The last two words of Chapter 2 of Half-Blood Prince, “Spinner’s End,” are “fiery snake.” These were very well-chosen words by J.K. Rowling, especially given what she wrote in Deathly Hallows. The term “fiery snake” is used to describe the third and binding magical movement of the Unbreakable Vow.
Dumbledore said to Snape in “The Prince’s Tale,” “You are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff. You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon…” In the book’s Epilogue, Harry called Snape “the bravest man I ever knew.”
Snape is a “fiery snake” – a Gryffindor/Slytherin. Those two words were chosen very carefully and deliberately, in the chapter which perhaps best illustrates Snape’s Gryffindor/Slytherin status, to foreshadow the bravery we’d learn about in Deathly Hallows from the words of Dumbledore and Harry about Snape. “Spinner’s End” is the only close-up we get of Snape outside of Harry’s perspective.
The moment of the Unbreakable Vow seems to be something of the beginning of the end for Snape. His statement to Bellatrix that he “spun [Dumbledore] a tale of deepest remorse” is likely a play on words which is meant to get us to think of Snape as the “Spinner,” making “Spinner’s End” not just a place, but a reference to Snape himself. “End” can refer to either the finish (in which case we’re thinking of the danger Snape is putting himself into, which could lead to his “end,” death) or to a goal or end-game (in which case we’re thinking of the mystery of Snape – what’s he doing here? What’s his real goal?). Either meaning works.
The thing that’s always bugged me about the Unbreakable Vow is that it would seem to put Snape in a precarious position with Voldemort. Voldemort wanted Draco dead. Snape then took a vow saying, “I’ll protect him and try my best to keep that from happening.” Bellatrix witnessed this. Couldn’t she have brought this story back to Voldemort? Perhaps her intimation partway through the conversation that Voldemort is not speaking with her lately is enough to suggest that Bellatrix wouldn’t have the chance. Still, one assumes that Snape takes this vow in order to keep his cover with Voldemort. It seems Snape could have been convincing enough by simply saying, “I cannot take such a vow. It is not the Dark Lord’s plans that I intervene to save Draco, but to kill Dumbledore should Draco fail.” For that reason, the Unbreakable Vow subplot always seemed a little forced to me.
Bellatrix is another interesting character in this scene. One might almost conclude that because Voldemort trusted Snape and Bellatrix did not, Bella is the smarter and more perceptive of the two. But Narcissa’s refrain about how much Voldemort trusts Snape suggests a different reason for Bella’s mistrust: insane jealousy.
A final observation on Wormtail. I had always assumed Voldemort put Wormtail with Snape to keep an eye on him, in case Snape really was in league with Dumbledore. Deathly Hallows gives no indication that Voldemort distrusted Snape in the least, though we should also remember that Voldemort never fully trusted anyone. I’ve come to think it more likely that the primary motivation for Wormtail’s placement was to keep Wormtail in check. It’s less likely Voldemort trusted Wormtail than Snape. Or perhaps it’s a both/and. He didn’t fully trust either, and assumed either would be quite ready to report on the other in the event of any suspicious activity.
There’s a lot of talk about in this chapter, and certainly stuff I’ve missed. Feel free to start conversation on my observations or anything else about Chapter 2 of Half-Blood Prince.
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Coming at this from a rather deconstructionist point of view: JKR put Wormtail with Snape to keep him in sight until he had a more active role to play in the plot. She always intended that Wormtail’s shiny new hand would throttle him if he slipped up; it was only a matter of when. And she probably chose to keep him somewhat visible because he was a fairly important character. As well, there is a neat kind of symmetry of keeping the two betrayers of friends together. The two Judases, if you will, except that one was a true Judas, and the other a repentant one.
My point: it wasn’t Voldy’s decision.
But I will grant that JKR wrote Bella as being more perceptive than her master. Voldy had almost no understanding of human nature. It’s not so much that he trusted Snape or anyone else, rather it was that he could not imagine that anyone could betray him. So in this case, the action was character rather than plot driven.
Just a brief word here; I still need to read through everything but it’s not that Voldy could not imagine anyone could betray him, it’s that he couldn’t imagine anyone betraying him & getting away with it. He was after all the greatest legilimens the world had ever seen!
I’m a bit sleepy and may not be lucid enough for clarity, but will try. It always seemed to me that Voldemort’s assignment of Draco to the impossible task wasn’t so much about the end goal of having Draco dead as the end goal of having the Malfoys squirming and suffering. I think (and could be wrong about it) that Voldemort was ambivalent about whether Draco lived or died, and wanted Lucius to see that.
Voldemort let Draco live once Snape had done the deed, and put the Malfoys to use and to shame in other ways. He could have killed Draco flat out and shamed Snape for stepping out of bounds.
I haven’t got a lot of practice thinking like an evil murderous wizard, though, so I could be wrong.
What I found very interesting in this chapter was actually the dynamics between Bella and Narcissa. It is very clear that Bella genuinely cares for her sister. She could have just let her go by herself or worse. Admittedly she is a little insensitive to Draco’s plight but I believe that this is only due to the fact that she has no children of her own. Since she is not paralyzed by fear she correctly recognizes that Draco has a great opportunity to prove himself. (On this point she is once again correct as Draco could have indeed succeeded beyond everyone’s expectations.)
