META: Did Snape know Draco's task?

[amanuensis1]

Little bit of meta here, my take on one question posed by the Spinner's End chapter of HBP: did Snape indeed know what Draco's task was when he claimed to Bellatrix and Narcissa he did? Here's what Snape says:

"It so happens that I know of the plan," he said in a low voice. "I am one of the few the Dark Lord has told."

Some readers have speculated that he might not have, that he was bluffing. If that's so, that means he didn't know exactly what he was signing up for when he agreed to make the Unbreakable Vow. Why would Snape have taken such a risk? Possibly because he didn't know Draco's task and figured he darn well needed to know what Voldemort was plotting, so, by telling Narcissa "It's all right, you can speak freely with me," he'd have the chance to find out something crucial.

I don't see anything in that chapter that directly contradicts that idea; Snape's hesitation before he says the last words of the vow could also be said to support it. Perhaps he hesitates because he has no idea what he's promising, but knows he can't back out at that point without having his bluff called. However, one can also explain the hesitation if Snape does know that Draco's been directed to kill Dumbledore, because Snape would realize that by doing so, he's signed his own death warrant, since he's thinking there's no way he'll carry it through.

I'm more inclined to think that Snape does actually know, even though we have no hard-and-fast evidence. What we do have, though, is what can be seen as a clean example of an author's contrivance to keep the knowledge from the reader, by shrouding the element in "we must not speak of it, the Dark Lord has commanded," and "I already know of the plan." Keeps the reader in the dark. And that's all the explanation you'd need, as to why he says that. I think that's the most compelling element to sway me in that direction. But I do think that the chapter, and all the rest of the text, can support either hypothesis.

Comments

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

It's not that I can't be persuaded otherwise, but I'm usually in the Snape doesn't know bupkis camp (*g*). In fact, I think as late as Slughorn's Christmas party, he still doesn't know, based in part on this snippet between him and Draco:

'What is your plan?'
'It's none of your business!'
'If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you '

One interpretation, of course, is that he's trying to get Draco to tell Snape himself, so that there's a bond of trust between them, but it sounds just like Snape talking to Bellatrix in chapter 2...and both of those conversations read (to me, at least) like someone trying kind of badly to get somebody to spill the beans about something because they think the other person already knows.

Mind you, if I'm right about this, Snape is really one of the most pathetic spies ever and it's a wonder he's survived as long as he has. :)

In further support? It's shortly after this that Hagrid reports eavesdropping on Snape and Dumbledore's conversation in the woods:

'Well -I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he -Snape -didn' wan' ter do it any more '

'Do what?'

'I dunno, Harry, it sounded like Snape was feelin' a bit overworked, tha's all -anyway, Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it.

My thought? Snape just found out what the heck it was he'd agreed to and he's trying to refuse.

So ends today's apologia. :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the Snape-and-Draco conversation could be read that way, and is maybe better evidence than anything that happens in the Spinner's End chapter for that interp. The eavesdropping!Hagrid thing, though, could be read as an ongoing part of the arguments Snape and Dumbledore keep having about the issue. Snape went into the UV thinking, "That's it, I'm dead," and then was surprised by D. saying, "No, you're going to do it. I'm dying anyway, and you're more important in this role." And Snape refused and Snape squirmed as D. continued to demonstrate the better logic of this plan, and eventually he reluctantly admitted it and even conceded, but that doesn't mean that he stopped protesting altogether.

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Snape is really one of the most pathetic spies ever and it's a wonder he's survived as long as he has. :)

It's something I've long suspected . . .

[nemesister.livejournal.com]

It seems as if Draco knows exactly that Snape knows exactly what his job is. "You just want to steal my glory" What kind of glory? They both know what they are talking about. Snape wants to know WHAT Draco is planning to DO abut it. He asks him if he has something to do with the necklace and tells him that he is already suspected. (- Proof that Snape and Dumbledore were discussing Harry's suspicions.) Snape doesn't know about the necklace or the mead or the cabinet, information that is very important to protect students like Katie and Ron and to ensure that Draco doesn't kill Dumbledore.
I really don't see how Snape asking Draco what he is planning is a hint to Snape not knowing what the job is.

