people survive.)
 
You've probably figured out what the pilot did. He chose #3--with
her foreknowledge before he spaced her (which she took well)--
and he made himself watch as she died. She suffered for the 
decision (obviously), but thousands lived because of it. And 
the pilot lived with it, painfully. 
 
I suspect this is a pretty direct analogy for the situation on the
Tower. Snape has very similar choices, as outlined above by Carol.
>From all appearances Dumbledore is going to die, either from 
the potion or the lake water, or from his inability to defend himself
in his weakened state against the DEs. Or Snape can AK him. 
So Snape does have a choice. Here's the problem:
 
The one choice Snape does *not* have is to sacrifice ONLY
himself. If he takes what some consider the high road, and 
refuses to kill Dumbledore, then he dies from the UV, and he 
very likely takes others with him, including Dumbledore, who
is not going to survive the Tower scene either way. If he does
kill Dumbledore, then he saves himself, but he ALSO quite 
likely saves Draco and Harry, and perhaps other students at 
Hogwarts by getting the DEs out of there. 
 
For me, if those are the two choices--Dumbledore alone dies,
or he dies and others die with him--then it's pretty clear  which
alternative Dumbledore would choose. And which Snape would 
be forced to choose. It's the whole rock and a hard place, choice
between two evils, no-win scenario thing. 
 
Or, one could call it a "cold equation." It's a purely rational move, 
based on achieving the best outcome in a bad situation. 
 
 
Julie 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 








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