Bonder in Unbreakable Vow

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 140542

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lealess" <lealess at y...> wrote:
> Has anyone talked about the function of the Bonder in the
> Unbreakable Vow?  We have three rings of fire, and the person
> administering the vow holding a wand to create them.  Do you
> suppose if Severus broke the Vow, Bellatrix would be obliged to
> come after him to force him to perform it?  Even though I abhor
> violence, that would be a battle worth reading about (although I
> think the person to battle Bellatrix might be Neville, or maybe
> Narcissa). 

Jen: Since we don't see Severus break the vow, this is mostly 
speculative. All we have to go on is Ron's comment that a person 
dies if he/she breaks an Unbreakable. I'm thinking death occurs the 
moment a person fails to perform the task, and the magical universe 
just *knows* when the Vow-taker fails. Like the Goblet of Fire in a 
way--we don't exactly know why Harry had to compete, but Dumbledore 
said he did and we just have to believe him :).

This seems like the only impartial way to have it work, because it 
would be a judgement call if the bonder or the person requesting the 
vow is responsible for determining the UV was broken. If Snape 
hadn't killed DD on the tower, but run with Draco instead, he could 
claim Draco was still working on killing Dumbledore to Bellatrix or 
Narcissa. But the magical universe doesn't need to make any 
judgements, it would just strike Snape down the moment he made the 
choice not to kill Dumbledore because Draco already failed, and 
Snape would have passed up the chance to fulfill the final clause of 
the UV. So, Blammmo! You only get one chance, I think, which is why 
Snape had to make the decision on the tower between 'him or me'.

And what is this arbiter of justice, the magical universe I refer 
to? Well, it's sort of like the Force in Star Wars, you aren't 
entirely sure, but it's there, it's important, and it explains the 
inexplicable. Until it doesn't, and then we shore it up because the 
facts are sort of sketchy. 

lealess: 
> Or does the Bonder serve as a justice of the peace at a ceremony, 
> where people might put their hands over a book and take a vow,
> i.e., is Bellatrix just a figurehead standing in for society's 
> sanction?  If she's just a figurehead, who does she represent? I
> figure it's the power of whatever magical branch governs the UV
> (Dark Arts if the punishment for violating the Vow is death, White
> Magic (is that the right term?) if everybody's making Vows as the
> WW stand-in for insurance).  Whichever power it is, who is the
> enforcer?  The Wizengamot?

Jen: I think about the Vow in more ethereal terms than this, more 
like a life debt than a legally sanctioned vow. The bonder is only 
there for mechanical reasons, to perform the magic that binds the 
two people together and then washes her hands of the outcome.

lealess:
> As an aside, Severus made the Vow to Narcissa, not to Draco.  
> Therefore, when Draco comes of age, I do not believe the Vow is 
> discharged, as the promise still belongs to Narcissa.  I do wonder 
> if she can forgive it at any point.

Jen: When the deed is done, the vow is done. That's my take on it. 
There's nothing binding them together anymore, Severus is released. 
Well, you know, as much as he can be in the circumstances.

Jen