Snape, the unbreakable vow and an unwelcome revelation

[littleleahstill]

No: HPFGUIDX 165937

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


Leah:
Time sequence:

The Other Minister:  'It was nearing midnight'

Spinners End: No time given directly, but mention of the same mist 
which 'had pressed against the Prime Minister's windows...' might 
possibly suggest this chapter occurs later than the first

Will or Won't: DD's letter to Harry indicates he will arrive in 
Privet Drive at 11 pm. 

Horace Slughorn: 'According to a clock on a nearby church, it was 
almost midnight.'

An Excess of Phlegm: Arthur is 'a tiny bit late...he said he'd be 
back around midnight'. Harry explains he arrived at Ron's 
house 'about one in the morning'.  Those two statements do not quite 
tally, unless the 'tiny bit late' is just Molly reassuring herself.  
As DD and Harry are some time at Slughorn's, Harry's would seem 
liklier to be the correct statement. 


I would make the timeline:

1. Will or Won't

2. The Other Minister/Horace Slughorn happening at the same time

3. An Excess of Phlegm  

Notice that Spinners End can not be definitively fitted into this 
(what a surprise) and could be 1a or 2a (or indeed 3a, but the fact 
that Snape and Wormtail are still up and about makes that too late 
for me).  The only clue I can find is that 'had pressed' referring 
to the mist. 

Personally, I agree with Carol that the whole thing makes far more 
sense if Slughorn's acceptance triggers Snape's appointment as DADA 
professor. This would make it possible for The Other Minister, 
Horace Slughorn, and Spinners End to all be happening at the same 
time.  We have an explanation in this book of the DADA curse/jinx 
and it makes sense to me both that we see it in force as Snape makes 
the Unbreakable Vow.  

I would note, though, that Bellatrix's presence is not technically 
necessary for the Vow to be taken. There is a third person already 
in the house, namely Wormtail.  Snape's answer to Narcissa asking if 
they are alone is "Well, Wormtail's here, but we're not counting 
vermin are we?".  Narcissa's lack of reaction here, suggests to me 
that she may well have been aware that Wormtail had been assigned to 
Snape.  Whether either Snape or Narcissa would have been willing to 
take the vow with Wormtail as Binder would be a moot point however.

Leah (agreeing with Carol's sign-off)