Severus Unbound (Was: Bonder in Unbreakable Vow)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 140548

lealess 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?  <snip>
> > 
> > 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?  
<snip>
> > 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.

Julie responded:
> I posted about this awhile back (see message #136726) but had only 
> one responder.  I hope you have more luck because I, too, wonder 
> about the role of the bonder.  Also, once the vow has been 
> fulfilled, what happens?  Is the person "released" from the bond, 
> having fulfilled it once?  Or does it extend for the lives of the 
> ones involved?  My opinion is that it would be fulfilled and all 
> parties would be released.


Carol adds:
If Severus Snape broke his *Unbreakable* Vow, there would be no need
for Bellatrix to come after him to force him to fulfill it. He would
be dead. (That's the whole point of his terrible choice on the tower:
kill Dumbledore or die, and the whole reason for the debate over why
Snape would allow himself to be trapped into such a dangerous magical
obligation.)

I think Bellatrix's role corresponds (ironically) to that of a priest
or minister in a marriage ceremony. She bonds Severus to Narcissa with
"rings" of fire, but he's bound to Narcissa, not to her. To pursue the
analogy (which I realize is only an illustration, not proof), a priest
or minister has no further obligation to a married couple after the
ceremony is performed. If one of them breaks the marriage vows, the
minister is not obligated to keep them in his or her place.

The third provision has been fulfilled (DD is really dead, or else
Snape would be dead). But I'm not sure about the provisions to help
and protect Draco. Yes, the vow was made to Narcissa, but they may
have applied only to this specific situation. Snape got Draco safely
off the Hogwarts grounds, but we have no idea what happened to them
afterwards. (My guess is that Snape persuaded Voldemort that Draco
made the killing of DD possible by fixing the vanishing cabinet and
letting the DEs into Hogwarts; certainly DD would not be dead if it
had not been for Draco's actions. But of course I could be completely
wrong here.)

If the vow related only to the specific situation, Snape is free of
all three provisions. If they end with Draco's coming of age, he's
also free. But I don't see any evidence in the wording of the vow that
either possibility is the case. In other words, I think Snape is still
bound by provisions one and two until Narcissa chooses to release him.
And it may be that Bellatrix will have to perform the countercharm to
unbind him, revealing and removing the two remaining rings of fire
with her wands as Narcissa speaks the words. The vow itself requires
the participation of three people. I'm guessing that the same three
people are needed to release the bound person from the vow.

Maybe Narcissa will be sufficiently grateful to Severus for saving her
son from the Death Eaters and for "doing the deed" that saves him from
becoming a murderer (as opposed to accessory to murder and several
other crimes) that she'll release Snape from his vow. 

But as far as I can see, Bellatrix, the bonder, is under no obligation
herself to carry out the remaining provisions of the vow (to help and
protect Draco), and there's no reason for her to hound Snape into
doing it, either. He knows quite well that the consequence of breaking
an Unbreakable Vow is death.

Carol