Wand Lore / Luna / Alchemy

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 181634

> Carol:
> 
> I don't think that JKR would have DD lie when she's tying up the 
loose
> ends of the plot. What would be the point and how could the reader
> know? I think we're supposed to take Dead!DD, who, after all, has
> nothing more to hide, at his word. He's telling Harry *everything* 
(at
> least, everything as JKR defines that word). And he says that Snape
> died because of a flaw in the plan.

a_svirn:
Ah, but it is the Dead Dumbledore *inside Harry's head*. He didn't 
tell Harry anything Harry hadn't already known. And naturally Harry 
would prefer to think it was merely a flaw in the plan, rather than 
deliberate sacrifice of one of Dumbledore's chess pieces. 

> Carol:
> Also, DD was counting on Snape not only to take over as headmaster 
of
> Hogwarts and protect the students, aiding Harry along the way with
> details like the Sword of Gryffindor, but he also needed him to
> deliver that last message to Harry when Voldemort started protecting
> Nagini. 

a_svirn:
Then again, those two aims are somewhat conflicting, aren't they? To 
help Harry Snape had to maintain his position as a headmaster, and to 
do so he had to be exactly the headmaster Voldemort needed. He gave 
the Carrows free reign in Hogwarts, at all events. Granted, he did 
seem to have saved Ginny and Co. (Though that was, after all in his 
best interests, since otherwise one or both of the Carrows would have 
interrogated her.)

> Carol:
He could not have expected Snape to be killed at that point
> because he needed Snape to be alive to deliver the message. And, of
> course, he could not have anticipated Snape's being bitten by Nagini
> in Harry's presence, which enabled Snape to deliver the message as 
he
> could not have done if he'd been AK'd.

a_svirn:
That part of the plan doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Suppose 
Snape confronted Harry and told him about Dumbledore instructions. 
Would Harry believe one single word of it? Would he even listen to 
Dumbledore's murderer? I should think he'd AK him without further 
ado. And tell afterwards that he really meant it. And no one would 
blame him, not even Snape, for how could he (or anyone else) be sure 
about Snape loyalties? How would anyone expect him to give Snape 
benefit of the doubt once Snape killed Dumbledore? 

> Carol:
> Just how DD intended for Snape to avoid being killed when LV
> discovered that he was the supposed master of the Elder Wand is
> unclear, but he may have been counting on timing--Harry finding and
> destroying the Horcruxes before LV solved the mystery of the Elder
> Wand, obtained it, and realized why it wasn't working for him 
(which,
> BTW, is absurd--it worked just fine).

a_svirn:
That explanation doesn't really work when you consider that he did 
everything in his power to distract Harry from the Horcrux Hunt. 

> Carol: 
> At any rate, I think the combination of DD's regret for "poor
> Severus," 

a_svirn:
That particular regret sounds to me startlingly like Voldemort's, "I 
regret it."

> Carol:
the implication that he wanted Snape to have the wand (but
> presumably not use it or be its master), 

a_svirn:
Then why have it at all? It seems to be a dangerous possession even 
at best of times. To have it without using it would be like walking 
around with a big target painted on your back. 

Carol:
the unexpected events that
> speeded up LV's hunt for the Elder Wand, and, especially, DD's need
> for Snape to deliver that message to Harry, which could only be done
> if he were alive, indicates to me that he didn't expect Snape to 
die. 

a_svirn:
And yet had he been alive, Harry would have not been likely to listen 
to him.  
 
> Carol, who thinks that JKR's plot needs, not Dumbledore's plan,
> resulted in Snape's dying when (and how) he did

a_svirn:
The distinction between the two is somewhat elusive, I'd say. 

a_svirn, who hasn't stayed in the agreement with Carol for long.