High Noon for OFH!Snape

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 149522

> Pippin:
> (...)And the wording of the vow is twisty enough to give Snape an out.
> 
> Ana:
> Anyway, though I believe in DDM!Snape, and therefore, I´m ready to 
> embrace most of "Dumbledore is not dead" theories, I couldn´t  see how 
> "the wording of the vow is twisty enough to give Snape an out.", as 
> Pippin said. It looks to me as though either Dumbledore or Snape must be 
> dead at the end of book six, as a consequence of the UV. I tried 
> re-reading the vow many times...

>     `And, should it prove necessary... if it seems Draco will fail...`
>     whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did
>     not draw away), `will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has
>     ordered Draco to perform?`
>     There was a moment's silence. Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their
>     clasped hands, her eyes wide.
>     `I will,` said Snape.


Pippin:
Think of the vow as a logic problem.  Snape  is familiar with them since he 
created the potions puzzle in Book One, and of course Puppetmistress!
JKR is too.

There are two conditional clauses in the third part of the vow:
"Should it prove necessary"
"if it seems Draco will fail"

If the second condition was only a restatement of the first then the vow 
is   watertight, as many people seem to think.
 
Buf  that makes the first clause superfluous. Narcissa need only say, "And 
[breathy pause for suspense] if it  seems Draco will fail..will you" etc.  
Let us assume that JKR chose Narcissa's words carefully,
and consider what happens if  the second clause is *not* a 
restatement or specification of the first but an independent condition. 

If  the two conditions are independent then Snape may have an out.
First, does the vow consider killing Dumbledore a necessity?  Narcissa
at any rate did not, since she first tried to persuade Snape to talk the Dark
Lord out of it.

Second, there's a conjunction missing between the two clauses,
so we don't know how they're related. Is Snape supposed to act
if ANY of the conditions are true ? Or must he act only if ALL
the conditions are true? If the latter, and the vow doesn't think
that killing Dumbledore should prove necessary, then Snape is
home free.


Pippin
who thinks Dumbledore is dead, but not because Snape killed him