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

[meltowne]

No: HPFGUIDX 171927

I think you're dead on - Snape is very important, and has been all 
along.  JKR has spent 6 book making Snape out to be evil in Harry's 
eyes, but she has also spent the time to show that there are many 
shades of Grey.  

We see Bary Crouch Sr, who fights so hard against the death eaters, 
he is blinded to the fact his own son is one of them - and then 
because its his son, and he still loves him, rescues him from Azkaban.

We see Cornelius Fudge who is an inept Minister - we don't know if he 
was ever a death eater, though I suspect not; he's an opportunist.  
He was one of the first on the scene when Sirius was captured, and 
send to Azkaban without a trial.  He also authorized the Dementor's 
Kiss to two people - both Sirius, and Barty Jr.  The public never got 
to hear Sirius's side of the story, and never would if Fudge was 
given a choice - I wonder what he did that day that he wants to 
hide?  Did he help Wormtail for some reason, not knowing the whole 
story?  Does he have wormtail's wand?  I also wonder why he was in 
such a rush to kill Barty Jr?  Something else to hide?  I doubt he 
was protecting Crouch Sr's reputation.  Incidentally, Barty Jr was a 
very talented wizard - during Crouch Srs mumblings, we see he earned 
12 OWLS!  Impressive!  Did Fuge perhaps know about his DE 
involvement, even if his father didn't?

No, I think Snape is firmly on our side.  I think he didn't cast a 
normal Avada Kedavra spell.  We know he is another very powerful 
wizard - perhaps he said the words for Avada Kedavra, but cast a 
different spell.  I don't think it would be unheard of, for a 
powerful wizard.  I still think he killed Dumbledore in the end, but 
not in the way it looks, and I don't know the significance.

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" <justcarol67 at ...> 
wrote:
> 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
>