As crazy as she is there are still some endearing traits left in her personality.
Travis, that’s a great point about the “fiery snake.” I hadn’t thought of that phrase that way before.
The whole scene feels like a set up, especially with Narcissa throwing aside her drink and asking Snape to make the unbreakable vow the moment Snape says maybe there is a way he can help Draco; also with the way she uses her tears to block her eyes to make it harder for Snape to use legilimency on her, and finally with the sense that the house (Snape’s childhood home) has long been disused, so why is he there but for this scene. I think Voldemort planned with Narcissa that she would go and ask Snape for help and try to get him to make the unbreakable vow to test his loyalty. If Draco kills Dumbledore first, then fine for Draco. If he fails, then Snape will have to do it. And if Snape chickens out or refuses to make the vow, then he is toast. Narcissa makes her way through a complicated “labyrinth” of streets to find it; how would she know where to go if she had not been given directions. I think Voldemort told Bellatrix to go with Narcissa and to make it appear that she was trying to hold Narcissa back. He probably knew she distrusted Snape and would play a useful role, and he knew she was loyal to him and would report to him. He did not tell Narcissa that Bellatrix was in on it. Snape saw right through all of this and, because Dumbledore had already made him promise to kill him, was willing to walk right into the trap, effectively turning the trap around so that it was Voldemort (and Bellatrix) who fall into the trap of believing in his loyalty. Wormtail was placed with Snape so they could keep an eye on each other and also to provide an additional witness to the little drama.
Note that the Unbreakable Vow does NOT have Snape promising to keep Draco from killing Dumbledore. He promises (1) to watch over Draco as he tries to fulfill the Dark Lord’s wishes, (2) to protect Draco from harm [e.g. from retaliation by Dumbledore or another member of the OOTP], and (3) if it seems Draco will fail, to carry out the deed the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform. Voldemort would not object to any of these promises.
I have more to say but will start a new post.
I like the connection of “Spinner’s End” and “spun him a tale of deepest remorse.” I actually have another interpretation of Spinner’s End to put forth. I think it relates back to the Sphinx’s riddle in Goblet of Fire. Here is the wording of the riddle:
“First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies,
Next tell me what’s always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”
Harry figures out that the riddle means “spy-d-er” or spider. In GOF immediately after the riddle Harry and Cedric battle the giant spider (wouldn’t want to kiss IT) and, later, Snape goes off to resume his role as Dumbledore’s spy (no one wants to kiss Snape either). Snape is more than a spy, he’s also a spider. In OOTP in the Pensieve he has a twitchy walk that recalls a spider. Now in HBP we get a chapter entitled “Spinner’s End.” A spider is a spinner and Snape lives at the end of the last street, Spinner’s End – the end of end. He also has a broken heart, which proverbially is the last thing to mend. The middle of the middle is both the middle of the web and the alchemical middle of the wheel, the resolution of opposites, like the fiery snake.
“Spinner’s End” also sounds like it’s the end of the spinner. This chapter does spell the end of Snape, not because of the unbreakable vow but because killing Dumbledore causes Harry, McGonagall, etc, to hate him so thoroughly that they chase him from Hogwarts and then Harry fails to do anything to try to save his life in the Shrieking Shack.
There is more than one spider and more than one spinner meeting his end. Dumbledore also has spun a complicated web, and told plenty of lies to Harry (back in Sorcerer’s Stone, he tells Harry he won’t of course lie and then promptly does so). A few chapters after this one he and Harry stand in a spidery shack and a spider crawls up his hat. This scene evokes Harry’s childhood in the spidery cupboard, to which Dumbledore sentenced him as part of his grand sheme. This book and the Spinner’s End chapter also set Harry on the path ending in the acromantula’s hollow which he thinks will be the end of his life. Harry also sees Slughorn as a spider in a giant web helping all his old favorite students and getting gifts from them in return. While Slughorn doesn’t die, the cowardly part of him, which is afraid to declare himself openly opposed to Voldemort, does when he returns at the end of Deathly Hallows and personally duels Voldemort alongside McGonagall and Kingsley.
Even Voldemort, whose fingers in Harry’s visions have been described as white spiders, is a spinner – here he is spinning a web to trap Snape. Instead Voldemort is trapped in his own web though he does not realize it. And it is the beginning of the end for him, too.
And, of course, the giant spinner Aragog dies during HBP.
An additional point on my first post – After Bellatrix flings her list of accusations at Snape, Narcissa sits “motionless behind her, her face still hidden in her hands” as if waiting to hear Snape’s response. This adds to the sense that the scene is a set up.
For the first time, with this chapter we get to enjoy Snape’s snide and sneering remarks as he abuses Wormtail and disses Bellatrix’ feeling of superiority for having suffered in Azkaban for her master. This gives us a different perspective on Snape and an appreciation for the way he feels when he mistreats Harry to get revenge on James.
There’s a hint of a tipoff that Snape is not really working for Voldemort rather than Dumbledore when he tells Bellatrix that he returned on Dumbledore’s orders. He says that by waiting he was able to make Dumbledore think he was on his side so he could keep being Voldemort’s spy against Dumbledore. This should bring to our minds, however, what actually happened in Goblet of Fire in the scene where Dumbledore asked Snape to return: Snape tried to help Dumbledore convince Fudge that Voldemort really had returned by showing him his Dark Mark. If Snape had really been planning to double-cross Dumbledore and return to Voldemort for real, he would have remained silent, figuring that Voldemort would prefer not to have his return know yet.
