HBP Chapter Twenty-Seven: "The Lightning-Struck Tower"

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

* Or, spoilers!

* The lack of a sea breeze tells Harry that he’s successfully apparated back to Hogsmeade, as opposed to one of the literally millions of places on Earth that (a) aren’t Hogsmeade and (b) don’t smell of the sea.

* I’m not sure why Harry would need to leave Dumbledore behind while he heads back to the castle and fetches Snape. He’s a wizard, couldn’t he just levitate the Headmaster back to school?

* Also, why didn’t Harry notice the giant Dark Mark in the sky until it was pointed out to him? And why hasn’t anybody in Hogsmeade except for Madam Rosmerta seen it?

* Good job the pub door wasn’t locked, or else those brooms would have just been smashed up against it.

* Credit to Rowling, this scene where they return to the castle is actually quite gripping and suspenseful.

* Dumbledore’s “Join the good side, Draco, we can protect you and your family” might be more convincing if he’d ever in the past given any sign of caring for Draco, or for any non-Gryffindor student for that matter.

* Dumbles was certain it was Draco behind all those murder attempts, and, erm, did nothing to follow up on his suspicions. What was that he said about caring for the safety of his students?

* Wait, no, he did do something – he got Snape to keep watch on him! And then, erm, did nothing with the information. Yeah, real good strategy there, Dumbledore.

* So Montague almost died because of the twins’ prank… Not that anybody sees fit to mention this to them, or to think about it at all afterwards.

* So Madam Rosmerta was imperiused for most of the year, and yet nobody noticed. Kind of like Barty Crouch, in fact, except that Harry doesn’t get all smug and judgemental this time about other people’s lack of observation.

* Still, I do quite like the characterisation here. Malfoy’s being torn between a desire to carry out his mission and growing sense that he can’t go through with it is well done, and Dumbledore’s coolness in the face of danger is very fun to watch.

* Malfoy got the idea for enchanted coins from Hermione… Good job the Marietta Edgecombe affair was hushed up, or else Draco might have got it into his head to try branding words across people’s faces.

* Still, it would be pretty funny if one day Dumbledore stood up at dinner to address the school, when suddenly *pop* the words Bad Headmaster appear in purple warts across his forehead.

* So Draco manages to carry out this super-cunning plan to achieve his goal, and seems to be more affected by death than most of the good guys are. Yet more proof that Draco Malfoy should have been the hero of this series.

* It’s lucky that Dumbledore addresses each of the Death Eaters by name, so that we readers know who they all are.

* So why is Fenrir Greyback so wolfish in his human form? We’ve never gotten any indication before that werewolves are anything other than normal human beings most of the time.

* Or maybe born werewolves are different to those who get bitten, and part of the reason Lupin is so angsty is that he’s worried his child will end up like Greyback.

* “Always the same, weren’t yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing, I don’t even know why the Dark Lord’s bothering to kill yeh!” Actually, Amycus does have a point, Dumbledore does have a very laissez-faire approach to fighting evil. It’s a good job Voldemort’s equally lazy, because any half-way competent and energetic dark lord would have totally crushed Dumbledore’s side by now.

* Snape comes, and totally owns this scene in the space of one page.

* Dumbledore’s death is cool and everything, but since when did Avada Kedavra make people hover in the air?

Comments

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

No, because the Vow only said that he had to finish Draco's job, not that he must use an AK. It isn't as if Draco's original order was to AK Albus. Albus has gone over the edge of a high tower without a broom or wand. Unlike Snape or Voldy, Albus does not know how to fly on his own. There is a very good likelihood that it will mean his death (which it does). I don't see a reason why the Vow would kick in.

I know you disagree with me, as do several others on this. It is my reading that Snape kills Albus, that he tried very hard to give him that more peaceful AKdeath, but that no matter his intention, Snape just did not want Albus dead and so the AK (which is surely an exceptionally strange one) did not work.

As for IF Harry (or other witnesses) were not there, I have no idea how Snape intended to kill Albus. Presumably something that could not be traced back to him - and so would allow him to continue working at Hogwarts - in case Voldy didn't immediately take over.

[oryx_leucoryx]

I actually believe Severus very much wanted Albus dead, especially after the revelation of his plan for Harry. He may have felt ashamed for wanting that, but I can't see him really not wanting it.

While the 'Vow' would have known the fall was going to kill Dumbles, lack of intent by Severus IMO should have activated the Vow, not because it would have sabotaged the AK but simply because from the moment it seemed Draco would fail Severus is required to want to complete his task. If he is allowed to not want to do it then there was no urgency to him showing up on the scene. I'd say the fact that he was able to live long enough to climb up to the tower indicates he wanted to do it.

As for if there were no witnesses - IIRC there is mention of untraceable poisons in canon.

[hwyla.livejournal.com]

But one CAN kill without wanting to do so. Draco's task was only to kill Albus. He did not need to want Albus dead to accomplish his task - as long as he doesn't try to do it by AK. And since Snape's Vow only covers finishing Draco's task, then he also doesn't need to want to kill Albus. He only needs to finish the task. So as long as Albus ends up dead - no problem with the vow.

As for it waiting until Snape arrives on the tower - I contend that the vow doesn't actually kick in until that one DE comments that it seems as if Draco cannot do it. Snape was already on the tower by that time, so again no problem for the vow. IF the vow would kick in without some witnesses commenting that Draco doesn't seem to be able to do it - then the vow should have kicked in on Draco's first failure.

It isn't logical. But it IS the way the Vow was worded. Draco has to SEEM to fail before the Vow hits. And Snape was already on the tower by that time. In fact, he immediately steps forward (no hesitation) and casts the AK. I think the vow would have even allowed a duel between Snape and Albus that could have been however long it took, as long as Albus ended up dead at the end.

