Unbreakable Vows

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165581

Bart wrote:
<snip>
> In general, one would only make a UV if the person was willing,
ready, or even planning to do so without the UV. Since Snape is no
fool, then he should know that he has agreed to finish the job in
killing Dumbledore. Which means that it was his intent, at the time of
makng the vow, to kill Dumbledore. Therefore, assuming that JKR is
"playing fair" with the reader, the ONLY explanation that fits
DDM!Snape is that Dumbledore was only being kept temporarily alive
(once again, the major clue is the unhealable arm). Note there was no
time constraint, and it is not necessary to kill a man who has already
been killed (unless you're a passenger on the Orient Express, that is).
 
Carol responds:
I don't think we can say what JKR's options are. Only she knows that.
Other possibilities exist for a DDM!Snape who does not foolishly agree
to do an unknown task if it seems that Draco will fail. It's possible,
for example, that Dumbledore had ordered to do whatever was necessary
to prevent Draco from killing or being killed. If he knew that
Voldemort expecte Snape to do it "in the end," then whatever was
necessary would include both risking his own life by taking an
Unbreakable Vow (as OFH!Snape certainly would not do) and even killing
DD himself in the end. 

It appears that Dumbledore expects to die before the year is out even
before Snape takes the UV. He seems to be preparing for his own
inevitable death by telling the Dursleys to allow Harry to call 4
Privet Drive "home" for another year and by telling them, or
mentioning in their presence, that 12 GP is the HQ of the Order of the
Phoenix. Moreover, since he's trying to hire Slughorn to teach
Potions, he must already be planning to give Snape the DADA position
if Slughorn accepts. (Conveniently, Slughorn can step in as HoH of
Slytherin at the end of the year when Snape is inevitably driven out
by the DADA curse.) This step, hiring Snape as DADA instructor, may be
the result, not so much of the need to bring Slughorn to Hogwarts as
of the information provided by Snape that LV has assigned Draco to
kill him. (I don't know, of course. I'm just providing a possible
explanation that makes sense to me.)

It's clear from the hand twitch that Snape does *not* want to be bound
to "do the deed" if Draco should appear to fail, but Snape surely
realizes that DD would rather have Snape, his undercover supposed DE
who will be returning to LV at the end of the year in any case kill
him than have Draco kill or be killed. The whole point of the UV,
after all, from both Narcissa's standpoint and Snape's, is to protect
Draco. And we know that Dumbledore shares that perspective.

Snape clearly doesn't know about the Vanishing Cabinet plan, but he
may well realize that Draco, not known for his courage, will need DE
backup to kill Dumbledore. And Snape seems to have warned Dumbledore
of this circumstance, considering the huge number of increased
protections DD has placed on the castle. Quite possibly, Snape hopes
that the UV will never be activated if DD stays away from Draco and
DEs are kept out of the castle. And Snape has certainly told DD about
the UV, as DD's lack of surprise and dismay when Harry tells him about
the overheard conversation between Snape and Draco indicates.
("Perhaps I know more about this matter than you do, Harry.") But "you
take too much for granted, Dumbledore" (the argument in the forest)
seems to indicate that Snape doesn't quite have DD's faith in those
anti-DE measures, especially after the necklace incident, and, having
failed to find out what Draco is up to with the Vanishing Cabinets or
to gain his confidence, Snape wants out. Unfortunately for him, DD
won't let him break his promise.

There is, of course, the possibility that Snape didn't actually kill
Dumbledore--that DD died from the poison, not the AK (as the strange
description of the AK seems to suggest), or that Snape "unstoppered"
the death he had "stoppered" when he saved DD from the ring Horcrux--
but I think that Snape really did kill DD, very much against his
(Snape's) will, not only because the UV had fallen into place despite
his and DD's efforts to prevent it from doing so but because there
really was no other option--he couldn't save DD, who was going to die
regardless, and the only way to save Harry and Draco and get the DEs
out of Hogwarts was for Snape to kill DD himself, as DD. I think,
anticipated all along. "Severus, please" surely means, "Severus,
please keep your promise." Or at least that reading ties together the
UV, the argument in the forest, and the tower as no other reading
does, IMO.

Now, of course, Snape has gained what passes for Voldemort's trust,
and he's in a position to undermine him, possibly by diverting his
attention from his real danger, Harry the Horcrux Hunter. Whether he's
still bound by the provision requiring him to protect Draco, now a
"man" by WW standards, is unclear. Draco won't like it much, I
suspect, but he already owes Snape his life. (No, I don't mean a life
debt, just the plain facts.)  

Carol, confident that JKR will reveal a thoroughly DDM!Snape without
any unfair play on her own part, but not necessarily in ways that we
can predict