Finally, note the hint for the reader, which we have no way of realizing the importance of yet, as to where one of the horcruxes might be. Bellatrix says “The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious –” (p. 29). Harry has no way of knowing she said this and because Dumbledore does not take Snape into his confidence about the horcruxes, there is no reason for Snape to think it important and tell Dumbledore or Harry about it.
I can’t resist one more post. In the discussion on chapter one, we discussed Scrimgeour’s name as the conjunction of several words. Here, we get an idea of Snape’s name as a combination of snake and trap – a [fiery] snake trap is a good way to describe the unbreakable vow. Turned around, as I argued above, it is a way to trap the master snake, Voldemort.
Okay. I love all this stuff. So fun to re-think these ideas!
This is kind of redundant to what others have said here, but I agree that the Unbreakable Vow subplot seems a bit forced. This chapter has so much to speculate about, not only through HBP but also until the very end of DH, about Snape and his loyalties. I think JKR wrote this stuff to intentionally confuse the readers. Well, maybe not confuse, but to give just enough information to fuel the speculation on either side of the Snape debate, but not enough to see anything with clarity. She sets this up, and we don’t have understanding about where she’s going with this until hundreds and hundreds of pages later. So it seems like she HAD to be ambiguous, and therefore the plot’s sense is a little thin if you try to trace back exactly what each character was thinking and doing.
I love the “fiery snake” thing; hadn’t thought of that. And the idea of the Snape the spider, and Spinner’s End, and the multiple meanings of “end.” Very interesting.
Lily Luna … wow! You’ve put ten times the thought into this chapter that I ever have, and have come up with some fascinating ideas. The connection of Snape/Spinner’s End to the sphinx’s riddle is particularly intriguing; I like the point about the end of Aragog too, since this is “Snape’s book.”
Travis, I also liked the “fiery snake” thoughts. I knew Snape was a Gryffindor/Slytherin, but hadn’t thought of it quite that way. From thence to Wormtail … Red Rocker, you make a good point about the symmetry of keeping the betrayers of friends together. I hadn’t thought of Peter and Severus as doppelgängers before, but they do have some interesting connections:
–they’re the two primary spies in the books, “the two Judases” as Red Rocker says
–they were both clearly mis-sorted at Hogwarts
–they are opposites, in Wormtail being the Gryffindor coward and Snape being the “Slytherin, and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew” (also, as Red Rocker says, one is repentant and the other is not)
–Peter’s “Wormtail” nickname echoes Snape’s snake status
From that perspective, it makes a lot of sense for JKR to put them in the same household in this chapter. As to why Voldemort made that choice, Travis, I think you’re right on.
I’m a long-time lurker who never comments (I really can’t post at work, which is when I generally check the site), but I thoroughly enjoy reading these very stimulating ideas and discussions. You all really make these books come alive in new ways for me as a person with a very non-lit background (I’m an engineer). I’m so very impressed by all your thoughts and appreciate that I can benefit from them despite the fact that I really can’t actively participate. What a great community you all are!
To me it always seemed that Snape took the unbreakable vow to ease Bellatrix’s suspicions and having little choice but to do so. After Deathly Hallows it does seem a bit of an overkill, except for convincing Bellatrix it serves little purpose.
I like the difference in attitude that Snape uses when addressing Bellatrix and Narcissa. With Bellatrix he uses his snide tone where with Narcissa he’s practically a gentleman. It’s an incredible but subtle difference that reveals a lot about Snape’s character and perhaps a bit about Narcissa’s as well.
Lily Luna,
You’ve put in some excellent thought on this. The only quibble I have is with your first post & the idea of this all being a set up for Snape. You make a good case, but I don’t think you have enough textual support to really cinch the matter. Not that that doesn’t mean your reasoning is flawed or anything; just that there’s still a wide variety of explanations. There’s really no need for it to be a set up at all but just Voldemort’s twisted desire to see his Death Eaters suffer. Voldemort cares nothing for any of his Death Eaters, not even Snape. I think it would give Voldemort lots of pleasure at seeing Snape, Narcissa, & Bellatrix all agonizing over this.
Putting in my own guess, which I also admit doesn’t have much textual support is that Jo is using this chapter to try & swerve the readers & further make Snape an enigma. By destroying all of Bellatrix’s objections about Snape’s loyalty, she is also destroying all of our objections. We’re conditioned to think the worst of Snape, thanks to Harry, so it’s easy to believe his explanations even though we shouldn’t because why would Jo make it so plain to us where Snape’s loyalties lie?
Here’s another point on Snape that I’ve thought about as we review this chapter. It’s not likely that Voldemort would just let Snape show back up & join the fold again without any sort of punishment. I would guess that Snape had some very unpleasant time on the end of a Cruciatus curse by Voldemort. And yet he still maintains his facade. He still manages to be a better occulemens than Voldy is a legilimens, even when under torture!
When I think back to my first reading, I have to agree with revgeorge. I was waiting for this book to give me more clues about the ‘Snape: goodie or baddie?’ conundrum. I was leaning to Snape-is-good but by the end of this chapter I thought to myself ‘There’s no way good Snape could make this unbreakable vow’ and so I thought he was bad, or at least had painted himself into a corner where he will be found out and killed. By the end of the book I was convinced and shocked at the same time: Snape is bad!
