HBP post DH look Chapters 1-2.

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 184296

Sarah wrote:
> 
> I agree with Pippin that Dumbledore had already shown up with the
crispy hand and Snape had put his temporary patch on the ring curse.
And since DH, I now also agree that Snape did know of the plan, since
he and Dumbledore discussed it in the same sitting as the ring curse
patch was applied.

Carol responds:
I agree with you and zanooda and Pippin on this point. Also, zanooda
mentioned the first four chapters all happening on the same night. I
agree with that, too. We can definitely establish that the first two
occur one right after the other based on the fog reference early in
"Spinner's End," and, of course, the two Harry chapters follow one
right after the other since he goes directly from Little Whinging to
Budleigh Babberton. (I would love to know what was in JKR's mind when
she invented that name!)

Sarah: 
> Pre-DH, I would not have agreed with that second part.  Snape is
kind of waffling around about "trying" to help Draco with his task,
until this line:  "His black eyes were fixed upon Narcissa's
tear-filled blue ones as she continued to clutch his hand."  In the
next sentence after that, Snape heartily agrees to make the Vow.  It
all seemed to fit that he was bluffing up until that moment.

Carol responds:
I had my doubts, too, pre-DH, about whether he knew about Draco's
mission or was bluffing. I knew, of course, that he didn't know about
Draco's Vanishing Cabinet Plan, but it became clear that he knew that
Draco was trying to kill someone (and whom he was trying to kill) when
Snape confronted him during Slughorn's party.

Sarah:
>  It's reasonable to assume that he knows Narcissa to be no
Occlumens, since his guess is that it was Bellatrix who taught Draco.

Carol:
I think you mean "no Legilimens." I agree that she isn't a legilimens
(neither, at a guess, is Bellatrix). Even if they were, Snape's
Occlumency can fool Voldemort, so it would certainly fool them. (BTW,
it surprises me that Bellatrix, who either can't or won't conceal her
emotions or her opinions on any occasion that I can recall, would
bother to learn Occlumency. She doesn't have anything to hide from her
dear Dark Lord, and she proudly proclaims her guilt at her sentencing.
I suppose it was only a plot device to enable Draco to learn the
rudimentary Occlumency that Snape detects so readily (but, for
whatever reason, doesn't attempt to break through as Voldemort would
have done). 

Sarah:
>  He changes his tune immediately after a cheesy line about him
staring into Narcissa's eyes, so I figured that's what that was about.

Carol:
I'm not sure about "cheesy." I think that Snape is using Legilimency
on Narcissa when he looks into those tear-filled blue eyes, and that
what he sees is Draco being murdered. It may be that vision that
causes him to agree to take the Unbreakable Vow. And I wouldn't use
"heartily" to describe his agreement. I think "calmly" describes it
better. He's acting deliberately, in the sense of "with deliberation,"
very much in control of the situation. He knows that both LV and DD
expect and want him to kill DD in the end. He has a duty to Draco. He
seems honestly to care about Narcissa. And he's keeping his cover as a
loyal DE for Bellatrix's benefit. He has no choice, really, but to
take the Unbreakable Vow, especially when Narcissa first presents it
at swearing to protect and watch over Draco (as he fully intends to do
in any case). Only when she presents her last provision, that he "do
the deed" if it seems that Draco will fail, does his hand twitch and
give away, at least to the post-DH reader, that he really doesn't want
to kill DD. And even then, he masters himself and remains outwardly
calm. Notice, though, that when Narcissa first presents her request,
his face is "bland" and "ureadable" (a sign that he's concealing all
traces of emotion, perhaps through Occlumency). Then he looks into
Narcissa's tear-filled blue eyes and agrees "quietly" to take the vow.
He even manages to speak both coldly and authoritatively to Bellatrix,
 instructing her to act as Bonder.

Sarah:
>  But DH showed he did know the plan.

Carol:
As I said, I think it's pretty clear from the moment he talks to Draco
after the party that he knows what Draco is trying to do. He just
doesn't know how. And he takes the opportunity to discourage any more
foolish measures like the opal necklace (it's too late to stop the
poisoned mead, which he doesn't know about, perhaps because he's
thwarted by Draco's clumsy and easily detectable attempt at Occlumency.

Sarah: 
> Absent obvious evidence, I'm usually prone to give the benefit of
the doubt to the author not making a mistake.  But in this case, I
wonder if maybe it is one, though it's a very minor matter.

Carol:
I'm sure that Pippin will be surprised to read this, but I don't see a
mistake here. Snape knew that Voldemort had assigned Draco to kill DD,
knew that LV expected Draco to fail, and knew that both LV and DD
expected him, Snape, to kill DD when Draco failed. We also have the
conversation later in HBP between Snape and DD, partially and somewhat
inaccurately reported by Hagrid, in which Snape says that maybe he
doesn't want to do it any more. That's our first real clue that DD
wants Snape to kill him, which is the primary reason that Snape agreed
to take the Unbreakable Vow (the others may have contributed to his
decision, but I don't think that, even taken together, they would have
been sufficient if he hadn't already made that promise to Dumbledore.
Otherwise, he would probably have done as Bellatrix predicted and
"slithered out of action" yet again.

Sarah: 
> As for the original question from Alla, yes, I think Snape agreed to
the Vow mainly because he could without sacrificing anything
additional that he hadn't promised to do already anyway, and to help
reinforce the support of the Malfoys and get Bellatrix off his back a
little.

Carol:
Exactly.

Carol, noting that both the first two and the second two chapters
appear to occur on a Friday night/Saturday morning around midnight in
mid-July and are therefore probably all on the same night