Grammar question (proving that Snape is evil?)

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 148731

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "chrusotoxos" <heos at ...> wrote:
> Chrus:
> 
> Hi!
> 
> I was surprised about a sentence DD told Draco on the tower, 
> but maybe it is a stupid sentence ....
> 
> DD: "I asked SS to watch over you..."
> Draco: "He was protecting me because he made an UV to my mother"
> DD: "This is what he may have told you, but"
> 
> MAY have told you? Well, it was the truth, wasn't it? Whatever 
> SS was doing on DD's orders, his primary goal in watch over DM 
> was to fulfill the UV and thus save his own life.
> 

bboyminn:

I think Dumbledore is making a statement of priorities rather than
aboslutes. That is, he is not really disputing Draco, he is saying
that while that may be true, Snape has higher priorities.

For Example:

DD: "I asked Snape to watch over you...."

Draco: "He was protecting me because he made an Unbreakable Vow to my
mother."

DD: "This is what he may have told you, but ... my priority is you and
your integrity. I gave Snape orders to make sure you, Draco, did not
make the biggest mistake of your life. Snape's first priority is to
make sure you do not irrevocably set a course toward your own doom."

Or something like that.

Dumbledore is not denying the UV. He is saying that Snape has
willingly risked his life to make sure Draco doesn't destroy his own
life. The implication is that Draco, despite what he might think or
what he might have done so far, is not a lost cause just yet, there is
still hope for his redemption. And this fits with the conversation
they are engaged in. Dumbledore is trying to get Draco to make the
right decision and join the good side before he had commited an act so
dark that there will be no comming back from it.

In short, I think the use of the word 'may' is simply impling that the
UV is not the whole story.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn