Snape's death scene

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 174164

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jkoney65" <jkoney65 at ...> wrote:
>
> > Krista:
> > Oh, I think Snape was indeed prepared--and his "preparation"
> > was a decision to stick with his cover, to try to deny
> > anything that would alert Voldemort's suspicions, and *then*
> > to get himself out alive, if possible.
> 
> Jack-A-Roe:
> His cover? The final battle is being fought right outside the
> door. If the good guys lose there is no regrouping, there is no
> place to gather anymore and there probably won't be any leaders
> left.
> 
> Voldemort tells Snape that he is expecting Harry to show up. If
> nothing else, Snape believes he knows Harry and the one thing
> that Gryffendor will do will be to show up and face Voldemort.
> 
> Knowing this and knowing that he must get this last piece of
> information to Harry he decides to do nothing but die? If this
> is a man who has been guarding Lilly's son, are you saying that
> he's just going to quit?
> 
> I think he just froze up for a minute. He's gotten out of most
> situations in the past by his wit/words or by being a bully.
> Neither is going to work on Voldemort.
> 
> He's a double agent, he should always be expecting the hammer
> to come down on him which means he should always have a way out.
> He is supposedly a great wizard. If so, can't he defend himself
> long enough to make it to the door?
> 
> Instead he is killed by the snake. His poor planning/reactions
> are saved because the reckless Harry decides to try and get to
> the Shrieking Shack and gets to see this unfold before his eyes.
> If Harry was any less of a man and didn't decide to check on
> Snape himself, Snape's mission would have failed.
>

Carol responds;
It has nothing to do with defending himself or blowing his cover. He
has one job to do and one only--get the message to Harry Potter that
Harry must let Voldemort kill him to destroy the soul bit in the
Horcrux. If he fails to do that, it's all over. it's not about snape
and his cover. it's about the one and only way to destroy Voldemort.
If Snape tries to fight Voldemort, he'll be killed and fail in his
mission. And as he lies bleeding on the ground, white-faced, that's
what he thinks has happened. It isn't his death, which he must have
always expected would come eventually, that he fears. It's that he has
risked his life and experienced the hatred of the Order and protected
the Potter boy for nothing.

It has nothing whatever to do with poor planning. Dumbledore has told
him not to deliver the message until he sees Voldemort protecting the
snake, and until now, the snake has not been protected. If the
planning is poor on anyone's part, it's Dumbledore's.

Here's a related post that I accidentally sent to the wrong person
offlist, so I'll repeat it here (might as well combine posts to kepp
from exceeding my quota!):

Eggplant wrote:

>>Dumbledore told Snape that he expected Harry to destroy the snake
before he confronted Voldemort for the last time and he expected Harry
to die ... I can't think of any reason Dumbledore would lie to Snape
about that...

Carol responds:
Dumbledore didn't mention anything to Snape about killing the snake
before the battle. He said that when Voldemort started keeping Nagini
close to him under magical protection, it would mean that the end was
near and it was time for Snape to tell Harry about the soul bit and
having to let Voldemort kill him. That's why Snape is so desperate to
get away to "find the boy." Nagini is being kept in her bubble. Snape
knows that he has to get his message to Harry now, before it's too
late. If Harry tries to duel with Voldemort, the WW is doomed.

Harry, of course, would know that Nagini being magically protected
means that Voldemort knows that his other Horcruxes are destroyed.
Dumbledore wasn't lying to Snape. Dumbledore just couldn't tell Snape
the full truth, only the part that Harry needed to know to go
willingly to his death (which DD knew that the blood protection would
prevent the first time around).

Carol, who has cited the canon for her position elsewhere and won't
repeat it here