Snape's timing and the supposedly missing five hours (Was: Interpretation)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 142083

Carol earlier:
> > And if it didn't, blame the requirements of JKR's plot, not Snape,
without whose action in sending the Order to the MoM, Harry and his
friends would be dead.
> > 
> 
> Neri:
> I don't know yet what are the requirements of JKR's plot. I'll know 
> that only after Book 7. <snip>

Carol:
You don't? I stated the plot requirements in my post. You actually
left some of them in your response, which I'll requote:

> > Carol earlier:
> > *The plot* requires Snape to contact the Order at about the time
the kids are fighting the DEs (setting aside whatever time it takes
them to get organized and arrive at the DoM, into which you can't 
Apparate directly). <snip>

Carol again:

The requirements for the Harry-centered (main) plot, which you 
snipped, are (quoting my previous post):

"*What JKR needs* is for Harry to get into the forest with Hermione
and Umbridge, ditch Umbridge, be rejoined by their DA friends, fly to
the MoM, be met by the DEs, fight the DEs, be rescued by the Order
just in time, then have Harry fight Bellatrix and have Voldie arrive
followed by DD just in time to fight him. *This plot requires* that
the Order be delayed and that DD be delayed even more so that his
arrival roughly coincides with Voldie's (accomplished through his talk
with Kreacher at Order HQ). If Harry and his friends had arrived with
the Order already there, they would either have watched the fight from
the sidelines or been scolded and sent home. Somehow, that wasn't
quite climactic enough." (No emphasis in original post)

So we *do* know *what the plot requires* on Harry's side, and Snape's
actions must be made to fit into *that* plot. The Order *must* arrive
after the kids have spent some time fighting the DEs; DD *must* arrive
after Sirius's death, just in time to save Harry from Voldie, etc.
*The plot requires* some sort of delay on Snape's part (perfectly
explicable if he doesn't realize immediately that Harry has gone off
on what Snape knows to be a wild goose chase), but *it also requires*
him to send the Order (and DD) in time to save Harry and the kids. So
whatever Snape does behind the scenes (and we're only told part of it)
has less to do with him and his motives than with JKR's need to
squeeze in all this action. (And anything that happens after the Order
arrives doesn't really count in the time frame, anyway. It's only what
happens after Harry communicates the vision to Snape and the moment
the Order arrives that we need to consider. So the sun rising as DD
talks to Harry has nothing to do with any supposed delay by Snape.)

What matters, IMO, is that Snape *did* send the Order and that, in so
doing, he saved the lives of Harry and his friends (or enabled the
Order to save them, if you prefer). He even tried to keep Sirius Black
at HQ to wait for Dumbledore, which would have saved *his* life if he
had listened. If DD continues to trust Snape without reservation, as
he clearly does throughout HBP, then there's no reason to suppose that
Snape didn't do everything necessary and possible in finding out what
was really happening and informing both the Order and DD (whose
intended arrival at HQ Snape could not have known about if he had not
himself contacted Dumbledore). (I know you think you've answered this
point satisfactorily, but I remain unconvinced.)

Carol, with apologies for reiterating her argument and hoping that
she's added at least some clarification of her points