More HBP thoughts
Jul. 20th, 2005 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magisteraBecause my little brain just won't stop whirring, and I haven't seen this brought up yet.
I was thinking over "Spinners End", trying to make up my mind how much Snape knows or doesn't know while he's talking with Bellatrix and Narcissa, and this sort of jumped out at me:
The first thing I picked out of this is that Bellatrix is maybe not finding it so easy to gain an audience with Voldemort as she used to, and when she does, he doesn't tell her much - she doesn't know what Snape has or hasn't been telling him. Actually, given the bit about Sirius, it seems like she must've been in the dark (at least about Snape's information) since before the Department of Mysteries.
This is mostly interesting to me because I'm still on the fence about whether Snape knew what he was agreeing to when he swore the Unbreakable Vow, and when I try to convince myself he didn't, the main counter-argument I come up with is that it would be stupid to say he did in front of Bellatrix if he didn't. But if Bellatrix doesn't get much "quality time" with Voldemort anymore...
The second thing I noticed is that Snape's description of the fruits of his spying on the Order seems to contain at least one probable falsehood: What did he have to do with "disposing" of Sirius? Sirius wasn't the target at the MoM - he was the bait. The Order showing up wasn't part of the plan. Bellatrix even points this out while defending the fact that they lost the fight. His death was basically a lucky accident for the Death Eaters.
You could theorize that Snape did, as Harry accused in OotP, goad Sirius into going along with the others to the MoM, but in order to read this as premeditated malice on Snape's part, you have to assume that he knew Sirius would die - or at least, that he knew the risk to Sirius was greater than the increased risk of jeopardising the primary DE mission - getting the prophecy. I'd imagine that if Snape were torn between the necessity of maintaining his own cover and the desire to increase the chances of success for the Death Eaters, he'd be doing his best to keep the number of Order members responding to a minimum. And that wouldn't have anything to do with any "information" that Snape had provided to Voldemort.
The only way I can see that any information of Snape's led to Sirius' death is through the revelation of the prophecy - since no one would have been at the Department of Mysteries that night if Voldemort hadn't known about it and wanted to hear the rest. But that's an awfully tenuous connection, not to mention that it's sixteen years old and dates from before Snape's (faked or real) departure from the Death Eaters. It amounts to a lie to my mind, in that case, because Bellatrix is clearly asking about "useful information" that Snape has uncovered since he went to work for Dumbledore, since that's why she's questioning his loyalties.
Also, it appears that only Snape and the Order know that Snape was the one to warn them that Harry & the DA had gone to the MoM - or you can bet that would have been one of Bellatrix's questions. Since Bellatrix and Lucius have both apparently fallen out of favor with Voldemort over the outcome of that mission, it seems pretty unlikely that Snape was acting on Voldemort's behalf there - what would be the point? He could have just popped over to Grimmauld Place, determined that Sirius was there, and the next morning said, "Sorry, Headmaster, once I figured out that the idiot boy was mistaken, I went straight to bed."
On an unrelated note, I think it's a nice touch that Harry is the one to explain everything at the end - which is usually Dumbledore's role. He's already making preparations to step into at least some of his mentor's shoes.
I was thinking over "Spinners End", trying to make up my mind how much Snape knows or doesn't know while he's talking with Bellatrix and Narcissa, and this sort of jumped out at me:
"But what use have you been?" sneered Bellatrix. "What useful information have we had from you?"
"My information has been conveyed directly to the Dark Lord," said Snape. "If he chooses not to share it with you —"
"He shares everything with me!" said Bellatrix, firing up at once. "He calls me his most loyal, his most faithful —"
"Does he?" said Snape, his voice delicately inflected to suggest his disbelief. "Does he still, after the fiasco at the Ministry?"
...
"The Dark Lord is satisfied with the information I have passed him on the Order. It led, as perhaps you have guessed, to the recent capture and murder of Emmeline Vance, and it certainly helped dispose of Sirius Black, though I give you full credit for finishing him off."
He inclined his head and toasted her. Her expression did nor soften.
"You are avoiding my last question, Snape. Harry Potter. You could have killed him at any point in the past five years. You have not done it. Why?"
"Have you discussed this matter with the Dark Lord?" asked Snape.
"He... lately, we... I am asking you, Snape!"
The first thing I picked out of this is that Bellatrix is maybe not finding it so easy to gain an audience with Voldemort as she used to, and when she does, he doesn't tell her much - she doesn't know what Snape has or hasn't been telling him. Actually, given the bit about Sirius, it seems like she must've been in the dark (at least about Snape's information) since before the Department of Mysteries.
This is mostly interesting to me because I'm still on the fence about whether Snape knew what he was agreeing to when he swore the Unbreakable Vow, and when I try to convince myself he didn't, the main counter-argument I come up with is that it would be stupid to say he did in front of Bellatrix if he didn't. But if Bellatrix doesn't get much "quality time" with Voldemort anymore...
The second thing I noticed is that Snape's description of the fruits of his spying on the Order seems to contain at least one probable falsehood: What did he have to do with "disposing" of Sirius? Sirius wasn't the target at the MoM - he was the bait. The Order showing up wasn't part of the plan. Bellatrix even points this out while defending the fact that they lost the fight. His death was basically a lucky accident for the Death Eaters.
You could theorize that Snape did, as Harry accused in OotP, goad Sirius into going along with the others to the MoM, but in order to read this as premeditated malice on Snape's part, you have to assume that he knew Sirius would die - or at least, that he knew the risk to Sirius was greater than the increased risk of jeopardising the primary DE mission - getting the prophecy. I'd imagine that if Snape were torn between the necessity of maintaining his own cover and the desire to increase the chances of success for the Death Eaters, he'd be doing his best to keep the number of Order members responding to a minimum. And that wouldn't have anything to do with any "information" that Snape had provided to Voldemort.
The only way I can see that any information of Snape's led to Sirius' death is through the revelation of the prophecy - since no one would have been at the Department of Mysteries that night if Voldemort hadn't known about it and wanted to hear the rest. But that's an awfully tenuous connection, not to mention that it's sixteen years old and dates from before Snape's (faked or real) departure from the Death Eaters. It amounts to a lie to my mind, in that case, because Bellatrix is clearly asking about "useful information" that Snape has uncovered since he went to work for Dumbledore, since that's why she's questioning his loyalties.
Also, it appears that only Snape and the Order know that Snape was the one to warn them that Harry & the DA had gone to the MoM - or you can bet that would have been one of Bellatrix's questions. Since Bellatrix and Lucius have both apparently fallen out of favor with Voldemort over the outcome of that mission, it seems pretty unlikely that Snape was acting on Voldemort's behalf there - what would be the point? He could have just popped over to Grimmauld Place, determined that Sirius was there, and the next morning said, "Sorry, Headmaster, once I figured out that the idiot boy was mistaken, I went straight to bed."
On an unrelated note, I think it's a nice touch that Harry is the one to explain everything at the end - which is usually Dumbledore's role. He's already making preparations to step into at least some of his mentor's shoes.