Additionally Dumbledore told Draco that he has known all year that Draco was after him. So for Snape to not knowing about it at Christmas we have to assume that a)Voldemort doesn't trust him b)Dumbledore doesn't trust him and c)Snape is an idiot who can't count 2 and 2 together. I don't think b and c have any basis in canon, even a goes directly against the information we have. It also leads to the question how Dumbledore knew, if Snape didn't tell him.

Everything makes sense if we just accept that Snape knew from the beginning, and only gets complicated by assuming he didn't.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I do believe and did believe that Snape knew - otherwise he'd just agreed to die if he doesn't do an unknown task. And Snape is a Slytherin - that does tend to mean a decent sense of self-preservation. He's not about to, well, buy a pig in a poke.

Which, as you say, would also explain the hesitation. "I'm going to die. I'm going to stop Draco from killing Dumbledore and I can't do it myself...Fine."

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

The "I already know" thing is such a writer's trick to keep knowledge from the reader; that's what keeps slapping me in the face like a big wet fish and asking me why on earth I think I need another explanation. And that hesitation, as you say--I read that and even though I didn't know what Draco's task was, at that very moment my mind did not think, "Uh, oh, Snape's wondering what he's got himself into," but thought instead, "Oh, crap, Snape knows he's just killed himself, because it's something he won't do."

[snakeling]

I've always thought, even the first time I read the book, that Snape was bluffing his way through that meeting. I think that if he had know something, he would have said something about it, rather than fish for information.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can see that--except then the reader would have known, too. That's what I keep butting up against. I really am not sure!

[(Anonymous)]

Not necessarily. Remember Wormtail was around. He could be avoiding any leak of information to Wormatail.

[mtnjoy.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I'm reading HBP to my boys and "Spinner's End" was our chapter last night.

I think Snape didn't know. *shrug* I don't know if I can articulate exactly why I think that, beyond his hesitation while making the Vow and that scene at Slughorn's Christmas party. (But then I've never been able to figure out whodunit halfway through a mystery, either. I just don't read that way, or my brain doesn't work that way, or something. It's been a source of great frustration to me, honestly!)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

This is one of those issues that I can't feel sure on, which I kind of like. Makes me feel the author's done a good job of keeping it a mystery, you know?

[catrinella.livejournal.com]

I don't think he knew at Spinner's End, but I think he knew by the Christmas party - though I'm not convinced Draco knew at that point, beyond the cabinet! I read the party conversation as Snape probing to see whether Draco realizes the enormity of the task. (Caveat: have not re-read since last year.)

And Albus in this book makes me shiver - it's the steely core we always knew was beneath the genial grandfatherly exterior, but it's about his own death. Cold, cold.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I swear, at multiple points in the book, I thought Albus was planning to kill Harry. So, yeah. With you on the cold thing.

[aqua-alta.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced that he didn't know. It seems like a spy-novel cliché to me (as the whole Order vs. DEs resembles a classic spy-novel plot, I think). The bluffing getting the spy into a pretty shitty situation etc.

I'm convinced that Snape only engaged in the Vow to gain knowledge/information. Which, perverse enough, he didn't. I don't think he would have engaged in the Vow that readily had he known what Draco's task was.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can imagine it both ways, though. I can certainly imagine him hesitating to complete the Vow--remember, when he agreed to it readily it was only with the condition that he protect Draco, which he was happy to do--but when the "complete Draco's task" condition is tagged onto the end, he knows that to back down then--he knows that even that little bit of hesitation--will condemn him in Bella and Narcissa's eyes, and Bella is dangerous. So if he knows what the task is, he still--he especially--needs to agree, because it's something any loyal DE would readily agree to do. And he hesitates because he thinks, "Oh, f**k, I've just killed myself. But it's not like I thought I'd get out of this alive anyway, sigh." And he completes the vow.

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

I can see it in a lot of ways.

1. He did know, because Voldemort told him as a test of Snape's loyalty. ("I'm ordering Draco to kill Dumbledore...and you'd better not get in the way.")

2. He knew, but Voldemort *didn't* tell him. Either Death Eaters are more loose-lipped than Bellatrix thinks or else Snape legilimensed the info / is a good spy.

3. He didn't know, but had a strong suspicion just from hanging around Voldy for so long. When Narcissa extracted the vow, his suspicions were 98% certain.

But I think he did know. I think the hesitation was because he didn't expect to be asked to finish what Draco started, and because he also believed deep down that he wasn't going to uphold that part of the vow. He made the decision in that moment to sign his own death warrant, not expecting that Dumbledore was going to hold him to his promise.

