Draco and Narcissa in hiding (Was: Snape's future)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 140681

Potioncat wrote:
<big snip--see my previous post for responses to earlier portion>

> DD was offering sanctuary to Draco and his family. Did Snape know 
that? Could it still be done? If Book 7 starts off with the news that
Draco and Narcissa have been killed, don't believe it.

Carol notes:
I meant to respond to this portion of your post earlier, but maybe it
needs its own thread. Anyway, I don't know whether Snape knows about
DD's offer of sanctuary, but Draco could have told him about it. The
question becomes how their deaths could plausibly be arranged now that
Snape is no longer in communication with the Order (AFAWK).

Suppose Snape informs the Order (maybe Lupin?) that he's "killed" them
by administering the Draught of Living Death, suggesting that MadEye
Moody find them and inform the Daily Prophet that they've been AK'd by
DEs? After an open-casket funeral service (not a burial!), they could
be taken into hiding by the Order members. Since Avada Kedavra (in the
clearcut examples that have been described in canon) doesn't leave a
mark and neither, presumably, would the Draught of Living Death, it
would be very easy to persuade any mourners (Theo Nott and
Crabbe/Goyle?) that the Malfoys were indeed dead, especially if the
breathing of someone who's taken the Draught is undetectable. 

I know it's difficult to work out the logistics of such a plan, but I
think JKR has planted hints that something of the sort is going to
happen. Snape talks about the Draught of Living Death (along with
bezoars) in his very first Potions lesson, and it's mentioned again in
HBP (more than once, IIRC) as if to refresh our memories. Surely it's
important and will play a role in Book 7. Somebody's death, I'm
willing to bet, is going to be faked using the Draught of Living
Death. (Harry's, Hermione's or a Weasley's is another possiblity.)

And I realize that Dumbledore's "He cannot kill you if you are already
dead" speech was edited out of the British edition of HBP, but it
still stands in the American edition (and as an editor myself I will
argue adamantly against its being editorial tampering--it must be
JKR's own words. No editor would presume to make such an addition).
It, too, is there (or was there) for a reason.

At any rate, Dumbledore refers to "members of the Order" (he doesn't
specify *which* Order; he assumes that Draco knows its name) as being
able to hide both Draco and his mother "more completely than you can
possibly imagine" (HBP Am. ed. 592). Draco probably knows from Aunt
Bellatrix exactly who was present in the DoM battle, and he knows at
least some of the Order members personally and could possibly contact
them--his "blood traitor" cousin Tonks, for example, or his ex-teacher
Lupin (if he knows where to find him and can get past his fear of
werewolves). But even if he did so, none of them is a Potions expert
who knows how to brew a foolproof Draught of Living Death (and it
would be very risky for an amateur to attempt to brew such a
potentially lethal potion) even with the help of the HBP's Potions
book--unless they found a vial of it when they raided his office at
Hogwarts. And even then I think they'd need Snape to administer it,
which is why I suggested the scenario in my second paragraph.If he
brews and administers the potion with their consent and informs the
Order after the fact, what choice do they have but to follow through
with the plan or violate Dumbledore's wishes by denying the Malfoys
mercy? (The only obstacle I can see is Bellatrix, and Narcissa can
stupefy her or drug her in advance and let *her* discover the
bodies--and of course disapparate for fear of being blamed.)

At any rate, I agree with Potioncat that Draco's and Narcissa's deaths
may well be faked in Book 7 and I think both DD's little speech and
the Draught of Living Death are hints as to how it might be brought
about. It seems to me as if both Snape and the Order would have to be
involved in some way to pull it off, and that Harry would recognize
this act of mercy (unmerited by definition) as Dumbledore's will.

Carol, noting that the idea is not a theory but wondering if anyone
thinks it has merit