Did Snape know Draco's task in Spinner's End/Snape as Neville's teacher

[Miles]

No: HPFGUIDX 168413

> Magpie:
> I read the "But..." as "He wishes none to know the plan. He has
> forbidden us to speak of it. But...[I'm a-gonna speak to you of
> it."] Even if I'm wrong and she was really, as you say, just going
> to talk about why she wants to speak of it, she's still going to
> speak of it. So I need a good reason for Snape to stop her. I could
> certainly by him pretending he knows in order to get her to be more
> open, but that's not what he does. He shuts her up without it
> following it up with getting her to speak freely about the plot.

Miles:
I think he has a very good reason to interrupt. He looks out of the window
that very moment, right? That's the point - there are listeners. Known ones
(Bellatrix), possible ones (Peter), and theoretical ones (people listening
outside the house). Just take Bellatrix - to have her listen to Narcissa
explaining the plot would be very dangerous. She might not sell her own
sister easily, but it would be  not OOC for her. She hates and distrusts
Snape, and if he would be part of a betrayal on LV's orders - well?
Considering that, and considering that Snape is really fond of his own
intellect, he might think it would be less dangerous to just fish for the
information without showing that he does not have it. Plus the chance to
make Draco tell him all about it - Snape might think that this way is a bit
more complicated, but less dangerous.

> Magpie:
> Because bluffing Snape is just that--bluffing. He's treading water
> throughout the scene (and not even, that I can see, aggressively
> getting information out of them).

Miles:
As explained above, it would be dangerous to aggressively get information he
is not allowed to have. Bellatrix won't forget.

Magpie:
> A Snape that knows the task is
> actually vowing to kill Dumbledore. Bluffing!Snape doesn't know what
> he's vowing or doing. When bluffing!Snape says "he means me to do it
> in the end" he's just speaking vaguely, because he doesn't really
> know what's going on.

Miles:
Knowing!Snape is most probably ESE!Snape, right? Well, I really doubt JKR
wants to answer this question in Spinner's End.
Bluffing!Snape could be part of a personal tragedy, if he is DDM!Snape, and
it fits to ESE!Snape as well - and best for OFH!Snape.

> Magpie:
> I don't see how it's a reaction. It's months after the fact when
> Snape has presumably known for a while, and how does Snape saying
> Dumbledore takes too much for granted (iirc) directly show that
> Snape made a huge mistake in Vowing to kill him? What did Snape
> think he was Vowing to do, I wonder?

Miles:
How could he deny the Vow in the moment he accepts to make it? If he would
deny it in this very situation, Bellatrix would be a deathly threat to him
in the future. Narcissa would not trust him anymore, Draco would be most
probably lost. He manoeuvred himself into a dead end - into Spinner's End,
no escape possible but the only open way left - the Vow. He might think that
it could be harmless when he started to make it, but had no chance to deny
the last and fatal part of it.

> Magpie:
> I would think Snape would have more chance of figuring it out than I
> did, since he knew Voldemort. When Narcissa said "Even the Dark Lord
> himself..." it seemed like yeah, obviously that's killing
> Dumbledore. He has kidnapped Harry, and Snape knows Voldemort's
> going to want to do kill Harry himself. Even if Snape hadn't been as
> sure as I was, surely it would have seemed like an obvious choice.
> And a bad idea to vow to do anything unknown for Voldemort.

Miles:
Voldemort tried to kidnap Harry, but he failed - Harry escaped. "Even the
Dark Lord himself..."
Voldemort tried to kill Harry three times - but he failed. "Even the Dark
Lord himself..."
Maybe Voldemort tried to steal something from Hogwarts, but failed?
Impossible? Not at all.

Miles