CHAPDISC: DH36, THE FLAW IN THE PLAN

[Jeanine]

No: HPFGUIDX 185330

>snip>
>Carol>
>
> And again, whether JKR had Beowulf in mind or not, she needed Snape
to
> die in a way that did not involve an AK. Enter Nagini, protected by
> the bubble, and Snape distracted by the necessity to get the message
> to Harry and the fear that it's too late. All very dramatic, and
> certainly the feat of conjuring the memories wandlessly as he's
dying
> is spectacular. It's just that the Elder Wand *has not* failed
> Voldemort and he has no reason, not even the wrong reason of
thinking
> that Snape is the master of the wand, for murdering him. Nothing but
> JKR's need to have him struck before Harry's eyes so that he can
feel
> shock and horror and stare for a moment into the dying Snape's eyes
in
> preparation for the excursion into the Pensieve.
>
> Carol, still unconvinced

I agree that this whole Elder Wand scene appears to exist solely as a
plot device to meet JKR's need for the Snape / Harry denouement to
occur in such a horrific and tragic manner. Snape needs to survive
long enough to speak to Harry and to impart his memories, so an AK
would be out of the question. I have been unable to find any evidence
in canon to support why Voldemort should 'suddenly' decide at this
late stage that the Elder Wand is not performing properly for him.

And even if he had, which I do not accept, what had he been proposing
to do about it prior to those last few minutes? ? What would he have
done if Snape had not been forced to flee from Hogwarts? What if in
the melee before Snape left, Minerva had killed Snape? What if Snape
had flown somewhere else? What if he had holed himself up in Hogwarts
and attempted to get his message to Harry some other way?'What if
Snape had offered his memories to Minerva to show whose side he was
on? All of these possibilities were outside Voldemort's control,
but 'luckily' for him, Snape comes to him at the very moment that he
decides Snape has to die. 'Luckily' for Harry too, he just happens to
be passing at the moment of Snape's death.


Jeanine