Snape, the unbreakable vow and an unwelcome revelation

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165933

Phyllis D. Barnes wrote:
> <snip>  The Spinners End chapter comes before Dumbledore (okay,
Harry) persuades Slughorn to become the new potions teacher.  As the
previous chapters in the books are sequential in time (except when
Harry and Hermione use the timeturner) it is reasonable to assume that
Dumbledore and Harry visit Slughorn comes after Snape makes the
unbreakable vow.
> 
> The next is pure speculation and is not supported by cannon.  IMO
after Snape made the promise to Narcissa he immediately told
Dumbledore who when given lemons - made lemonade.  Dumbledore moves
Snape to DADA teacher.  This implies that Dumbledore only planned for
him to be at Hogwarts one more year (Dumbledore admits in his
discussions with Harry that he believes Voldy cursed the position).
Next, Dumbledore brought in Slughorn.  Therefore, he made arrangements
no only for a long-term potions teacher but also a new head of
Slytherin House.  Under this hypothesis when Dumbledore says "Severus
please" he's asking Snape to kill him in futherance of his plans to
put people in place to assist Harry in his final fight with Voldemort.
 Remember at this time Snape is the only "turned" DE oh which we have
knowledge.
> 
> On another note I believe that in Deathly Hollows we will learn that
when Dumbledore was away from Hogwarts that last year he was very busy
putting plans in place.  <snip>

Carol responds:
I agree that Dumbledore was busy putting his plans in place, and those
plans included hiring Slughorn, who has been hiding from DD as well as
from the Death Eaters. Hiring Slughorn solves two problems (aside from
keeping him safe and getting that memory)--it provides a replacement
for Snape as Potions Master and a potential replacement for Snape as
HoH of Slytherin once the DADA curse strikes. It paves the way to give
Snape, whose DADA expertise is sorely needed with Voldemort back, the
DADA post.

"the Other Minister" and "Spinner's End" unquestionably occur on the
same night, and the next three chapters clearly follow each other in a
chronological sequence. The only question is whether 1 and 2 occur at
roughly the same time as 3 through 5 or whether the entire sequence is
chronological, as you assume. I think that the three chapters
involving Harry and Dumbledore go back to an earlier part of the same
night as the first two chapters, so that the Dursley chapter occurs at
roughly the same time as "The Other Minister" and the Slughorn chapter
occurs at roughly the same time as "Spinner's End." IIRC, the first
two chapters occur at the end of a terrible week that includes
Emmeline Vance's murder, which suggests that they occur on a Friday
night. The next two definitely occur on a Friday night, probably the
same one. though I don't have time at the moment to look for canon to
support this time frame. 

If I'm correct, the moment Slughorn accepts the Potions position,
Snape becomes by default the DADA instructor--and subject to the DADA
curse, which takes the form of the Unbreakable Vow. Narcissa cannot
have planned the UV from the beginning or she'd have *wanted*
Bellatrix with her. Instead, Bellatrix is following her, trying to
keep her from asking Snape for help. (Had Bellatrix not been there,
they would have had no bonder and the vow could not have been
performed.) I think that either the vow itself, or the unanticipated
third provision, occurs as a result of Snape's having become, whether
he knows it or not, the DADA teacher and the DADA jinx/curse falling
into place.  I don't have time to go through the chapters for
supporting evidence, but a search for posts with the titles of the
chapters as search terms will turn up the necessary canon. (I think
the time frame was discussed during the chapter discussions for the
first two or three chapters.)

BTW, that's "Deathly Hallows," not "Hollows."

Carol, who of course shares your conviction that Snape is DDM! but
sees him caught in a web of circumstance that stems in part from his
own past actions and in part from a malign fate symbolized by the
fiery bonds at the end of the chapter