Except that I think even deeper, he knew Dumbledore *would* make him do it, and he knew he would follow that directive rather than disobey. (So he's both a coward - for choosing his own life and D's last orders over his own conscience - and *not* a coward - for doing the hardest thing D's ever asked him to do. Which, I have to say, is deliciously complex and possibly the only thing I liked about book six. More or less.)

As for the Christmas party thing, I think at that point D's directions to Snape were to foil Draco's plan so that Draco wouldn't have to be directly responsible for D's death (or any other destruction he planned, such as letting DE's into the school). So while he knew Draco's major end point - a dead Dumbledore - he didn't know any of the other way stations, nor any of the methods Draco was employing. I don't see that scene as Clueless Snape at all, rather as a Snape who can see half the cards, but not all of them.

But then, I've always believed that Dumbledore sees Snape's role as a teacher at Hogwarts to be partly a way to keep the DE kids out of their parents' paths. So Snape's purpose has always been in part to protect Draco, and others like him, from their own prejudices. So it's not a stretch for me that Dumbledore would shift Snape's mission to include keeping Draco out of as much trouble as possible, not just to keep him from becoming a murderer.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, perfect--I love your essays! You and I are so very much in agreement about this, about how it could go either way, except gut instinct makes us choose that he did know because that moment of hesitation is a much much more interesting read that way, you know? Along with being the simplest. What you have to say about the "deep down" and the "deeper down" is exactly how I see Snape.

[willayork.livejournal.com]

i dont have the book on me, but isn't there some line where snape looks at cissa or bella (probably 'cissa) and like stares at her? i've heard alot of arguements that he's legilimenting (? spelling ?) her. that's the opinion i take, and that explains his hestiation b/c he'd also know what she wants to ask of him, and he knows he has to do it a- to keep his cover and b-b/c he's a spy and c(probably)- to try and help/save draco

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I think it certainly could be, though I think it's adding a complicated interpretation to a situation that could be read more simply. Like the theory that Harry was being fed a love potion and that's why he liked Ginny. Nevertheless I'd weigh that one as one of the more probable! (The legilimency, not the love potion. ^_^)

[mereol.livejournal.com]

Personally I'm in the camp of "Dumbledore is a relatively good Seer and knows what boogeyman is coming to get him."

I believe that Snape did know, but not from Voldiewhatsits. Re seeking Draco's confidence, I think Snape was just trying to niggle out what Draco's plans were to achieve his goal so as to be prepared for any eventuality and thus, potentially save anyone else from getting hurt. He already knew about the necklace. This is not to suggest that I believe Snape to be one of the good guys--because I truly believe he's is in it to realize his own agenda--but I do believe he is Dumbledore's man. His methods to achieve those ends are a bit spotty is all.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I was always a has-his-own-agenda!Snape gal, and then HBP came along and cemented Snape's loyalties as Dumbledore's Man, and suddenly I was left realizing Snape has been hero #2 of the books all along. Howdya like that? ^_^

[professor-mum.livejournal.com]

I rather think that Snape and Draco had been anticipating a byzantine murder scheme on Albus' life for sometime, so it wasn't a huge strech.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It makes sense when you think of the end of OotP from Voldemort's point of view. ^_^

[liriop.livejournal.com]

I think Snape knew. He's not an idiot to take an Unbreakable Vow on an issue he doesn't know. but that's not the whole of it. Let's see what he says:

"If Draco succeeds," said Snape, still looking away from her, "he will be honored above all others." He said that and how many tasks would imply this? You can say that he might have deduced it from what Bella had previously said:
"Draco should be proud," said Bellatrix indifferently. "The Dark Lord is granting him a great honor. And I will say this for Draco: he isn't shrinking away from his duty, he seems glad of a chance to prove himself, excited at the prospect —"
But granting a great honor isn't the same as granting that he'll be honored above all others.And a little later Snape says:
"He intends me to do it in the end, I think. But he is determined that Draco should try first. You see, in the unlikely event that Draco succeeds, I shall be able to remain at Hogwarts a little longer, fulfilling my useful role as spy."

