[HPforGrownups] UV = DDM? (was:Re: OFH! Snape again. WAS: Straightforward readings?

[Mira]

No: HPFGUIDX 140854

Writing messages only when fully awake = a course in
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priceless

Please find below the corrected version of message
140850 (now deleted).

Thanks for the patience... Mira

--- horridporrid03 <horridporrid03 at yahoo.com> wrote:


> Enter the Unbreakable Vow.  This is *not* something
> that either
> Snape or Dumbledore forsaw, IMO.  And this is where
> the DADA curse
> may well manifest itself.
> (See Carol's excellent post on the DADA jinx here:
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/137961
> )

This is an excellent point, Betsy (and Carol). The UV
almost puts Snape under the impossibility to fulfill
the DADA job for more than one year (he will either
die or have to flee). However, it does not prevent
Draco succeeding in killing Dumbledore, in which case,
in principle, Snape could have stayed on as a DADA
teacher.

Let me start by clarifying that I am in the OFH!Snape
camp, although I would be very happy if DDM!Snape
proves true.

I have, however, one big objection to the DDM!Snape:
when Draco tells Dumbledore about the UV, Dumbledore
contradicts him:

'He hasn't been doing YOUR orders, he promised my
mother-'

'Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco,
but-'

(British edition p 549)

Now, the way I see it, this could have three possible
explanations:

1. Dumbledore does not know about the UV, in which
case:

1a) Snape is ESE or OFH, or:

1b) Snape did not tell Dumbledore about the UV
because he knew that Dumbledore would sacrifice
himself and Snape wanted to be the one who dies, but
this is completely at odds with how I read Snape's
character, or perhaps:

1c) Snape did not tell Dumbledore about the UV
because he knew that Dumbledore would ask him to do
the murder, and he still hoped that Draco would do it,
but this does not agree with the fact the Snape wanted
to protect Draco through and through.

2. Dumbledore knows about the UV, but does not tell
Draco because he does not want Draco to be entirely
sure that Snape is DDM, not at this point (in order to
protect Snape if Draco does manage to become a
murderer).

3. Dumbledore knows about the UV but does not tell
Draco because Draco would know that if the UV has
indeed happened, either Dumbledore or Snape would have
to die, then he would probably expect Snape to kill
Dumbledore anyway and endeavor to do it himself in
order to lap up all the glory.

There might be less twisted explanations of the scene,
but right now I cannot come up with anything else. Of
all the possibilities listed above, I must concede
that 1a is the least problematic, if not the only one
who can sail. 1c might have some merits, too.

One very important point for me is the timing of the
events described in chapters two and three of the HBP.
Let me discuss two possible timelines:

A) Snape takes the UV, then runs to Dumbledore to tell
him, and Dumbledore decides to let Snape kill him.
Since it is his last year at Hogwarts anyway,
Dumbledore gives Snape the DADA position, Snape
remains DDM through and through.

B) Dumbledore gives Snape the DADA position, which in
turn makes the UV come into being. This is, I believe,
the chronology that you also favor, Betsy.

My question is: if B is true, why would Dumbledore
decide to give Snape the DADA job, in the first place?

I believe that the answer is: Dumbledore gave Snape
the DADA position deliberately in order to prevent
Draco from succeeding in his mission. Snape told
Bellatrix in Chapter 2 that Voldemort would have liked
Draco to kill Dumbledore and Snape to remain in his
position as a spy against the Order. This is, I
believe, exactly what Dumbledore wanted to prevent
when he made Snape DADA professor.

If this is true, Dumbledore cannot have such a 100%
trust in Snape as he pretends. Dumbledore knew the
DADA  job would bring the worst in Snape, he must have
had a very strong reason to take this risk. So
Dumbledore certainly accepted to sacrifice himself -
not only in order to spare Draco becoming a murderer,
but also in order to prevent Snape for staying on at
Hogwarts after Dumbledore dies. In this scenario, the
fact that Harry was a witness to the crime was (also
a) direct results of the DADA jinx, but none of these
means that Snape is DDM or that Dumbledore himself
really believed in Snape's loyality.

All this leads, I believe, to a decent explanation for
Dumbledore's pleading: he did not beg Snape to kill
(if 1a then there was no need for Snape to kill
Dumbledore) or spare him (since Dumbledore was not
afraid of death, indeed, he seemed to have embraced
the idea quite early on in Book 6): Dumbledore pleaded
with Snape to remain on the side of the good, to
continue helping Harry and the Order even if nobody
would know about this and even if his faith would be
payed with suspicion and hate. This definitely is
something which I see Dumbledore pleading for.

In any case, if Dumbledore did not know about the UV
then I really don't see much possibility for Snape to
be DDM (unless his concern for Draco has always been a
facade, but this is not how it sounded to me).

Sorry if all this sounds a bit convoluted, it is quite
late here, but it is the only time when I can
read/reply.

Mira



		
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