Okay, here it is... mind you, it's REALLY long. Enjoy.
What "Severus...please..." Might Have Meant
In chapter 27, we read Dumbledore say, "Severus ... please ..." when Snape appears at the top of the Astronomy Tower, right before he kills DD. Many people disagree with what DD meant by this statement. People will shout at the top of their lungs, "Dumbledore was begging for his life, and that git Snape killed him anyway!" I can hear others yelling, "Dumbledore was pleading for Draco to be spared of becoming a murderer, although he's a punk anyway!" Whatever it is that you believe those two words meant, we cannot deny that DD was
pleading. Yes, I said it,
pleading. The big question, of course, is ...
what or whom was DD pleading for? I'm going to list all the possible meanings DD's last words might have meant, you decide which one is right. Let's start off with:
I want to live to be 200!The 1st thought one might have is that DD was asking Snape not to kill him. Shoot! I did! But DD has said time and again that there are things much worse than death; he
isn't afraid of death. So was he pleading for himself? I believe not. That's not in his character. But at first read, it might be what pops in our head, as it happened to Harry.
The Order! We need you!Many have said that DD was pleading Snape not to betray the Order, to not return to LV, but that Snape is evil and thus killed DD anyway. First of all, if DD knew the three different things Snape promised he would do in the Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, he should know that Snape is going to die if neither he nor Draco kills DD. If that's the case, the Order doesn't have a spy, in which case DD's pleadings were useless to begin with. If DD wasn't aware of the last part of the Vow, then this interpretation might hold true, and would be very understandable.
The "Snape fans" would argue that DD was pleading Snape to kill him for the Order, not the other way around, as stated in the paragraph above. In this scenario, DD would've known of the last part of the Vow, and knew that Snape would die if he doesn't keep his promise he made with Narcissa. So in this case, DD saw Snape as crucial to the Order because he's their main spy and only spy among the Death Eaters.
The boy is pure at heart, but you're not! That's basically what DD is saying if this interpretation is true. DD repeated to Draco that he wasn't a killer, and if he was, he would've killed DD the moment he came in sight, etc. So when Snape came, DD plead Snape to "do him in" so that Draco wouldn't become a murderer. In this scenario, DD knowing about the Vow, a part of it, or nothing of it, doesn't matter. He just wanted to save Draco's soul (no matter how tiny it is,
), so he begged Snape to do what LV had told Draco to do: kill DD.
You must save the ungrateful Malfoys!In this case, DD doesn't have to know about the Vow either. All he needs to know is that LV will kill Draco and his family (parents) if he doesn't do as he was told. DD must've known LV threaten Draco because he acknowledges Draco's situation when Draco explains to him that LV will kill his [Draco’s] family. So, again, we're at the top of the Astronomy Tower just as Snape appears. But in this case, DD knows Draco can't and won't kill him, so DD tells Snape to please do it for Draco. A killing curse later, and DD has sacrificed himself to save the Malfoys (which they don't deserve, but whatever). Therefore, DD plead Snape to kill him so that Draco and his mother (not sure how LV would get to Draco's father in jail) won't die.
Another way DD could've meant for Snape to save the Malfoys was to get rid of the damn Death Eaters and enraged werewolf ("we'll change their memory later so they don't know it was you who jinxed them"), and convince Draco to go into hiding. Well, if this was what DD meant, then Snape obviously didn't get the message, and/or doesn't really care about the Malfoys and only wants to save his own neck (remember the Vow).
Severus, your soul! Don't do it!This time, DD might've been taken by surprise when Snape appeared and saw the hatred in young Snape's eyes. In which case, DD plead Snape not to commit murder. If this is what DD really meant, then he obviously didn't know about the Vow or at least the last part of it, because Snape had no choice (unless he'd prefer to die). Then again, DD might've know about the Vow completely and thought that Snape would decide to break it and die (fat chance!). DD, trusting and seeing the good in Snape, didn't want it all to go down the drain by him committing murder; his soul would be disrupted.
Let the son-of-the-person-you-hated-the-most ... (draws breath) ... live!This has been circulating a bit. DD knowing or not knowing about the Vow isn't important in this interpretation. The point of this one is that DD saw he was done with when Snape decided to join the party. So he begged Snape to spare Harry, "Don't kill him, and don't take him to LV." And that's what Snape did. If Draco, not being smart at times, realized there was a second broom there, and there’s the possibility that DD probably told Snape he was leaving Hogwarts with Harry, Snape must've know Harry was around. Snape didn't see Harry with the other Order members down below, so where is he? Up with DD, of course! If his best friend Ron and little girlfriend were trapped downstairs, and his other best friend Hermione was outside Snape's office, Harry must be around! It makes sense. Snape isn't a stupid man, he knew Harry was there, and hurried away because he probably guessed it was DD that froze Harry and the charm would be lifted the moment DD died. Why else hadn't Harry attacked yet? He
must be frozen, and not by his own accord. Anyway, Snape, returning a little favor to DD, who took him in and saved him from going to jail, spared Harry's life, who he could've
easily killed, or stunned and taken back to LV.
