On the trivial and the profound

[amiabledorsai]

No: HPFGUIDX 165479

Eggplant:
> Harry has forgiven Ron so I guess 
> I should too, but what I want to know is, did Ron get that free 
> pass from the same place that Snape did? 

Amiable Dorsai:
Free pass? Jeez, Eggplant, by the time of the third task, Ron was
giving his own body as target practice.  How much penance do you need?

Eggplant:
> That is the mother load! If you can find a RATIONAL reason a good
> Snape would make that vow you will instantly turn me from being a
> Snape hater into a Snape lover.

Amiable Dorsai:
Even for an inveterate Snape critic like myself, that's easy. 
DDM!Snape will take that vow in a second.  Why?  Because his whole
function in the Death Eaters (remember, we're talking DDM!Snape here)
is to garner information.  Narcissa has information, important
information, possibly, critical information.  He needs, Dumbledore
needs, that information.  It is worth the risk of Snape's life, or so,
he apparently judged, to obtain that information.  Narcissa, handled
adroitly, might spill it without the vow, but Bellatrix will probably
curse her into silence before she can spill it to Snape.  On the other
hand, if he takes the Vow...

Yes, taking the Vow is risky, even foolhardy, but spying on Voldemort
is a job that is unlikely to allow you to spend any of your pension. 
This would be just one more risk.  That he apparently could not get
Narcissa to divulge Draco's task, even after vowing to complete it, is
DDM!Snape's misfortune, not evidence of his treachery.

It hurts me to admit that, because I despise the character, but fair's
fair.  DDM!Snape, if such he is, is a hero.

A foul, disgusting hero, but a hero all the same.

Amiable Dorsai