Why DD did not ask Snape to kill him. (extremely long)

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 166178

Pippin wrote:
So DDM!Snape would not have to think very long when Narcissa
asked for the vow -- his questions to himself would not be,
Will Dumbledore approve of my risking my life to save a student,
or, What  if I'm forced into a situation where I have to 
betray Dumbledore or die, because Snape would have considered  
those things already. Nor would he ask himself "What do I have to 
lose?" Smart risk takers ask, "What am I trying to gain?"

By agreeing to take the vows, there is a reasonable chance that
Snape will  gain  the life of at least one student and silence the
rumors that are threatening his position with LV. Voldemort
will not long tolerate his Death Eaters whispering that one of their
number has managed to hoodwink him.

By refusing, Snape gains nothing -- both he and Dumbledore are 
already in mortal peril, The Plan is already underway,  and refusing 
the vow will not change any of it.

Voldemort had tried to kill Dumbledore already --
which means vow or no vow, his life expectance was no better 
than Karkaroff's. 
 
Julie:
Excellent points, Potioncat. Given how little we still know
about Snape and his motivations, I have to say my main reasons
for believing so strongly in DDM!Snape have to do with 
Dumbledore. Not only how sound his judgment of others is (I
think it is very sound), but the fact that he is the most
powerful wizard in the WW, the only one Voldemort fears and
cannot easily kill. Thus from the beginning of HBP I was 
convinced that Dumbledore could only be "killed" if he 
ALLOWED it to happen. It doesn't matter whether the culprit
is Draco, Snape or even Voldemort himself. If Dumbledore 
doesn't accept his death, it isn't going to happen.
 
This doesn't mean Dumbledore was suicidal or wanted to die.
I suspect he was already dying from the beginning of HBP.
So it might be more accurate to say he chose *when* to die
rather than "to die." The most interesting question might be
what exactly Dumbledore was thinking when he went after that
ring horcrux, if that's indeed what was killing him. Did he
know the curse on it was likely to be fatal? If so, why did
he think that was the right time to set his death in motion?
Because he knew Voldemort was determined he die, because he
knew Harry couldn't fulfill the prophecy until Voldemort got
rid of this final obstacle? Or did the curse come as a surprise
to Dumbledore, and once he understood his fate he planned the
contingencies from that point?
 

Julie
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