What If He Didn't Tell All?

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "severelysigune" <severelysigune at y...> wrote:

> Legilimency is very convenient, isn't it? :-) 
> However: although we have been repeatedly told that Snape is an ace 
> at *Occlumency* we don't know his skill at Legilimency equals that. 
> If it does, it becomes harder to maintain that he didn't know about 
> the Vanishing Cabinets after the Christmas chat – or do we assume 
> Auntie Bella turned dear Draco into a real expert Occlumens?
> Also: awareness of Cissy's intention to bind him with an Unbreakable 
> Vow doesn't imply that he also knows exactly what clauses she is 
> going to include.
> 

Kneasy:
I may be wrong, but I  think that if you're good at one, you're good at 
the other; dual aspects of the same skills. I also seem to remember Jo 
mentioning that he's pretty hot at Legilimancy. Can't for the life of me 
remember where, but I'm pretty sure it's in black and white somewhere.

> 
> Sigune again:
> The answer to this depends, I should say, on whether or not 
> Dumbledore is a better Legilimens than Voldemort. We know that Snape 
> has been able to fool Voldemort from the tender age of, what, twenty –
>  the age at which he defected. I am inclined to assume that a really 
> good Occlumens can hide even the fact that he is pushing some 
> memories/thoughts away.
> I tend to think that yes, Snape is a better Occlumens than Dumbledore 
> is a Legilimens; that is why Dumbledore *has to* trust Snape. If he 
> could simply X-ray him then the endlessly repeated stress on the 
> whole `trust' matter would be a bit superfluous. 
> 
> 

Kneasy:
Again, I  think that magical powers weren't needed, Sevvy told DD everything.
Indeed, if DD felt that he had to probe Snape's mind that would be a sure
sign that he didn't trust him.

> 
> Sigune:
> Hm. I don't accept Snape shoving Malfoy out of the way and offing 
> Dumbledore himself as proof of the fact that it was planned that way. 
> Goading Draco on would be the thing to do for ESE!Snape, Snape-the-
> enthusiastic-Death Eater. The Snape who keeps Malfoy from killing is 
> the one who agreed to protect him and the man Dumbledore trusts – he 
> keeps the miserable little bugger from tainting his soul at the age 
> of sixteen. Somehow I think that's what Dumbledore would have wanted. 
> Forcing Draco to cast the AK would certainly have been the easy way 
> out for Snape. – Goodness – would he have a conscience after all? ;-)
> 
>

Kneasy:
Not the exact circumstances, no. That couldn't be planned for, not
unless DD knew what was going to happen - which is unlikely. Though I
did once write a post pointing out that there were occasions, too many for 
comfortable coincidence, where DD seemed to have made plans for events 
in such a way that it made one wonder if he'd had a peep at the script, that
he did know, at least in general outline, what was going to happen, and
it was on this vaguish foreknowledge that he had based his plan and it
enabled him to move characters around the board accordingly.
Problem is, that sort of reasoning plays into the hands of supporters of 
the Time Travel heresy, and I'm allergic to TT theories.  

No, fairly general guidelines would be enough. DD dying would be the rule
of thumb in all probability. Malfoy being there was a surprise - he was
expecting Snape. After the withered hand it makes sense to have someone
check you over after a night out playing with Horsecrotches.

See, all this "Promise you will do whatever I say" stuff with Harry - all very
well and probably not a problem in most situations - but DD off to the next
great adventure - could he trust Harry to stay calm if that happened? Nope,
Harry would be going bananas.

So, they land, someone comes up the stairs and starts to open the door -
and DD immmediately petrifies Harry *before* they can see who it is.
What is the point of this? Certainly not to fool Draino - Harry is under his 
Invisibilty Cloak and could easily have disarmed or petrified Draino long
before the scumbag could cast  an AK.

It only makes sense if DD is dying, knows it and is expecting Snape to
turn up and administer the necessary Coup de Grace to save an old friend
and colleague from more suffering, perhaps even enslavement to Voldy.
That scenario would have Harry screaming his head off, fighting tooth and
nail to stop Sevvy and 'save' DD. But that's not what DD wants. It's time to die. 
The fact that Draino doesn't get to be a murderer and Sevvy fulfills the UV is 
pretty much serendipity IMO. Useful, though, helps the plot along no end.