It’s only in hindsight that I can see Snape’s brilliance (and Rowling’s behind it). The double- and triple-guessing a spy must make to stay ahead of the game. It also sets up in long-term Narcissa’s inetarction with Harry in the forest.
Black Angus, good point about this chapter presaging Narcissa turning a blind eye – ear? – to Harry’s lack of deadness in the forest.
If we’re talking about the purpose of the Spinner’s End chapter, that’s the first time I started looking at Snape as a person with motivations distinct from either of his masters. It was Snape’s first appearance as his own man. For me, at least. So I look at it as JKR finally pushing him into the foreground. In preparation for his pseudo-betrayal and pseudo-murder of Dumbledore.
I do like Lily Luna’s interpretation of “Spinner’s End” as the beginning of the end of the literal “spinner”: Snape.
Thank you to everyone who commented on my comments.
Library Lily, I liked your comparison of Snape and Wormtail as doppelgangers. I certainly hadn’t thought of that pairing of opposites.
Revgeorge, most of the textual support for my thesis that this is a setup by Voldemort relates to Narcissa. It works even if we say that Bellatrix knew nothing about it, was just following her sister, took the opportunity to interrogate Snape, and turned out to play a useful role. Snape acknowledges that there are Death Eaters carrying false tales of his treachery to the Dark Lord, so Voldemort may have had some doubts and wanted to test him. Narcissa says that there isn’t anything she wouldn’t do now, which could just mean she would risk begging Snape for help or could mean that she would even carry out a mission for the Dark Lord (she is not a Death Eater herself and would not normally do that). And the comment foreshadows her lying to protect Harry in Deathly Hallows.
I found some additional textual support for a set up. When Narcissa appears at Snape’s door, she looks like “a drowned woman,” which reminds me of Ophelia, who goes mad and drowns herself in Hamlet, and also suggests this is a play, a set-piece. The whole scene reads like a melodrama, where Narcissa acts rather madly and figuratively drowns herself in tears. Narcissa hides her face in her hands and gives a dry sob when Bellatrix begins her interruption. She keeps her face hidden behind her hands throughout Bellatrix’s interchange with Snape. When Snape finally turns back to Narcissa, whe looks up with a face “eloquent with despair” (probably real). She then closes her eyes and two large tears seep out. She continues speaking with her eyes still closed, saying “the Dark Lord has forbidden me to speak of it . . . He wishes none to know of the plan. . . .” Arguing from hindsight: in the Prince’s Tale Dumbledore closes his eyes when telling Snape that Voldemort must kill Harry; he does that so Snape can’t read his mind and realize Dumbledore is lying to him, that Harry will actually survive; he has to make Snape believe Harry is to die so Snape can make Harry believe it, too. Same here, Narcissa keeps her eyes closed so Snape can’t see that she is lying about the Dark Lord not wanting her to tell anyone about the Plan.
Snape obligingly tells Narcissa that if the Dark Lord has forbidden it she ought not to speak and “The Dark Lord’s word is law.” Narcissa gasps as if he threw cold water on her, Bellatrix is pleased, Snape looks out the window (why? I haven’t been able to figure out the purpose of that), Snape says he knows about the Plan anyway, but is not such a fool as to try to persuade the Dark Lord to change his mind. Narcissa cries some more, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. Snape looks away. And keeps looking away while he says that if Draco suceeds he will be honored above all others. Narcissa sobs how can he suceed when even the Dark Lord hasn’t been able to. Dot dot dot, Narcissa “seemed” to lose what little self restraint” she has left, grabs him by his robes, “her tears falling on his chest” and begs Snape to do it instead. Snape removes her hands, looks in her face and says it’s the Dark Lord’s plan that he will do it in the end but the Dark Lord wants Draco to try first and is very angry at Lucius. More histrionics, Narcissa tears her hair, Snape forces her back onto the sofa and pours her more wine, and says it may be possible for him to help Draco. Narcissa asks, her eyes now huge “would you help him? Would you look after him, see he comes to no harm?” This sounds pretty innocuous and Snape says his usual wiggle words, “I can try.” Here is where Narcissa flings her glass away, kneels at Snape’s feet, kisses his hand, and asks him to make the Unbreakable Vow. Snape’s expresion is blank and unreadable as he thinks it through, then to Bellatrix’s astonishment he agrees. Note how Narcissa pulls a bait and switch here. She asks him to make an unbreakable vow to watch over and protect Draco, but when she has him down on the floor with two bonds already made, she springs the third one on him and asks if he will carry out the deed if it looks like Draco will fail. Hard for Snape to say no now; lucky for him it’s something he’d already agreed to do at Dumbledore’s request. (And I know Narcissa had asked Snape a few minutes earlier if he would do the deed instead of Draco, but she didn’t ask that when she asked Snape if he would make the Unbreakable Vow.)
