Snape and Dumbledore on the Tower: A Defense of Snape

[eggplant107]

No: HPFGUIDX 165349

"justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> 

> I'm assuming that Dumbledore knows
> all about the UV based on his comment
> to Harry after Harry tells him about
> the overheard conversation between
> Snape and Draco. 

You're half right. Dumbledore did indeed believe that Snape told Draco
that he had taken an unbreakable vow, but it's clear he didn't really
think Snape had done it. I can't think of any other interpretation
given the dialogue below:

Draco said to Dumbledore "He [Snape] hasn't been doing your orders, he
promised my  mother_"
Dumbledore replied "Of course that is what he would tell you Draco, 
but_" 

Unlike Dumbledore we readers know Snape didn't just say he'd made the
vow, he really had. And there is no "but" about it.

> As for Snape's reasons for taking the UV
> [
] he'd gone to great pains to protect
> his cover and provide explanations for
> the breaches in his loyalty to Voldemort
> that a fanatical DE like Bellatrix would understand 

As I said before if JKR wants a good Snape she's going to have to find
a HUGE reason for him making that vow, an your reason is way way too
puny. Bellatrix is not Snape's boss, if Voldemort didn't demand that
he make that vow she certainly can't. The only way I can think of to
make it work is that Snape was only vowing to do what he had every
intention of doing anyway, to help Draco and kill Dumbledore if Draco
failed to do so. But that is incompatible with a good Snape. If JKR
wants a good Snape she's going to have to work very hard for it,
harder than any of us has.

> It's only the third provision, which he 
> clearly didn't anticipate given the twitch,
> that presents a problem.

At one stroke that literary device would turn a brilliant enigma, one
of the most interesting characters in the books, into a laughing
stock. Only a jackass would vow to do things when he didn't even know
what he was vowing to do. 

> the UV in itslef does not prove that
> he's not Dumbledore's man.

I think it does prove it, unless someone (like JKR) can come up with a
sensible reason a good Snape would make that crazy vow. I'm not saying
such a reason can't exist, maybe we'll learn of it on July 21, but I
haven't heard it yet.

> We're seeing the look of hatred and
> revulsion from Harry's pov 

No, the book said it looked like Snape was full of hate not that Harry
thought he did.

> I stated that they could indicate self-hatred

Yes, but I found your explanation less than convincing. The facial
expressions one has when undergoing self-hatred are quite different
than when one hates someone else. If you looked at Harry when he was
forcing that potion down Dumbledore's throat do you think we would see
hatred etched into the harsh lines of Harry's face? I don't think we
would.

> If the AK is a cover for some other
> spell, he didn't actually murder DD 

It's perfectly acceptable for an author to try to mislead a reader,
but she must play fair. We saw Snape point his wand at Dumbledore, we
heard him utter the dreaded words, we saw green bolts shoot out of his
wand, we saw them hit Dumbledore, we saw him die and fall off the
tower. If that doesn't mean that Dumbledore is dead and Snape killed
him with the AK then JKR has crossed the line from misleading her
readers to being dishonest with them.

> If someone *must* kill Dumbledore, and
> if it's the only way to save Draco's
> life, better Snape than Draco. 

I hope JKR doesn't pursue this, trading Dumbledore's life for slime
ball Draco seems like a poor idea and a very poor plot element.

As to how all this will turn out, there might be some ambiguity about
Snape even at the end of the last book. Or maybe there will be a
compromise between the good Snape and the bad Snape people that both
can live with. Perhaps during most of the last book it would seem that
Snape haters like me were right after all, but then just seconds
before his death Snape saves Harry's life. However nearly everybody
thinks it was just a lucky fluke and they still think Snape was evil
and they're glad he's dead. The one exception is Harry Potter who for
various reasons now thinks Snape was good from day one, although he
can't convince anybody else of this, or thank Snape for it. 

Eggplant