HPB: Scenery Chewing

[pippin_999]

Let
There
Be
Spaces
In
Your
Togetherness
And
Let
The
Winds
Of Heaven
Dance
Between
You
-Kahlil Gibran

You know, maybe the Spinner's End scene seems off because
Snape and Narcissa are acting. It's a put up job. Narcissa has
no more idea of what The Plan is than Snape does, and they
cooked up this scene together in order to protect Draco. Think
about it -- If Snape were in on The Plan, wouldn't he be the 
natural one to teach Draco oclcumency? Likewise, if Narcissa
were an occlumens, she could have taught Draco, and if she isn't,
it would hardly be safe for her to know about the plan. She's
the parent of a Hogwarts student and could easily have 
contact with Dumbledore. 


All Narcissa knows is that the Dark Lord is planning to have 
Draco do *something* at Hogwarts, and  Draco
won't tell her what it is. Bella, however, must know The Plan, 
it could hardly be kept  from Draco's occlumency teacher, 
after all.

So Narcissa behaves like the heroine of a bad fanfic because
that's what she is. She's acting. And Snape's dialogue sounds 
flat and rehearsed because it *is*. 

Theory:  it was Dumbledore's idea that Snape
take the vow, so that the Dark Lord couldn't forbid him 
to  watch over Draco without losing his spy. Something of
a risk, but after all if Voldie wants Snape dead, it's not
like he hasn't got other ways to kill him.

But Narcissa's request  that Snape step in  if it seemed Draco was 
going to fail was unscripted, a little addition of her own. Hence the 
twitch. And Dumbledore's rueful dialogue about his grand plans 
being subject to even grander errors.


Pippin
euphoric at having dodged another bullet. Nothing in that 
interview  about ESE!Lupin being off the wall, thank goodness. Whew!