I wonder if there could be some sort of prior relationship between Snape and Narcissa, perhaps after they left Hogwarts and before she made her lovely pureblood marriage to Lucius. Lucius was at least four years ahead of Snape (he’s a prefect when Snape is sorted), but we don’t know what year Narcissa was. She calls him Severus, which I don’t think any of the Death Eaters do, and Narcissa and Lily are flowers of the same family (per John Granger’s Unlocking Harry Potter book). Not saying Snape loved her but he might have had a casual, or just friendly, relationship with her. Also, the way they kneel opposite each other holding hands and their hands are bound together reminds me of a wedding ceremony in another culture (can’t think which, maybe Indian?, but it seems like something I’ve read about before).
Of course, several of the interpretations of this chapter could be true at the same time. It’s definitely designed to confuse the reader. On my first read through I enjoyed Snape’s abuse of Wormtail and Bellatrix and didn’t know what to think about Snape’s statements to Bellatrix and making the Vow. I sort of suspended judgment to see what happened in the rest of the book and by the end was convinced Snape was bad.
Sorry, Travis, for this long post; I’m breaking out my last two paragraphs into a new post.
I didn’t read the series for the first time until a little over a year ago and then read the books straight through one after the other over maybe a two to three week period, so I didn’t have the benefit of the in-depth book by book analysis and speculation those who read the books as they came out had. And I confess, I pretty much swallowed Harry’s viewpoint hook, line, and sinker on the first read. Now I’ve reread the entire series so many times that the clues to the truth seem to jump out at me and I wonder how I missed them. Esp. in HBP there are many clues that Harry and the first-time reader miss completely. In fact, Harry generally has a knack for grasping the salience of something but completely missing the point. For example, he gets that Snape will be gone by the end of the year because the DADA position is jinxed, but doesn’t ask himself why Dumbledore would have given him that position in that case. Similarly in DH Harry gets that a walk in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid isn’t much of a punishment for Ginny, Luna, and Neville but doesn’t ask himself why Snape would give out a light punishment; he just assumes Snape thinks it’s a bad punishment.
Well, I accidentally deleted my second paragraph about why on earth Harry doesn’t figure out Snape is the HBP. Since I was getting ahead of chapter 2, I’ll leave that for when he first meets the Prince later.
Also wanted to comment that Snape’s treatment of Wormtail is very interesting. Snape seems especially contemptuous of Wormtail. We the readers looking back in hindsight know why — he hates Wormtail for betraying Lily’s location to Voldemort and for bringing Voldemort back. But to the Death Eaters, Wormtail should be a hero — he sought out Voldemort, nursed him, and helped him return. Voldemort does call Wormtail a coward and says he only returned out of fear, so maybe the Death Eaters feel free to be less than respectful to him, but it still seems odd that Snape would so freely abuse him and call him “vermin” in Bellatrix’s and Narcissa’s presence.
Red Rocker, I like your phrase, “Harry’s lack of deadness.” Excellent.
Lily Luna, your reasoning is impeccable & very well laid out. And I admit this is probably a set up or more accurately a test. I think where your explanation, as well defined as it is, loses its “umphh,” is in its complexity.
Now, we know that JKR can write incredibly complex story lines & can throw in all sorts of things to throw us off the trail. But even for JKR Occam’s Razor still holds true. A less complex explanation is perhaps all that’s necessary to explain this set up.
We know that the Dark Lord is fond of always testing his Death Eaters. He seems to revel in putting them in difficult situations where their loyalties may be tested. I think it’s well established that Voldy sets this task for Draco in order to torment Lucius & by default Narcissa, who while not a Death Eater per se might as well be one.
Now, Narcissa might be able to practice occlumency against Snape but against Voldemort? I think he knows exactly what’s going through Narcissa’s head & knows her plans to ask Snape for help. And it pleases him to use what he considers a weakness, a mother’s love for her child, both to torment her & to present a test to Snape. And so he lets it proceed & thus the discussion between Snape, Narcissa, & Bellatrix.
Nothing’s really out of place in this chapter; everyone is who they are. Narcissa is a devastated tormented mother who I think we would suspect more if she was not teary eyed. Bellatrix is suspicious especially of someone who is not pure blood & who did not suffer for the Dark Lord as she did. Snape is coldly calculating, always hiding his true self & motives. And Wormtail is Wormtail. It works as a test for Voldemort simply enough without any complex explanation.
But as you note, there could be varying interpretations. I admit I wouldn’t have thought of any Hamlet connection but then that was never my favorite Shakespeare play.
Lily Luna,
I did want to say I like your overall interpretation of Spinner’s End in your post that starts off
“I like the connection of “Spinner’s End” and “spun him a tale of deepest remorse.” I actually have another interpretation of Spinner’s End to put forth. I think it relates back to the Sphinx’s riddle in Goblet of Fire. Here is the wording of the riddle…”
Lily Luna, must give credit where credit is due. I lifted Harry’s “lackof deadness” from the Geena Davis line in a Stuart Little movie where she speaks with concern about Stuart’s “lack of bigness.”
I don’t think any explanation is needed for anyone’s contempt for Wormtail. Perhaps I’m biased because of Spall’s performance, but the man’s whole presentation is sneaky, cowardly, fawningly slimy.
In this chapter no-one says who Draco is supposed to kill. I remember that I thought it was probably Harry. It’s not till Draco doesn’t kill Harry on the train, just stamps on his face, that it’s clear it’s not Harry he’s supposed to kill.
