Snape's Vow

The Unbreakable Vow.

What do we know about it?

You can break it, but if you do, you die.
Anyone can make one, about anything. (As demonstrated by Fred and George getting Ron to make one when he was little.)
What else?

So, Snape makes one with Narcissa. He vows to help Malfoy on his quest, and if it seems that Malfoy will fail, Snape will do the deed for him.

Does it actually say that Malfoy's job is to kill Dumbledore? I don't think it does. (What if it was to do with something completely different?!)

Snape was seen by Harry talking to Malfoy about his job.
We don't know if Snape actually knows about Malfoys quest or is just bluffing so he can figure out what Malfoys trying to do.

How did Snape actually find out in the end that Malfoy's quest was to kill Dumbledore? Do we know?

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Evil Snape-
Snape knows about Malfoy's quest to kill Dumbledore, he makes the Unbreakable Vow to help, and if needed, to take over his job of killing Dumbledore. His talk with Malfoy is genuine in that he knows what's going on.
Right until the end, Dumbledore fully trusts Snape. Malfoy is on the point of killing Dumbledore but loses his nerve. Snape steps in because Malfoy is failing his quest to kill Dumbledore, and Snape kills Dumbledore, thus fulfilling the Unbreakable Vow.

Problems- What does this mean, then, if it's not about Snape killing Dumbledore?"

I was comin' outta the forest the other evenin' an' I overheard 'em talking -- well, arguin'. ... I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he -- Snape -- didn' wan' ter do it anymore ... Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it."

And Dumbledore wouldn't beg for his life.

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Good Snape 1-
Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow, not knowing what it's about, but seeing it as an oppurtunity to find out. Dumbledore and Snape find out what Malfoy's job is.
Dumbledore makes Snape agree to kill him (making sense of Hagrid's spiel about Dumbledore and Snape arguing) and this way Snape will keep the vow and not die.
The night comes and Draco falters. Dumbledore is trapped by the other death eaters and he contacts Snape using Occlumency to tell Snape that he needs to kill him so he can keep the vow. He has to beg Snape to do it, because he sees doubt in Snapes mind.

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Good Snape 2-
Snape makes the Unbreakable Vow, not knowing what it's about, but seeing it as an oppurtunity to find out. Dumbledore and Snape find out what Malfoy's job is. They rig it so that everyone will think that Dumbledore is dead, even though he faked it.

Problems- (And this is the biggest one)

If Dumbledore's alive, how come Snape's not dead? He broke the vow by Dumbledore faking his own death and the punishment for that is death.

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What we need to know is, how long does it take for death to catch up with the person who broke the vow? If it's immediately, this shows that Dumbledore's dead.

If vow-breaker doesn't immediately die, but dies later, this would explain why Snape gets so angry at Harry for calling him a coward. He'd just pulled of a stunt that would allow Dumbledore to live, the cost being that he himself would die soon.

This would not achieve much (though it depends upon how long Snape lives after he's helped Dumbledore to live) as Dumbledore would lose a spy. And Dumbledore wouldn't want someone to die so he could live, so why would he fake his own death?

It all depends on when the death part of the vow kicks in, and when you have to complete the vow by.

Like I was saying before, what if Malfoy had to do something completely different and Snape vowed to help him do that and just assumed that Malfoy had to kill Dumbledore.
Like they say, to assume things is to make an a.s.s out of u and me.

That is the moral of the Harry Potter books. Always look deeper than the surface.

I know there is a simple explanation for this, but I'm not remembering it at this moment. I don't have HBP on hand, so I can't look at it right now. I'll try to find it and come back to this later. Or even better, if someone could post that section right around where the unbreakable vow was made, that would be cool.

Ok, let's look at exactly what Snape promised to do in the Unbreakable Vow.

First, he promised to "watch over...Draco as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes."

Second, he promised to "the best of [his] ability, protect [Draco] from harm."

Finally, Narcissa's final request was this: "Should it prove necessary...if it seems Draco will fail...will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

Snape definitely fulfilled the first two. The primary question on this thread seems to be this: If Dumbledore isn't dead, hasn't Snape not fulfilled the third part of the Unbreakable Vow? If he hasn't, why isn't he dead? Let's look at the third promise more closely. First of all, the obvious connecter between "Should it prove necessary" and "if it seems Draco will fail is "and." In other words, both of these things have to be true. But, the most important thing here is the phrase "Should it prove necessary." Necessary to whom? If it is Snape that it should seem necessary to (which seems to be the case as this is being said to Snape) and Snape is good, then it will obviously never prove necessary. Since this is the case, if Snape is good, then he never broke the Unbreakable Vow.

