Dumbledore's plans in HBP again WAS: Re: Cohesion

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 162357

Carol arlier:
> > Once the protective measures were in place and the desperation
measures (necklace, mead, etc.) were stopped, the only thing left was
to watch Draco and, after the Sectumsempra incident, keep Harry away
from him, accomplished in part through the Saturday detentions. To do
anything else would be to kill Draco or force his hand or to activate
the UV and kill Snape, the one man at Hogwarts who could keep the Dark
magic at bay.
> > 
Lupinlore responded: 
> The ONLY man?  All hail the great savior Snape!  All bow down before
his might and wisdom.  All turn their eyes away as he abuses children
and the "epitome of goodness" displays the reprehensible idiocy to 
allow him to continue!
> 
> Really, Dumbledore is, I think, an absolute contemptible incompetent
idiot throughout his dealings with Harry and his evident approval of
Harry being abused.  HBP only caps the problem.  
> 
> And that "epitome of goodness" remark really is where JKR put both
feet solidly in her mouth.  Along with the "very wise man" comment.  I
mean, it is all so absurd as inspire nothing but derision.
>
Carol responds:
Come on, now, Lupinlore. We all know how you feel about Snape and
Dumbledore, but there's no need to resort to sarcasm or to revile JKR
because she doesn't share your views. 

As for my post, which you're responding to, I don't regard Snape as
"the great savior" or even necessarily a hero, certainly not the hero
of the book, but he has surprising skill as a Healer that we see for
the first time in HBP, and I think that skill will be significant in
Book 7 as well as Book 6 or JKR would not have made it so conspicuous.
 Snape saves Dumbledore from the ring Horcrux and Katie Bell from the
cursed necklace and Draco from Sectumsempra. It seems unlikely that
anyone else could have saved them. When Harry asks "Why him?" instead
of Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore responds that Professor Snape knows much
more than Madam Pomfrey about the Dark Arts, which is certainly true. 

And there must be a reason why Dumbledore repeatedly says "I want
Severus" near the end of the book. Whether Snape is loyal to him or
not (and I'm not arguing that now), he and he alone has the ability to
do what Dumbledore wants done at that moment. And even Ron would be
dead if it weren't for Snape's passing on his knowledge of bezoars to
Harry, both in SS/PS and in the HBP's Potions book, which jogs Harry's
memory of that early lesson. We also see that he really does know
DADA, both in class and in the duel with Harry, and IMO, the duty to
deal with any Dark magic that gets past the protections at Hogwarts is
the job of the DADA professor, which is why McGonagall has Filch take
the cursed necklace to Snape. She must also have some inkling of the
extent of his DADA skills though not Dumbledore's in-depth awareness
of how much Snape knows. (On a side note, I think Snape must have
removed the curse from the opal necklace as well as saving Katie since
we don't hear any more about it.)

Instead of of expressing your derision, which I fear is shared by very
few people on this list, how about examining the evidence relating to
Snape and Dumbledore's reasons for relying on him so heavily in HBP?
Misplaced trust, maybe? Yet, surely, Snape has skills and knowledge
possessed by no one else at Hogwarts, including Dumbledore himself. If
Dumbledore didn't need him and his DADA skills this year in
particular, why place him in that cursed position? Surely wanting
Slughorn's memory is not sufficient reason to give him Snape's
teaching post and shift Snape to DADA, a post he has denied him for
fifteen years. DD must really need him there this year when DADA
teachers of any caliber are scarce and none with knowledge comparable
to Snape's to be found anywhere. Or he must think the time is ripe to
send Snape back to Voldemort via the DADA curse. Or both. And why
allow Snape to treat Katie Bell rather than having Madam Pomfrey do it
or doing it himself if either of them has the ability? Why not save
himself from the ring Horcrux without involving Snape if he could do it?

Let's try to get past the issue of child abuse, which you and I will
never agree on, and look objectively at what Snape has to offer as a
DADA teacher, including out-of-classroom duties such as healing Dark
curses, and why Dumbledore might depend on him, especially in HBP. It
isn't just a matter of trusting Snape's loyalty. He's also relying on
his abilities--skills and knowledge that no one else at Hogwarts has,
whatever his failings as a teacher. Or that's how I read it. 

Carol, acknowledging that Dumbledore could be mistaken about Snape's
loyalties or insufficiently concerned about the effects of sarcasm on
students' egos but not discussing either at the moment