I can’t see the unbreakable vow as a set-up by Voldemort. The chapter establishes that Draco is the most important thing to Narcissa and that she is willing to take a great risk for him, which is necessary for her lying to Voldemort about Harry in DH. But why Snape agrees to make the vow remains ambiguous to the end. It simply wasn’t necessary – Narcissa was unimportant and Bellatrix didn’t expect him to do it and it didn’t demonstrate loyalty to Voldemort, even if it did seem to show he wasn’t loyal to Dumbledore. The only sense I can make of it – and only after DH – is that Snape saw the parallels between Narcissa and Lily and he felt impelled to take responsibility, not leave Narcissa (and Draco) to the mercy of Voldemort and Dumbledore.
But taking the vow effectively committed Snape to killing Dumbledore, and makes a tangle of his motives when we get to the Astronomy Tower.
Snape may have a weakness for a mother defending her child. I wonder if this might not be a weak clue on JKR’s part as to the ultimate nature of Snape’s character.
Lily Luna, love the spy-der connection. I read an essay about that, I think on an LJ somewhere, or perhaps on Mugglenet, in between books 6 and 7. The author was trying to use that argument to establish one of two things (can’t remember which): either that Snape was a spider animagus, or that his patronus was a spider. I thought both conclusions were a bit of a stretch, and that the spy-der word play was enough in and of itself.
Jeni, so glad you commented! I’m grateful for your kind words and really happy you enjoy the site so much. Hope you’ll have time to comment more.
Interesting thoughts on there being some kind of emotional thing going on in Snape about a mother’s love.
It finally struck me to go back to “The Prince’s Tale” and check the chronology of events here. Dumbledore and Snape already knew the plan to have Draco attempt to kill Dumbledore, and had already arranged for Snape to do it instead. This leads me to think that Snape’s willingness to make the Unbreakable Vow was motivated primarily by a desire to secure his spy position not with Voldemort (who already seemed to trust him), but with the Death Eaters who “carry tales of his treachery to the Dark Lord.” Bellatrix’s criticism of Snape is that he’s always on the sidelines, never in danger, always talking but never acting (I think we’ve heard criticisms of Dumbledore like that, too, out of the mouths of Death Eaters). Snape commits to action on Voldemort’s behalf and against Dumbledore, quite possibly silencing Bella’s accusation for good – and therefore, silencing the skepticism amongst the Death Eaters.
In other words, Snape, already knowing he had to kill Dumbledore, was attempting to silence the only voices still trying to get Voldemort to doubt Snape’s loyalty.
All that said, I think revgeorge’s modification of Lily Luna’s very interesting set-up theory might be another very viable way of reading this chapter.
Revgeorge, your theory is interesting and may even be all there is to it, though I think Travis’ alternative explanation that Snape makes the unbreakable vow to silence Bellatrix and the other death eaters makes more sense than him doing it for Narcissa’s sake. I still like my theory (aren’t we always attached to our own theories). I wasn’t suggesting that Narcissa was practicing occlumency against Voldemort, just against Snape. Query still how Narcissa knew where to go to find Snape. Either he himself gave her the address and directions (very fishy) or she was told it by someone else (which implies someone was setting her up).
Travis, I’ m bummed someone else already made the spyder connection! I never saw that article. I did try a google search to see if someone else had already written on that topic but it didn’t pull up that essay (or if it did it was way buried).
Anyone have thoughts on why Snape checks the street? Does he think someone’s watching from outside? Is he signalling someone?
Also, how do you make people’s names bold in these posts? My browser toolbars don’t have font etc buttons on them. Is there a ctrl-something keystroke?
Lily Luna, look below the text box. See the one that says “strong”? Use that bracketed tag at the beginning of a word or phrase you want bold, and then do the same thing in brackets, but with a backslash – /strong – inside the brackets on the other side of the word or phrase you want bold.
Travis, It’s great to have the opportunity to think about HBP again. Thanks! Snape is such a puzzle.
It’s a good point that in making the vow Snape is showing he can take action, and at his own risk. But it’s action not entirely in line with Voldemort’s aims. Bellatrix might not be able to use it against him – she’s implicated in it herself – but couldn’t other death eaters use it to paint Snape as independent of Voldemort and a danger to him?
Snape had agreed to kill Dumbledore should the need arise, but in making the vow he committed himself to making sure that Dumbledore was killed – at least, he did if he wanted to live himself. Do we take it that he decided killing Dumbledore wasn’t a problem because he’d likely die soon anyway? If so, I wonder what we should make of it.
I agree with Travis here. I think Snape had nothing to lose by making the vow and what a better dig to Bellatrix’s accusations then by making it.
In all honesty, I think it comes down to the fact that when I first read this chapter I was SO VERY EXCITED to get a glimpse of Snape outside of Harry’s viewpoint. The chapter to me seems to indicate JKR simply put this chapter here to set up the book to the point of is Snape good or evil which we could never have gotten from Harry’s point of view.
In retrospect though, I think it brilliantly sets up Narcissa for Deathly Hallows.
I just re-read the chapter again and noted this sentence, which I think gives credence to the idea that Snape had a softness for “mother love.” JKR made so much mention of eyes (and eye color) throughout the series, especially in DH with Snape’s black eyes and Lily and Harry’s green ones. It seems that JKR sees the eyes as the window of the soul, and this sentence stood out, “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.” Snape agrees to the Unbreakable Vow after this detail is mentioned.
