Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be discussing Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, the killing of Albus Dumbledore, and one unbreakable vow.

The unbreakable vow is a binding magical contract that connects two parties. The purpose is simple, it is to bind a fellow witch or wizard to a promise. The participants stand opposite each other and clasp each others right hands, while a third party acts like a sort of mediator or witness and places the tip of their wand on to the hands of the two participants. The mediator acts almost like a minister, and will begin to state conditions or responsibilities related to the vow. After stating each condition of the vow, the participant who is to uphold said responsibilities must agree to them one by one. In the year 1996, during the opening chapters of the Half Blood Prince, Narcissa Malfoy asks Snape to make one of these unbreakable vows, and it is at this time that he vows to protect Draco, help him with his task, and even finish it himself should Draco fail.

The conditions of this vow were to protect Malfoy from harm while he attempted to perform the task that Voldemort had asked him to - kill Albus Dumbledore. Snape also agreed to complete the task that Malfoy was assigned in the event that Malfoy was unable.

This is quite the responsibility for Snape to take on, particularly as if you’re unable to honour the promise that you’ve made with the unbreakable vow, you will die. Death is the ultimate consequence, and that is of course why it is deemed ‘unbreakable’. You are stuck with what you’ve promised until you either act on said promise, or die. From what we know, there is no other way of getting out of an unbreakable vow.

But, one thing that I’ve always wondered is: Why would Snape willingly agree to enter an unbreakable vow with Narcissa? Snape had been an effective double agent for many years, and both sides felt that they had an ally in Snape, so what did he have to prove?

First of all, it’s worth mentioning that Bellatrix didn’t completely trust him. Bellatrix was Voldemort’s most loyal death eater and companion, and because she harboured feelings for Voldemort she was particularly protective of him and his cause. This meant that Snape’s wish-washy history left Bellatrix unconvinced of Snape’s motivations. When Narcissa and Bellatrix introduced the idea of an unbreakable vow to Snape, Bellatrix was unconvinced that Snape would enter it willingly. She was trying to prove that Snape wasn’t an ally to the death eaters, and this would be the ultimate test- would Snape agree to KILL Albus Dumbledore? So, the first reason that Snape entered the vow was just to disprove Bellatrix’s allegations.

The second reason that Snape agreed to enter the vow was that he was always going to be the one to kill Dumbledore anyway. Though the task was assigned to Daco, Voldemort never actually expected Draco to be able to complete the task-this was his way of punishing Lucius for his failures. This meant that the task would inevitably always fall on Snape to complete, Voldemort KNEW that Draco would fail. In addition to this, in order to appease Dumbledore and protecto Draco’s soul, Snape agreed to kill the Hogwarts headmaster himself. tHis would simultaneously complete the unbreakable vow that he had entered, as well as protect young Draco’s soul.


So-there you have it. Despite Snape’s impressive levels of power and ability to act as an effective double agent, he did ultimately NEED to enter this unbreakable vow. Both to prove his loyalty, and to protect Draco. Had Dumbledore not already been ill, then the whole Harry Potter story would have been remarkably different, and I’m sure that if that were the case, Snape would have never agreed to commit such an act. All he agreed to do was kill an old, dying wizard, that was going to die anyway, to protect a young boy.



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