Heaping vow upon vow/Viewing the evidence

[carolynwhite2]

> Carolyn:
>
> Was that the first unbreakable vow that Snape had made? Could it be 
> that the reason that DD had complete faith in the man was, quite 
> simply, because Snape had sworn an unbreakable vow to 
support/protect the Order/Harry..?

Neri:
There's no need for another UV just for that. A Life Debt to James 
would work just as well, and doesn't require any further assumptions. 
The canon is already supplied. For more details see
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/145024

Now, if you also want Snape to be indebted to Dumbledore, that too 
could be arranged, but would require a few speculations regarding how 
Life Debts work. Nothing really out there, though. The details are in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/140493

Neri

Carolyn:
Hm, missed these posts - don't visit TOL much these days. Glad that 
Faith seems to be getting pretty desperate: surely she must get her 
stilettoes stuck in one of the many worm-ridden decks at some point? 
I should desist your Health & Safety inspections - you never know 
your luck, she'd might break her neck or at least fall into the 
bilges where she belongs. But nevertheless concerned that you appear 
to have succumbed to a bout of SHIPping fever .. trust you are fully 
recovered from the madness?

My obvious response is that an unbreakable vow could have been the 
mechanism that DD used to transfer Snape's life debt from James to 
Harry, if the LD is really that important. I quite liked Del's theory 
that life debt's were about keeping people alive, and you were only 
in trouble if your debtee died due to your carelessness. I can 
imagine Snape's horror and exasperation when he found that giving 
Voldy the information about the prophecy accidentally put his own 
life in great danger. Certainly prefer it to LOLLIPOPS or variants 
thereof.

It's a possibility, but meanwhile our man from the Welsh borders is 
having another run at the 'facts', and although no doubt it'll all 
end in another round of possession theory, there's no doubt that he's 
on to something: what happened in the pub muddies the waters as to 
when Snape changed sides.

Kneasy:
There is a small discrepancy between the two testimonies. Sybill says 
she saw Snape when he 'interrupted' her interview i.e. she was out of 
her trance.
DD insists that Snape only heard half the prophesy (which may also 
conflict with his previous assertion "was detected a short way into 
the prophecy and thrown from the building").
Was it by chance that the job interview was held in a pub?
Just how much did Snape hear? Does it matter?

Anne:
We have to remember that Dumbledore's and Trelawney's accounts may
both be true -- if we allow that DD failed to tell Harry the *whole*
truth in OoP i.e., presumably leaving out a part about Aberforth
showing Snape to DD before throwing him out.

In any case, maybe we should at least add that DD paled visibly when
Harry informed him that Trelawney had named Snape as the evesdropper.

Carolyn:
If you re-read Ch 25, the whole explanation gets dodgier and dodgier 
IMO. Why on earth did DD go to the pub to talk to Trelawny, and not 
just the pub but up to her bedroom? And how come Snape knew where DD 
was? It seems clear that the silly old bat had no real idea what 
happened:

'Yes, there was a commotion outside the door and it flew open, and 
there was that rather uncouth barman standing with Snape, who was 
waffling about having come the wrong way up the stairs, although I'm 
afraid that I myself rather thought he had been apprehended 
eavesdropping on my interview with Dumbledore - you see, he himself 
was seeking a job at the time, and no doubt hoped to pick up tips!'

If we take anything away from what she says, it seems that Snape may 
already have applied for a job at Hogwarts and may have been rumbled 
by DD. Perhaps DD allowed himself to be followed to the Hogs Head, 
and arranged for Snape to be caught by Aberforth. DD certainly may 
not have known Sybill would come out with a 'real' prophecy, but 
subsequently saw advantage in encouraging Snape to repeat the bit 
that he'd heard to Voldy.

Alternatively, Snape heard most of it, already had reasons to turn 
from Voldy, and agreed willingly to spy for DD. Certainly DD must 
have had a subsequent interview with Snape if Aberforth definitely 
captured him outside the door.

Carolyn