Ok, I'll do it...I have nothing better to do, anyway. Please forgive the lack of "tab" use...

"If you are there to protect him . . . Severus, will you swear it? Will you make the Unbreakable Vow?"

"The Unbreakable Vow?"

Snape's Expression was blank, unreadable. Bellatrix, however, let out a cackle of triumphant laughter.

"Aren't you listening, Narcissa? Oh, he'll try, I'm sure . . . The usual empty words, the usual slithering out of action . . . oh, on the Dark Lord's orders, of course!"

Snape did not look at Bellatrix. His black eyes were fixed upon Narcissa's tear-filled blue ones as she continued to clutch his hand.

"Certainly, Narcissa, I shal make the Unbreakable Vow," he said quietly. "Perhaps your sister will consent to be our Bonder."

Bellatrix's mouth fell open. Snape lowered himself so that he was kneeling opposite Narcissa. Beneath Bellatrix's astonished gaze, they grasped right hands.

"You will need your wand, Bellatrix," said Snape coldly.

She drew it, still looking astonished.

"And you will need to move a little closer," he said.

She stepped forward so that she stood over them, and placed the tip of her wand on their linked hands.

Narcissa spoke.

"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"I will," said Snape.

A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will," said Snape.

A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain.

"And, should it prove necessary . . . if it seems Draco will fail . . ." whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

There was a moment's silence. Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide.

"I will," said Snape.

Bellatrix's astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a third tongue of flame, which shot from the wand, twisted with the others, and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a rope, like a fiery snake.

*Grr..all that for nothing...*

Why do you say that?

"And, should it prove necessary . . . if it seems Draco will fail . . ." whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

If it seems Draco will fail. It seemed that Draco would fail when he lowered his wand. It was necessary for Snape to step in and carry out the deed that the Dark Lord ordered Draco to perform.
It proved necessary for Snape to kill Dumbledore, because Draco wasn't going to.

Necessary to fulfill Dark Lord's wishes, I'd say, makes more sense. Killing Dumbledore is what the Dark Lord's wish is, so Snape had to kill him.

"And, should it prove necessary . . . if it seems Draco will fail . . ."

They are connected enough, without the and there. They're basically the same thing.

"And should it prove necessary...if it seems Draco will fail..."

She's just saying the same thing in a different way, I believe.

And should it prove necessary because Draco seems to be going to fail, will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord ordered Draco to perform.

I think that's what she meant.

I think that's the main loop-hole.


See the thread, "Slimy Gits Need Love, Too," Divination Class for Book VII.
I don't see a post from you (Sirius) which means you probably missed that thread.


Here's another thought that was still to vague to put in words when I started that "Slimy Gits" thread:

Without Snape's vow, and assuming that Draco failed, Voldemort's next step would be to order somebody to kill Draco. And the somebody would probably be Snape:

(1) Because he's right there, at Hogwarts; and

(2) If the plan failed, Voldemort would very reasonably assume that the failure was Snape's fault, and that Snape was a traitor. Voldemort would have fun playing with Snape over who/how/when to kill Draco, and then Snape would die, too.

"Shame that his mother likes him."
Remember Ron, dreaming of Draco falling off a cliff?
That no longer sounds like just a comic relief, throw-away line.

I wonder if his father likes him? To me, Draco always seems to be trying to please his father. His constant "Wait till my father hears about this" ing, and his showing off about him, says how Draco really wants to please him and rely on him, but it doesn't happen.
drats deatheaters, bursting in just when Draco was lowering his wand. He wouldn't have killed Dumbledore. He and his mother would be hidden away safe. Draco got in too deep and just when he was backing out, his options were cut off. He's trapped in the Death Eaters ranks.

Having said that, if the death eaters hadn't come bursting in and Draco and his mother came over to the Order, I don't think Lucius would have been too pleased that he was going to go into hiding with his enemies!

It makes more sense to make an assumption like that? I think a bit of Occam's razor would be useful here. The simplest answer is that it is vague. Why? Because it is vague. "Should it prove necessary" is in the eye of the beholder. In this case that eye belongs to Snape.