Obviously, this isn’t “proof,” but so much is made of eyes in the books that this caught my notice in this scene.
I’ve been a lurker for a long time, too, since it usually takes me a really long time to think about what I want to say, more time than people usually care to continue thinking about a topic. But I’ve been thinking about this book for a few years now, so I think I might be able to speak up!
I am really interested in Lily Luna’s idea about Narcissa visiting Snape under Voldemort’s instructions. I’ve never come across that idea, and I’m going to need to spend the next year or so thinking about it. I am partial to the idea that Narcissa is motivated purely out of love for her son. We see her acting on this love again at the end of Deathly Hallows when she lies to Voldemort, and it does reinforce Dumbledore’s favorite theme of love as the power that Voldemort doesn’t have that will be his undoing.
Narcissa might very well have asked for directions to Snape’s place, but she could have asked anybody in their social circle, and she could have passed it off as a casual curiosity. She might have also been acting on information that she has picked up over the years; that information seems pretty unspecific.
Bellatrix is fascinating here. She seems to be motivated by concern for her sister. This affection doesn’t seem to contribute at all to Voldemort’s downfall, but it is interesting that someone so worshipful of him would allow herself this behavior at all. On the flip, I love her line about how if she had sons she would gladly sacrifice them for the Dark Lord. She is so completely oblivious about what it is to be a mother, she’s like an anti-mother (even more so since she’s taken out by that paragon of overprotective maternity, the Molly Coddler herself).
I do wonder what comes over Snape here. It looks kind of like compassion, which is very unlike him. I love the idea that the exhibition of maternal love might get to him.
I hadn’t really thought about Snape being motivated purely by compassion for Narcissa in making the Vow. I do think Narcissa is awfully eager to get Snape to make the Unbreakable Vow. I just think that’s a powerful image of how she leaps at the opportunity. I had been wondering about the reference to Narcissa’s blue eyes, too. Dumbledore’s eyes also are blue. An alternative possibility is that looking into her eyes reminds him of the promise Dumbledore has already extracted (Narcissa’s tears playing a similar role to Dumbledore’s glasses). I point out again that Snape looks out at the street. One possible explanation is that he is wondering if someone is watching from outside and if this is a set up. So even if it ISN’T a setup, he may be acting from the assumption that it is. I also wonder why he is there in his parents’ presumably hated old house (interesting parallel to Sirius who was forced to hide out inside HIS parents’ hated old house). Does he return there every summer or is he there only now for a specific reason? Did Voldemort ask him to stay somewhere outside Hogwarts and keep an eye on Wormtail? That could imply only that he wanted them to keep tabs on each other or that he wanted Snape accessible to Narcissa. Also, even if the scene is a set up, I’m sure Narcissa’s anguish and terror for her son is genuine. And Snape may make the Unbreakable Vow both to comfort Narcissa and to deliberately walk into a trap; the two reasons are not inconsistent.
Also note the interesting symmetry between Snape “comforting” Narcissa by making the Vow at the beginning of HBP and Ron comforting Hermione at Dumbledore’s funeral.
Just wanted to add that my first impression in reading this chapter (actually the impression I’ve had every time I’ve read it) is that Snape is repulsed by Narcissa’s tears and histrionics, rather like Harry being flummoxed and turned off by Cho’s tears over Cedric and her begging him to talk about Cedric.
We haven’t discussed the “bloodred” wine they drink. Narcissa spills it on herself, like the spilling of blood. In some ways their drinking it seems like a communion, at which Snape, ironically, toasts the Dark Lord, whereas inside he’s probably toasting Dumbledore. The wine is a metaphor for the story as a whole: Dumbledore and Snape tricking Voldemort into thinking Snape is his servant when in fact Snape serves Dumbledore.
In the last line of the chapter, the third flame binds itself around their hands “like a rope, like a fiery snake.” I wondered when I read it why there were two analogies. Travis’ explanation of “fiery snake” is terrific. I think the reference to a rope is a subtle clue for the reader when it is paired with the reference a few chapters later to the stand of “card and rope tricks” at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. So subtle it’s easy to miss, but a lot of Rowling’s little clues are like that: “like a rope”/”rope tricks!”
By the way, I never gave an official welcome to the other “long time lurker” who commented – welcome SchoolMarm! Curious … have you commented here ever before? Or do I just recognize your name from another site?
I just re-read (or rather re-listened to) “The Silver Doe”, still under the impression of Travis’ excellent interpretation of the “fiery snake”. And I was struck by the description of the pool in the forest because for the first time it reminded me very much of the many descriptions of Snape’s black, cold and glittering eyes:
Something gleamed in the light of the wand and Harry spun about, but all that was there was a small, frozen pool, its cracked, black surface glittering as he raised the wand higher to examine it.
He moved forwards rather cautiously and looked down. The ice reflected his distorted shadow, and the beam of wandlight, but deep below the thick, misty grey carapace, something else glinted. A great silver cross …
His heart skipped into his mouth: He dropped to his knees at the pool’s edge and angled the wand so as to flood the bottom of the pool with as much light as possible. A glint of deep red … it was a sword with glittering rubies in its hilt … the sword of Gryffindor was lying at the bottom of the forest pool.
