Unbreakable Vows

[snow15145]

No: HPFGUIDX 165568





Bart snipped:

3) Therefore (first conclusion): The Unbreakable Vow is a useful 
spell. 

5) Assumption: No sane person would make an Unbreakable Vow if they 
don't clearly understand what it is they are vowing to do.

6) Therefore (second conclusion, combining #3 and #5): The vow is 
what the person making the vow understands it to be. 

Snow:

Are you relating this in the same manner Dumbledore does of the 
Prophecy; it's all in your perception of the wording?

Dumbledore doesn't believe in the Prophecy but he realizes that 
Voldemort does and it would therefore be what Voldemort would 
perceive the Prophecy to have said (if he ever learns the entire 
transcript). 

I especially like the tidbit from JKR on the Prophecy wording between 
herself and Madam Trelawney being carefully worded, which should make 
no difference here nor there except to the person who believes in it. 

In a likewise manner, if Snape understands the terms agreed to during 
the Vow to be something other than what was actually meant (a 
loophole) then he could accept the conditions without detriment. 

The third stipulation to the Vow allows for such a loophole:

"And, should it prove necessary ... if it seems Draco will fail ..." 
[...] 

"will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to 
perform?"

If the Dark Lord has indeed ordered Draco to kill Dumbledore at his 
own hand from the beginning, why would Narcissa ask "should it prove 
necessary" and "if it seems Draco would fail"? 

Does Narcissa blindly think that her son has a half-assed chance of 
killing Dumbledore of all people or was the deed in question, at the 
point of securing the Vow, something else? 

And then we have the final sentence under this stipulation that 
supplies no information to the actual deed in question. Narcissa and 
Bella are aware of the deed asked of Draco and through Occlumency I'm 
certain Snape is also aware of what he discovered but the readers are 
still in the dark, purposely. 

We are led to believe that Dumbledore is Draco's main objective and 
that his death must be at Draco's hand but there is no substantial 
evidence that any of the parties were aware that Draco was to be the 
killer at the point of the Vow. 

If, as I suspect, Draco was under the assumption that he had backup 
on his mission, then his assignment changed after the Vow had been 
taken and Snape would not be held liable ... or would he become 
liable because of Narcissa's vague wording? 

I smell a setup from the Dark Lord. 

Dumbledore told Harry that Voldemort knows how fools who love will 
act. Narcissa was the pawn who hooked Snape by taking the Vow under 
what Snape read through Occlumency was the deed Draco was to perform. 

This deed that was set forth would have been in itself a great if not 
impossible challenge but it was not (to Narcissa's knowledge nor 
anyone else) the whole quest, so Snape could not access what the Dark 
Lord had truthfully planned. 

Why Narcissa worded the last stanza of the condition so vaguely, easy 
really, was that Narcissa was ordered not to `speak' to anyone of 
what she had been told. Very cleaver really of the Dark Lord ... 
didn't think he had it in him. 

By wording the condition in the vague manner that Narcissa was forced 
into by Voldemort's decree, Snape not only accepted her conditions, 
as Snape read them through Occlumency, but he secured the destiny of 
not only himself and Draco but also Dumbledore. 

When Snape became aware of the `deed' Draco was now to fulfill, it's 
no wonder Snape told Dumbledore he wanted out when they had their 
spat at the edge of the woods. (If I'm not mistaken that event 
happened very near Draco's breakdown in Myrtle's bathroom ... not 
page wise but time wise)

If Voldemort wanted to be absolutely certain of where Snape's 
loyalties lie, especially since he has not secured any valuable 
information from him through Occlumency, this would be a highly 
ingenious way to go about it.   

Would Snape actually kill Dumbledore ... didn't matter, either way 
Voldemort won the big prize. Either Snape died or Dumbledore did 
either way Voldemort came out on top, as he would see it. Draco and 
his mother were nothing more than pawns that were sacrificed for the 
greater playing piece. 

I initially felt as if Snape's hesitation in agreeing to the third 
condition of the Vow was his quick assessment that he could accept 
the proposal because of interpretation. Snape is a logical thinking 
wizard, considering the task Snape set when protecting the Stone, so 
it would be comprehensible for Snape to outwit the Black sisters ... 
but I think he underestimated the Dark Lord and his logic, even 
though Qurirrell made it past Snape's task in the first book most 
likely with the help of his parasite.  

One last thought though, why would Voldemort want to assure Snape's 
allegiance, unless he needs Snape to take down Harry? Why go to such 
an effort even with the perks unless you need something? 

Snow