As for poison (untraceable or not) - my pet theory (no canon) would be a digitalis overdose. Yes, it could be done with just foxglove, but I love the idea of an actual muggle drug by the Half-blood Prince. And a heart attack would be believable after what Albus had just been through. Less believable IF Albus and Harry had not just gone on an adventure, so perhaps not?

Another good reason for Snape to kill Albus at that moment is because IF Albus dies from that potion in the basin then folks are going to accuse Harry unless he tells why they went. Of course Snape doesn't know it was about horcruxes, but he might want to protect the info since he knows it was something Albus wanted secret.

As for Snape's apparent hate and wanting Albus dead - I'll just say that it is entirely possible to have conflicted feelings. One CAN want to kill someone and yet also want not want that person dead. And I think Snape was VERY conflicted.

[vermouth1991.livejournal.com]

/As for poison (untraceable or not) - my pet theory (no canon) would be a digitalis overdose.../

I just want to point out that this was exactly what happened to 007 in Casino Royale. He was on another winning streak of the game and the enemy wanted him out without alerting the authorities (long story short, the boss blew a hole in his terrorist bank's finances—no thanks to Bond—and he really needed to make up for the deficit).

[oryx_leucoryx]

The Vow must have done something before Amycus' words, because Severus went directly from the dungeon to the tower. Flitwick couldn't have said anything about the tower because at the time Minerva sent him to Severus Draco hadn't gone to the tower yet (Gibbons went to send up the Dark Mark, then Bill went in that direction but was bitten by Fenrir and fell, then Draco stepped over Bill on the way to the tower), nor did the teachers know that Dumbles had returned. The only thing I can imagine directing him there would be the Vow alerting him. Maybe the Vow was on some lower level of alert, but it was already active. Or perhaps, since both Dumbles and Harry could see Draco, it was the moment Harry saw Draco lower his wand that triggered the Vow. Harry certainly understood it as Draco giving up. Especially with Albus' commentary. Or even Albus may have seen Draco's choice of Expelliarmus over a lethal spell as giving up. So that might have triggered the Vow. Because the wording of the Vow does not specify to whom it should seem Draco wasn't capable of fulfilling his task.

[sunnyskywalker]

Maybe Snape has reverse-engineered the Marauders' Map since PoA and saw Dumbledore on it? If bright schoolboys can manage it, why couldn't an adult Snape? (And if they adapted it from a pre-existing item, that would make it even easier.) It seems like an awfully handy tool for a spy, especially one who's trying to keep track of a kid with an assassination mission this year. Or maybe Dumbledore has a summoning method a little less conspicuous than Patronus-mail, something more like the DA coins. If Hermione can take inspiration from Voldemort's Dark Mark servant-summoning system, surely Dumbledore can too.

I don't think we have any evidence for either, but then, I don't think we have any evidence that the Vow comes with GPS either. It might just as well count Snape trying to figure out where Dumbledore is as a step toward trying to fulfill the mission and so not kill him unless he stops looking and has a coffee break instead. It might not even warn him magically that he's up, and he's only at risk once he knows that someone has noticed Draco failing. JKR probably didn't think beyond "er, he had some way of knowing surely, and this was the most dramatic moment for him to show up," which makes it hard to work out something that makes sense...

I think Draco seeming to fail must be something definitive, like lowering his wand or a DE commenting that he can't do it. Otherwise yeah, it should have kicked in after the necklace or the mead failed to kill Dumbledore.

[oryx_leucoryx]

There is also the curiously fast appearance of Severus when Draco's life was in danger. I think the Vow comes with a GPS for events that are very likely to trigger it.

think Draco seeming to fail must be something definitive, like lowering his wand or a DE commenting that he can't do it. Otherwise yeah, it should have kicked in after the necklace or the mead failed to kill Dumbledore.

Nobody *saw* Draco's previous failures. The only ones who knew what his task was were DEs and Dumbles, and neither of them witnessed his failures in any way, nor did they have reason to believe he would not try again, given an opportunity. On the tower Dumbles saw Draco. And several pages of dialogue before Draco lowered his wand, the eyewitness, who knows what Draco's task is, says 'Draco, Draco, you are not a killer'. On the following page Dumbles suggests to Draco to get on with the job, now that he is defenseless, and Draco doesn't, to which Dumbles says "... I don't think you will kill me, Draco". Hmm, thinking of it this way, it almost looks like Dumbles was deliberately triggering the Vow 'Hey, look, I can see he has the opportunity and isn't taking it. Does it seem like he is failing yet? Now where is that Severus person?'

[sunnyskywalker]

Nobody *saw* Draco's previous failures.

Though Narcissa didn't say that Draco had to seem to fail to anyone in particular. What if it seemed to Draco himself that he might fail? I guess he knew he still had another chance since he wasn't caught and so the Vow wouldn't kick in? Maybe "still had a chance" was the key point, actually. Snape could have seen Draco hand off the necklace and then its failure to kill Dumbledore, but because he wouldn't have told anyone (well, not anyone who would have tried to stop Draco publicly at that time), that didn't preclude Draco from trying again, so he wasn't seeming to fail, just experiencing a temporary setback. Draco standing alone in his room and saying to himself, "I messed up, I'm going to get caught, I can't fix the cabinet either, I just can't pull this off," might have triggered the Vow. If someone--including Draco--knew it was possible for him to try again, everything was fine; it was only if someone--including Draco--knew he was out of options that there was a problem.

I wonder what would have happened if Draco had stood in his room after one of the attempts and believed he had failed utterly and wouldn't get another chance at it? Maybe it's lucky he started off with so much oblivious, unearned confidence.