Snape on the tower (Was: The first paragraph of book 7)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 171896

Bart wrote:
> First of all, you know quite well that just because they're against
Voldemort doesn't make someone good. For example, I am one of what I
believe to be a host of fans who dislike Dung Fletcher quite a bit,
who was willing to expose Harry to mortal danger to make a quick
illegal profit, and, after Harry not only forgave him but helped him
hide some of his slimy doings, thanks Harry by stealing from him. So,
even if Snape is against Voldemort, it does not make him a good person.
> 
> Now, I'm going to give you a scenario. Please say what Snape SHOULD
have done, or why the scneario is invalid:
> 
> Dumbledore was already dying, from whatever gave him the withered
arm, or the potion in the cave, or both. He has already gotten Snape
to promise that, if the circumstances are right, to kill him. Note
that Snape gets all the DE's away from Hogwarts without further damage
to anybody else, and has firmed up his position on the side of the
DE's. What SHOULD Snape have done, or what is wrong with the above
scenario? Support:
> 
> In terms of canon support, we have the argument between Snape and DD
overheard by Hagrid, where Snape does not want to do something that
Dumbledore is insisting upon, we have the spreading death on DD's wand
arm, and we have DD's comment implying that the poison in the cave
would kill, slowly)?
> 
> In terms of literary support, the fact that JKR specifically does
NOT reveal DD's reasons for COMPLETELY trusting Snape (emphasis mine,
note that, just before leaving for the cave, DD at least appears to be
on the verge of revealing it to Harry, and then stops) implies that
letting the readers know would give away something to the readers. 

Carol responds:
I come not to poke holes in your scenario but to support it. :-)

In addition to the points you've made, we have Amycus's comment that
DD looks like he's dying, Snape's hesitation before lifting his wand,
which he does only after DD begs him to do some unspecified thing
("Severus, please!), the oddness of that AK (it sends DD's body over
the battlements and DD dies with his eyes closed), Snape's expression
anf (self?) hatred and revulsion echoes Harry's feelings when he
forcefeeds the horrible potion to DD, Snape snatches Draco off the
tower and makes sure that he's not killed by the DEs for failing in
his mission (he and DD have been watching over him and protecting him
all year), and Snape not only saves Harry from a Crucio but parries
all his curses. Since Snape is very observant and knows about Harry's
Invisibility Cloak and deduced that Harry was there, so getting the
DEs off the tower prevents Harry from rushing out and being killed by
them. To get the DEs off the tower (not to mention keep his cover)
Snape had to stay alive, which means that he and no one else had to
kill Dumbledore. Also, a normal AK would not have sent DD over the
battlements. Fenrir Greyback would have rushed forward to have the
dead Dumbledore for afters, Harry would have come rushing out to
protect DD's body, and Harry would have been killed. (Snape, being
dead from the broken vow, could not have saved him.)

Okay, that's how *I* read it. I can't explain the body going over the
battlements in any other way. That's not normal for an AK though it
sometimes happens with and Impediment Curse or an overly strong
Expelliarmus. Neither are open eyes. We don't even see a blinding
flash or hear the rushing sound of speeding death. It's as different
from the AK that kills Cedric (the light of which Harry can see
through closed eyelids!) and the one that kills the spider as it can
possibly be.

Dumbledore could have called Fawkes to him but he didn't. He must have
*chosen* not to. DD tells Harry in CoS, "Help will always come at
Hogwarts to those who ask for it." DD didn't ask for it. Why not? He,
of all people, knew about the powerful magical protections that Snape
mentions in the Occlumency lessons. IMO, it can only be because he
knew he was about to die and chose the only form of death that could
save Harry and Draco, get the DEs out of Hogwarts, and place Snape in
deep cover--having Snape kill him. And Snape, it seems, added the body
over the battlements as a means of achieving that end.

Over and over again, we've seen events in the HP books misinterpreted
by Harry and others. Several times we've seen people (Sirius Black,
Frank Bryce, even Harry) wrongly suspected of murder or other dark
deeds. I think we're seeing the same thing again in some form with
Snape. Yes, DD is dead, but it may not have been the AK
(insufficiently willed or false?) that killed him, and even if it was,
he wanted Snape and no one else to kill him. Nothing else could have
saved Harry and Draco from the DEs and gotten the DEs out of Hogwarts.

BTW, I think that DD already knew that Snape would be assigned to kill
him before Snape took the Unbreakable Vow. Why else would he try to
hire Slughorn to teach Potions, depriving Snape of a job, unless he
*already intended* to give Snape the DADA position? (He could have
gotten the unaltered memory and/or protected Slughorn in some other
way.(And why give Snape the DADA job unless he knows (from Snape) that
Draco has been assigned to kill him and suspects, even without the
Unbreakable Vow, that Snape will be forced to do exactly that to keep
his cover?

I agree with Bart that Snape took the only possible action. Had he
done nothing or tried to fight the DEs, four people would have died
instead of one. And I agree with Vivamus that Snape's rage at being
called a coward results from his having just performed the bravest
action of his life, knowing that it would be misread by all sides.

Carol, who thinks that Snape is crucial to the entire series and hopes
(parays!) that he'll somehow survive to tell his tale and become a
researcher for St. Mungo's, or better yet, an Unspeakable