Did Snape really abandon his post? Was: No progress for Slytherin?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 173816

> colebiancardi:
> > I do wonder about that quote.  It wasn't that Snape "abandoned" his
> > post - he was run off.  If he had stayed, he would have been killed 
> > or he would have killed.  Not exactly a *win-win* situation.  

> SSSusan:
> Just weighing in to say my eyes bugged out a bit when I read that 
> response, too.  Does *anybody* here have a real inkling of what JKR 
> was thinking of when she chose the words 'abandoned his post'?  If 
> so, please pipe up!


Jen: I thought Snape chose to abandon his post?  He could probably take 
on both McGonagall and Flitwick but would blow his cover if he did 
defensive magic and not offensive (which could hurt them or take them 
out of the fight he knew/suspected was coming).

I also took it to mean the magical powers-that-be, whatever instantly 
places a portrait on the wall of a dead or retired headmaster, 
determined the post was abandoned.  Whatever the magic is that creates 
a portrait, it's sentient to a certain degree:  It understood 
Dumbledore's time as headmaster wasn't over when he was ousted by the 
MOM because no portrait appeared then and the office sealed itself 
against Umbridge (assuming the same magic is at work for both the 
portrait and the office).   Apparently Snape's time as headmaster was 
determined to be legitimate (the office opened), completed (never 
coming back) and job abandoment determined as cause for departure 
because that was Snape's intent.

Jen