Suicide mission (was Re: Cabinet first)

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 157805

Carol wrote:
> 
> As for the scene on the tower, about which I also have a lot of
> questions, I have a question for you (as a group). Why do the DEs,
> primarily Brutal-Face, just keep telling Draco to kill Dumbledore
> without taking any further action? I realize that they're 
interrupted
> by Snape, and I proposed my own (tentative) explanation in another
> post, but I want to know what you and Magpie and Sydney think. 
Surely,
> if it's a suicide mission, their orders wouldn't be to let the boy
> kill Dumbledore. They would be to make sure that he kills him or is
> killed himself. I think the DEs would ultimately have resorted to 
that
> solution if Snape hadn't entered the tower at that moment, but it
> doesn't seem as if their orders included that crucial provision of 
the
> suicide mission theory. It seems to count on Dumbledore to kill 
Draco.
> (Snape would not have been worried about Draco if he thought that DD
> killing him was the chief danger. He'd know that wasn't going to
> happen. He and Narcissa, rightly or wrongly, seem to have feared 
that
> Draco would be killed by DEs or LV himself if he failed to 
accomplish
> his mission.) And DD's statement that he thinks Voldemort expected
> Draco to fail isn't proof of a suicide mission, either. He wasn't
> present at the initial interview any more than snape was, and he 
can't
> know whether the plan was to kill him or kill Draco or both. I see 
no
> reason why LV wouldn't be happy with either outcome.
> 

Julie:
I've always considered the term "suicide mission" apt
because of the high unlikelihood that Draco could actually
succeed at his task, not because Draco was slated to be
killed either way. He'd only be killed if he couldn't 
kill Dumbledore, and since his odds of success seem to be
about 1 in a million, it's to all intents and purposes a
suicide mission.  

But no one counted on Dumbledore's extreme weakness
from the cave potion. Suddenly it *is* possible for Draco
to kill Dumbledore. So the DEs stand by, giving Draco the
opportunity to complete his now achievable task. I too
suspect if Snape hadn't shown up the moment he did, the 
DEs would have taken matters into their own hands, killed
Dumbledore and then Draco (or vice versa). And if Draco
had actually killed Dumbledore before Snape arrived, then
he would have left with the DEs, fully alive and intact,
to be congratulated by Voldemort (who would presumably be
smart enough to hold onto a budding DE with the fortitude
to murder the Headmaster of Hogwarts, despite his previous
expectation of getting revenge on budding DE's father). 

Of course, Draco didn't complete his task, and he's still
alive, thanks to Snape. Given that the task was performed,
even if by someone else, and Snape seems to hold a higher
position within the DE ranks than the others present, it's
easy enough to suppose they wouldn't presume to question
Snape's decision to spare Draco's life. They'll leave that
to Voldemort ;-)

Julie