Snape's involvement in the murder of Sirius

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 169175

Carol earlier:
> > > 2) There is no reason to kill Black, who is stuck in 12 GP and
no threat to the DEs or Voldemort.
> > 
wynnleaf responded:
> > Absolutely.  There seems to be some assumption that there was a
"we hate Sirius" movement among the Death Eaters, motivating some sort
of drive to kill him.  Why?  We know of no particular animosity that
any DE has toward Sirius except possibly Bella.  There's no real 
strategic advantage in killing Sirius, unless the DE's thought that
killing him would open up Grimmauld Place to them.  But even there, 
it's obvious that Sirius would have willed the place elsewhere (why 
leave it to Bella or Cissy, for goodness sake?!).  
> <SNIP>
> 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> And still JKR remarked that there is a reason why Sirius had to die.
Besides Harry has to go on alone reason. Now, maybe that reason would
be Sirius helping Harry, but it could be any reason that Dung so 
> nicely summarised in her post.
> 
> And this reason maybe something we don't know yet, something why 
Bella and Narcissa or anybody else wanted Sirius dead.
> 
> But even if DE did not have any such reason, which is surely possible.
> 
> What matters to me is that *Snape* is likely to have such reason in
 my view.
> 
> Nothing new is needed for that. Just Snape animosity and desire for
revenge. Do I think Snape's animosity is arising to the level of 
wanting Sirius dead? Yes, I do think it is a possibility.

Carol responds:

First, let me clarify. I meant that the DEs and Voldemort have no
particular reason to kill Sirius Black, who poses no danger to them as
long as he stays in 12 GP. Other Order members, say Lupin or Moody,
would surely be more dangerous to them and to LV simply because they
were out actively working for the Order. So why even worry about a man
who's wanted by the Aurors and can't even leave the house? 

I didn't mean to imply that *JKR* "killed" him for no reason. Of
course, in that sense, he had to die, and not only for various
thematic reasons but for some reason related to the plot of Book 7. 

But *Snape's* "need" for Sirius Black to die is different from *JKR's*
reasons why he has to die, which is what she's talking about in that
interview. If Snape really wanted Black dead, he had the opportunity
to kill him in PoA and didn't take it. He also could have kept quiet
about Lucius Malfoy seeing Black on Platform 9 3/4 and need not have
told Black to remain at home because DD was coming. Canon says that
Black *chose* to go despite Snape's advice (which, being Harry's
godfather, he would not have heeded even if snape were his friend).

As I've already stated, there is no canonical plot to kill Sirius
Black, and no known reason for the DEs to kill him in particular. (See
upthread for those arguments, which I won't repeat here.)

In terms of plot, one reason why Black died was to give Harry a
scapegoat to blame for Black's death (a new reason for hating Snape,
in other words) before he was given stronger and more legitimate
reasons. The tension between them needs to be at its highest pitch
before the confrontation in DH. What would it add to make him actually
partly guilty of Black's death. Nothing that I can see. Instead we
have an invalid reason for hating Snape replaced by two good reasons
(the eavesdropping and DD's death), which will be more than enough to
overcome in terms of forgiveness and working together. Add a real
share in Black's death (which I've already demonstrated, convincingly,
IMO, to be almost accidental) and you have an insurmountable obstacle.
Harry may be a good guy, but he doesn't have superhuman powers of
forgiveness.

But the main reason, in terms of Black himself, probably centers
around the Veil. Harry will go back to the DoM and either he or Voldie
or both will go through the way, I'll bet you galleons on it. And I do
think it's likely that Sirius Black will help Harry return from behind
the Veil, perhaps lending him his body for the return trip. IOW, Harry
will survive, but Black is dead and won't return. (At least, Harry and
his friends would be able to give him a funeral.)

At any rate, we know that JKR has a plot-related reason why Sirius
Black had to die, but I'm guessing that it has to do with the Veil and
a moment of temporary reunion. Maybe Harry will see Dumbledore there
as well. But much as I like Snape-related plots, I don't think he'll
have anything to do with this one.

BTW, I saw no indication that Narcissa (in "Spinner's End") cared one
way or the other about her cousin Sirius Black's death. She was rather
preoccupied with Draco's predicament (and with defending her husband
when Bellatrix blamed him for the MoM fiasco). And I noted that
Bellatrix showed much the same reaction to disabling her niece, Tonks.
with that mysterious green spell that she showed to sending her dear
cousin through the Veil:

"Harry saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form
toppling from stone seat to stone seat, and Bellatrix, triumphant,
running back toward the fray" (OoP Am. ed. 803). When she sends Sirius
through the Veil, she reacts with a "triumphant scream" (806)--she's
triumphing over her own family members both times.

Carol, wondering what that green spell was and why, if it was an AK,
it didn't kill Tonks