Remember our plan! I can still kick your butt in this condition if you don't do it!And finally, the one theory that is on
everyone's lips, whether they believe it or not ... drum roll please ... the "secret plan" DD had with Snape! That's right, DD had a plan with Snape in which Snape, reluctantly (or so the theory goes) agreed to kill DD! For this to hold true, however, DD had to know about the Vow, it's
full contains. Then, DD told Snape that when it came time, to kill him because the Order needs to be kept informed of LV's plans, Draco won't be able to do it, the Malfoy family must be saved, and Harry must live! It's all the different interpretation in one! BUT apparently DD doesn't care that Snape's soul will be somewhat destroyed after this. That's where the flaw lies in this scenario: DD would
never allow his most loyal person to have his/her soul destroyed. So forget it ... it's not true ... give it up ... UNLESS ("Yes?!" -Snape fans "Unless what?!") unless it doesn't apply in this case. What if because DD asked Snape to proceed with the plan of killing him, Snape's soul isn't destroyed, or what not, because it’s a mercy kill; so the soul isn't disrupted. This will then fall under all the different scenarios that involve DD asking,
pleading, for Snape to kill him for whatever reason, whether there was a "plan" or not. Then again, I'm not JK Rowling, so I don't know if there are exceptions to the rules. Either way, I think I've given a reason to people's question of how would DD allow someone's soul to be destroyed because of him.
And as for the "a mercy kill," I've heard people say that
Avada Kedavra isn't a mercy killing. But what if that's the
only spell that kills? Or at least the only spell that kills that doesn't hurt? The moment you're hit by those infamous green sparks, you're dead, buddy. Sure, there's probably some spells in Dark Magic that could kill, but they probably hurt,
a lot, and Snape doesn't want DD to bleed to dead, if there was a plan between them. He wants it over and done with. He doesn't want his mentor, the person who gave him a second chance, a father-figure to him, to die in pain. Of course, this doesn't apply if Snape is actually some horrible person with no heart, but I would like to believe he isn't evil. We'll see in book 7.
Before I finish, I'll like to discuss something I haven't touched yet, but mentioned in passing, which is the hatred in Snape's face when he reached the top of the Astronomy Tower. I believe there are three possible reasons as to why he was angry: 1) He didn't like the situation he found himself in, 2) he's actually evil, and 3) he was thinking of something else.
First, he hated the situation he was in. He hated the fact he had to kill the person that always trusted him OR he now had to choose a side and declare his allegiance with LV and the Death Eaters. That's a popular one.
Second, Snape is evil, and hated DD with a passion. Amazingly, I haven't heard that one, about him
hating DD. If his loyalties always lied with LV, he must admit DD treated him kindly and respected his opinions, so he can't possibility
hate DD; it's too strong of a word. Then again, I never imagined Snape killing DD, so I could be wrong.
And thirdly, Snape was thinking of a memory, something, that would cause him to be so angered. I came up with this and posted it in some thread, but anyway, hear me out: Snape is good at Occumency, keeping his mind closed of emotions. But what if he could do the opposite? Instead of thinking of nothing, so he can have a clam exterior, what if he thought of something that enrages him, and thus making him angry enough to kill? We've thought of old memories that make us sad, happy, or mad. So why not Snape? This would be ideal if he indeed was asked by DD to kill him and he didn't want to. You need hatred to use an Unforgivable, to kill, right? (As so many people have pointed out.) Well, Snape thought of something that would anger him and fulfilled DD's wishes. In fact, if Snape just killed DD to save his own neck, he still could've thought of something else in order to kill DD because, like I said before, DD was kind to Snape; he had no reason to
hate him.
Well, I hope I tried my best to put out there all the different interpretations DD's words, "Severus ... please ..." might have meant. And I also wish I answered, with the best of my abilities, why DD would tell someone to basically split their soul, and why Snape had a face full of hate when he killed DD.
Anyway, now you all can read it.
Anyway, now you all can read it.
), so he begged Snape to do what LV had told Draco to do: kill DD.