Harry is very reluctant to dive into the icy pool, but he knows he has to if he wants to get hold of the Sword of Gryffindor. He is so concerned with that “uninviting prospect” and with the trees around (from where Snape is probably watching him), that he completely forgets about the real danger coming from Riddle’s horcrux hanging around his neck – like his hatred for Snape sometimes almost made him forget about Voldemort.
I don’t know if I’m only making up something, but it seems to me that this is another hint of a Gryffindor somewhere behind those cold occlumenced eyes and a foreshadowing of Snape’s last words “look at me”.
Lily Luna, I also wondered many times why Snape looked out of the window. I didn’t find an answer either. Maybe JKR has set up this “window” just in case she needed an eye witness to the scene for the later plot in DH, which she hadn’t worked out in detail at that time.
Rena, very interesting comparison of the forest pool to Snape’s eyes and with the ruby red of Gryffindor at the bottom. I hadn’t thought of it that way before.
This is such an interesting discussion! I really love the points about the “fiery snake” and multiple meanings of “Spinner’s End”. Sort of linking the two ideas, I wonder if the “rope” referenced alongside the “fiery snake” could be a slight foreshadowing that Snape is figuratively putting a noose around his neck. He’s setting off on a journey that will end in his demise (and via a neck injury to boot…).
It’s so neat to see Snape in his home turf. What a miserable place. But I love the interaction between him and Narcissa, which makes me inclined to feel more sympathetic toward them both. There seems to be a lot of civility and respect there, even a touch of tenderness. I do think Snape genuinely cares for Draco, and he and Narcissa must know each other pretty well given his long association with Lucius. He’s really quite kind to Narcissa, a definite contrast to his contemptuous treatment of Bellatrix, and I don’t think it’s all an act – just like I suspect his satisfaction with the death of Sirius is genuine, even though they’re on the same team.
I also found it interesting that while Snape is completely obnoxious to Wormtail – I can only imagine he must want to make his life as miserable as he possibly can – and Bella basically ignores him, there’s that moment when Narcissa murmurs a thank you to him for bringing her a drink. Just a small act of politeness, but it seems underscore the differences between her and Bellatrix.
The fox at the beginning of the chapter reminded me of Fellowship of the Ring and that odd bit near the beginning about the fox curiously watching the hobbits begin their journey and then scampering off, thinking no more about it. Appropriate for a chapter that uses an unusual perspective to mark the beginning of an important journey, or phase of one anyway.
When I finished this chapter the first time I read it, I don’t recall just what I thought of Snape. It definitely served to deepen the Great Snape Debate, with Bellatrix making the “Snape is Good” arguments and Snape making the “Snape is Bad” arguments. Still, I think that Snape and Narcissa’s interaction and Dumbledore’s trust of Snape made me think that we were being misdirected yet again. I think I finished the book thinking Snape had been backed into a corner in Spinner’s End and that he’d killed Dumbledore not because he wanted to but because the vow forced him to. I thought that he basically had been loyal to Dumbledore but failed him in the end, though I was hoping he would find a way to help his cause later. I definitely didn’t consider the idea that Dumbledore had wanted it to happen until I heard it from several fans in the following months…
Lily Luna – great parallel between Sirius/Snape both residing in their parents’ homes. I had never made that connection. Just another amazing gem from JKR.
There are quite a few other parallels between Sirius and Snape. They have similar sounding names (Sirius/Severus). They both have black hair and black eyes. They both come from intact but unbearable homes that they desperately want to escape. Both spend a long period emotionally frozen and dying inside – Sirius in Azkaban and Severus in limbo at Hogwarts, waiting for Harry to come to the school and for Voldemort to attempt a comeback. Both are obsessed with getting the man who betrayed Lily’s and James’ location to Voldemort (Snape thinks it’s Sirius, Sirius knows it’s Wormtail). Severus loved Lily; Sirius loved James (not in a gay way so far as we know, but as a dear friend). Sirius is Harry’s godfather and guardian and risks capture and the Dementor’s Kiss while trying to protect Harry from being betrayed by Wormtail; Severus is Harry’s secret guardian angel and risks discovery and the wrath of Voldemort trying to protect Harry from him. In the Shrieking Shack in POA, Sirius is surprised by Harry’s attack and Harry beats him up; Severus is surprised by Harry/Hermione/Ron’s attack and is knocked unconscious by their disarming charms. Also in the Shack, Sirius is half crazed wanting to kill Wormtail, while Severus is beyond reason in his hatred of Sirius.
How annoying. I just typed a longish reply to you, jensenly, detailing other similarities between Sirius and Snape and it utterly disappeared when I posted it.
I’m going to have to remember to block copy my comment before I post so I can paste it into a new comment box if it disappears. Have to run now; I’ll try to recreate it later.
Lily Luna, found your comment in the spam catcher. If ever a comment doesn’t appear, contact me through the “contact” link above and let me know. I can usually find it in the spam catcher.
Travis, thanks for finding it and posting it. What no no word did I use that made it spam (so I don’t do it again)? Was it the Dementor’s ____?
Lily Luna, sometimes it’s just random. The spam catcher is good at keeping spam out, but it gets a little over zealous at times.
Yep.
I guessed that it was the word g*a*y that caused LL’s comment to disappear. To test the hypothesis I posted a comment with the word in it. Disappeared without a trace.
Nice post, Lily Luna. You piqued my curiosity enough to reread the POA chapter 17, “Cat, Rat, and Dog”!