Trusting Snape

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 149027

PJ wrote:
<snip>
> So please, tell me again what Dumbledore gained by having DDM!Snape
AK him on the tower? I see no pros for a DDM!Snape to have done what
he did but at least ESE or OFH!Snape gains notoriety and respect from
the DE's and *possibly* a pat on the back from LV (once he's finished
crucioing him awhile for saving Draco of course)...
> 
> Dumbledore was needed, Snape wasn't.  The wrong man died on that tower.

Carol responds:
While we all agree that DD's death is a tragic loss, from JKR's
perspective, DD's work is done. Even if he were to miraculously
survive, what good would a sick and helpless DD (who, it seems, could
only have been saved by Snape, who in turn is trapped by the UV) be to
Harry or to anyone? JKR wants her young hero to go on without his
mentor, and he can only do so if that mentor is not dying but dead.
But Snape's work, whatever it is, is not done, and for the sake of the
plot, he had to live.

That aside, evidence cited elsewhere suggests that DD was dying from
the beginning of HBP from the combined effects of old age and the ring
curse, and almost certainly he was dying on the tower from the potion
he was force-fed (by Harry!) in the cave. Even the dim-witted Amycus
Carrow sees that DD has only a short time left to live. He is barely
holding on to life, sliding down the wall, weak, pale, helpless, and
wandless. If the potion doesn't kill him and Draco fails to do it, the
DEs will. Harry, pinioned to the wall by DD's spell, can't save him,
even if he could fight off four DEs by himself. DD's chances for
survival are slim to none unless he summons Fawkes, which he either
cannot do or chooses not to do. And surely Fawkes could have retrieved
DD's wand if he wished it? When has Fawkes failed to do DD's unspoken
bidding, even when DD was not present?

Enter Snape, who *cannot* have expected to see a helpless, wandless,
and apparently dying Dumbledore sliding down the wall. Nor, we know,
did he expect Draco to succeed in bringing DEs into Hogwarts. Like DD,
he knew nothing of the Vanishing Cabinet in the RoR. He sees the
second broom and, putting two and two together as only Snape can,
understands that Harry is hiding there in his Invisibility Cloak,
presumably immobilized since he's silent. He sees that Draco has
slightly lowered his wand, and one of the DEs informs him that the boy
can't kill DD. Snape is bound by his UV to save Draco and to "do the
deed" or die. He knows that the moment has come--perhaps he feels
invisible ropes of fire twining around his wrist--and still he does
not act. DD speaks his name and Snape looks at him. A look of hatred
and revulsion crosses his face, but still he does not raise his wand.
Only when DD whispers again, "Severus, please. . . ." does he cast the
spell that sends DD over the battlements.

We don't know what DD means by "Severus, please," but we do know that
DD is not afraid of death, so it can't be "Please don't kill me."
Moreover, Snape has not yet raised his wand, so "Don't kill me" makes
no sense. It's Snape who is in danger of dying at that moment. The vow
is kicking in; if it doesn't kill him for failing to act, either it or
the DEs will certainly kill him if he goes to DD's aid--which, in any
case, is futile as the poison seems close to finishing him off and the
DEs will kill him if the poison doesn't. DD is going to die no matter
what. Snape can die with him, accomplishing nothing, in which case the
freezing spell will fall away from Harry and the Chosen One will rush
out to fight four DEs and rescue DD's body from Fenrir Greyback, who
has already expressed a desire to eat DD for "afters." If Harry cna't
fight Snape alone, he is certainly no match for four DEs, one of whom
would happily eat him. And Draco, whom Snape has promised to protect,
will be killed either by the DEs or by Voldemort for failing to kill
DD. No Draco, no Snape, no DD, no Harry. That's what DD fears will
happen (IMO) if Snape does not fulfill his vow.

By allowing Snape to kill him (and send his body from the tower), DD
not only saves Snape from the third provision of the UV, enabling him
to maintain his cover and do whatever he's supposed to do to undermine
Voldemort later, he (DD) also enables Snape to save Draco and get the
DEs off the tower before Harry rushes out to fight them--four
desperate adults against one boy--with Draco also a near-certain
casualty. We later see Snape getting Draco to (temporary) safety
("Run, Draco! Run!"), getting the DEs off the grounds, saving Harry
from a Crucio, and giving him a last (Snapish) lesson in using
nonverbal spells and not using Unforgiveable Curses.

Had Snape not killed DD in exactly that way, sending his body from the
tower, DD would have died anyway, along with Snape, Draco, and Harry,
and the DEs would have had a free run through Hogwarts as the Felix
Felicis lost its power, maiming, killing, burning, and destroying at
will. And Voldemort would have no one to stop him because the Chosen
One would be dead (or kidnapped by the DEs, to be tortured and killed
by LV himself later).

What did DD have to gain by having Snape kill him? Everything. His
sacrifice saved not only Snape and Draco but the whole school, and
most notably Harry--as long as Snape continued to do his part and get
the DEs off the tower and out of the school. That accounts for the
peaceful expression of the sleeping portrait in what is now
McGonagall's office--DD's objectives were accomplished by having
Snape, and only Snape, kill him.

What did Snape have to gain by obeying DD? Nothing. Only his unhappy
life, with no job, no respect from anyone but the despised DEs (note
his attitude toward Bellatrix and Peter Pettigrew), no freedom, no
mentor except Voldemort (who, unlike DD, trusts no one), and with a
damaged soul to boot. Why do it, then? Why not die, futilely but
heroically, killed by the DEs or the accursed Unbreakable Vow?
Because, IMO, Snape, like Harry, had promised to do what Dumbledore
ordered at whatever cost to DD or himself, whatever it took to save
Harry and work toward the destruction of Voldemort. Because his
loyalties lie, tragically and ironically, with the man he was forced,
by that very loyalty, to kill.

That view of things--Snape's enforced sacrifice of his mentor's life
and his own future, not to mention his soul, as opposed to dying nobly
and accomplishing nothing--accounts for the look of hatred and
revulsion on Snape's face much better, IMO, than any supposed petty
resentment of Dumbledore for previous small slights, and for the look
of anguish on Snape's face when Harry calls him a coward. It also
accounts for his saving Harry from the Crucio and getting the DEs out
of Hogwarts ("on the Dark Lord's orders, of course," as Bellatrix
would say). Despite everything, IMO, Snape was and remains
Dumbledore's man through and through, and he accomplished Dumbledore's
will at great cost to himself. And Dumbledore's own sacrifice was very
far from being a waste of his life (which was already nearly over).
Together, they saved many lives, including and especially Harry's.

We know that Snape still has a role to play, whether it's his own
self-sacrifice or using his knowledge of the Dark Arts and Healing to
help Harry with the Horcruxes. He will, I have no doubt, contribute in
some indispensable way to the defeat of the Dark Lord, even if it's
only helping Harry learn that forgiveness and mercy are more powerful
than hatred and vengeance.

So, IMO, if someone had to die on the tower, better Dumbledore, whose
task was done, than Snape, whose actions saved Harry and others and
who still has something important left to do.

Carol, hoping that PJ will at least *understand* the DDM!Snape
position now even if he or she doesn't agree with it