High Noon for OFH!Snape

Jen Reese stevejjen at earthlink.net
Sun Mar 12 05:49:11 UTC 2006


No: HPFGUIDX 149470

Magpie:
> His hand twitched at the third provision, but he still doesn't 
> have to take it.  He could just as easily say, "The Dark Lord has
> ordered that Draco do it.  I will not disobey him.  Nix on that
> third vow.  Moving on."  He's not trapped there, imo.  To me the
> twitch indicates him making the choice to stick with the vow, even
> though he doesn't want to do it.

Jen: I don't see a reason why Snape couldn't abandon the Vow mid-
stream,  either. People have suggested Bella and Narcissa would kill 
him on the spot or betray him to Voldemort, yet both women say they 
were ordered not to talk to anyone about Draco's task. So they attempt 
to kill Snape and if successful (big if) then face Legilimens!
Voldemort to explain why Snape, the only person positioned at Hogwarts 
to kill Dumbledore, is dead. Or the women run off to inform the Dark 
Lord Snape won't take an Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco when 
Narcissa and Bella aren't supposed to be talking to Snape in the first 
place. 

No, the only thing that works in my mind is that Snape had a choice to 
continue the Vow when the third provision came up and he continued 
forward. He doesn't need to prove himself to Bella in my opinion, as 
Bella's stock with Voldemort has dropped dramatically. Maybe he feels 
obligated to Narcissa for some reason, or compelled to help her, but 
that would mean a big plot point the readers aren't privy to yet as to 
why Snape is willing to die for the Malfoys, or Narcissa and/or Draco 
in particular. Not saying that can't be true, just there's missing 
information for that one.

So my best guess is that Snape knew he was being trapped by the third 
Vow and took it anyway. I personally think it's because he guessed the 
game was up--he did *not* fool Voldemort completely, Narcissa was 
*not* telling him everything about why she came to him in particular, 
and Peter *was* there to report back on this little meeting. The only 
one who seemed to be completely straightforward in that scene to me 
was Bella. 

So the next question is....Why? Snape did prove during the Occlumency 
lessons he has uneasy feelings about Voldemort, if not outright fear. 
Still he's not Peter, I don't think fear alone would make him succumb 
to a trap. No, I think there's something deeper going on. Snape seems 
to have attached himself to the two most powerful wizards in the world 
for most of his adult life. Some people see that as firm canon for 
OFH, while I see another version of the oft-played theme of father 
figures. As a teen and young man, he believed Voldemort would deliver 
salvation. When none came, and in fact Snape only found more emotional 
pain from Voldemort's actions, Snape returned to Dumbledore. I really 
believe Snape knew he was being trapped and decided in that instant 
that Dumbledore would be able to deliver him from his tragic mistake. 
And Dumbledore did and he didn't: Snape expected (just as Harry does) 
that Dumbledore could set everything right, while Dumbledore surveyed 
the landscape and said, "Yes, Severus, you know what I expect you to 
do now. If it becomes a question of myself or Draco being spared, you 
will do what you must and continue to follow my orders after my death. 
And that includes safeguarding Harry and helping him defeat 
Voldemort." Cue fight in the forest and etc.....

I think that interview in TIME when JKR talked about father figures 
and evil flourishing where fathers are bad or absent is fertile ground 
for growing Snape's motivations. It's certainly connected to a major 
theme and would place Snape in the already crowded room of abandoned 
sons, but as the only one who found an acceptable father substitute on 
the Right side.

Jen, quite pleased with Salvation!Snape.







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