A task that the Dark Lord would want Snape to do and that wouldn't allow him to remain at Hogwarts. Not many tasks would so completely make sense with what he says. I think it would be a very big bluff he he was saying those things without really knowing wht the task was. But even if he hadn't known in the beginning, by the time he made the Vow he certainly did. I knew when I first read it that it could only be killing Dumbledore or Harry. Think of what Narcissa said:
"But he won't succeed!" sobbed Narcissa. "How can he, when the Dark Lord himself— ?"
Snape, that is a very clever man, certainly knew that he would have to betray the Order of the Phoenix and kill either its leader or the only one with the power to defeat the Dark Lord (Snape knew at least the beginning of the prophecy).

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, nicely done. That's so compelling, all that. Snape would be taking a helluva risk to bluff his way through all that. Yeah, that puts me even a little further into the "Snape knew" camp.

[snivilis.livejournal.com]

I thought I should mention, a tiny bit off topic, that in an interview JKR said that Snape killing Dumbledore wasn't planned...which only means that Snape didn't tell Dumbledore....

[(Anonymous)]

If you're talking about the interview that was immediately after HBP, she said she didn't want to say if it was planned or not because she didn't want to end any theories and that she only says no to theories that can't go anywhere, like that Snape is a vampire.

Of course, I haven't read every single one of her interviews, so maybe I'm thinking of a different one? And if I am, then I'm sorry for making an assumption.

[laura-the-auror.livejournal.com]

I think that Snape still didn't know at Christmas and that it was later that DD deduced what Draco's task was from the collateral damage and then DD told Sev and the argument overheard by Hagrid took place. It's odd that Sev didn't find out through legilimency before then, but I just put that down to sloppy plot holes. There is a shakier characterisation reason I also have in mind to support the Snape was bluffing theory - if he knew that either DD or Snape himself would have to die, I don't believe he would have taken the vow. It wouldn't suit Snape or the cause for either of them to die - better to tell the Black sisters to naff off, really.

[crjace.livejournal.com]

A lot of this has been articulated before, but I believe Snape knew what the task was before Spinner's End. Mostly because while I believe Snape is a good bluffer, I'm not sure he's that good. As well, I think Voldemort does trust him, and that bit about Voldemort expecting him to accomplish the task if Draco fails seems to imply he does know all about it.

Secondly, if he didn't know about the task, there is that moment when he locks eyes with Narcissa for a long while. If he didn't know about it before that, he certainly did afterwards. His hesitation at the third part of the Vow I've always took to be hesitation in swearing on his life to kill Dumbledore.

As far as the Christmas party, I think Snape is trying to get details from Draco as to how he plans to take out Dumbledore, not the general plan. Draco refuses to let Snape in on the details (to the point that he leaves him out of the operation), but it seems clear they're on the same page about what he's trying to do in general.

Regarding the arguement in the forest, I always felt that was regarding Snape having second thoughts about what he'd agreed to do, but Dumbledore telling him it was too late and he's already agreed. Hopefully, book 7 will explain how that was okay with Dumbledore . . . .

[(Anonymous)]

I think Snape knew. And I think J. K. Rowling demonstrates that to us both in Spinner's End and in other parts of the book.

1. Snape is not a moron. And he's not exactly keen to let people bully him given his past. He wouldn't have allowed Narcissa and Bellatrix to manipulate him into the Vow and put himself in such a position that he couldn't back out if he didn't know what it was.

2. Everyone knew about Draco's task. Bellatrix, Narcissa, Dumbledore, Fenrir, even minor Death Eaters we've never even heard of before, like Alecto...They all knew. Why, then, wouldn't Snape? I don't think the fact that Dumbledore knew means Snape knew, because Dumbledore had a "number of useful spies" in the first war, so there's no reason to think he hasn't got them this time around. But I do think that if everyone and their dog knew, Snape wasn't likely to be in the dark.

3. When Snape gets to the tower and is told that Draco isn't killing Dumbledore, he isn't surprised. There's no, "Oh was THAT it all this time?" He looks around and then he kills Dumbledore. He's not processing it as though it's something new. Yes, he's great at hiding his emotions, but I think coming upon a group of Death Eaters with a dying Dumbledore pleading with him might get him to...blink a little. You know?

Anyway, that's my two cents, for whatever it's worth. I'm sorry if this reads...argumentative or something. It's only meant to be my opinion.

[(Anonymous)]

In reference to number three, I meant, he might have SOME reaction if he didn't expect it. It really seems to me like he was clear on what was going on.