[HPforGrownups] Comparing Secret Keeper plan and UV plan (Re: Why DD did not ask Snape)

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 166275

From: Dana <ida3 at planet.nl>
>The big question is (or at least I think so) would Snape have died if 
>someone other then Draco killed DD? I do believe the vow would have 
>nullified the moment DD died on his own because Draco cannot kill 
>someone that is already dead and therefore technically he would not 
>have failed his task but what about someone else doing the deed? That 
>would make Draco fail his task. I also believe that as long as Draco 
>is still there and not walking away he is still in the moment of 
>performing his task. So, what if someone else killed DD would Snape 
>still have died for failing to live up to the third clause of the 
>vow? 

Bart:
That is the reason I believe that the substance of the UV must be based on the understanding of the person taking the vow, and it is that person's own self-admition that he or she has failed that triggers the death. To Snape, I figure that having DD die first is not a failure of Draco, but a removal of the necessity of Draco to do so. 

Dana:
>My problem with the whole Snape ordeal isn't so much the possibility 
>that Snape was caught in his own web but the suggestion that DD would 
>WANT Snape to kill him. 

Unless, at the time of the UV, Dumbledore was already "on life support", with a 100% negative prognosis. If Snape was the only person keeping Dumbledore alive, we have a  legal paradox worthy of John Gilbert. If Snape does not keep the Vow, he will die, which will cause Dumbledore to die, which means that he WILL keep the vow. 

Bart