U is for Unbreakable Vow

"An Unbreakable Vow?" said Ron, looking stunned.  "Nah, he can't have....Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," said Harry.  "Why, what does it mean?"

"Well, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow...."

"I'd worked that much out for myself, funnily enough.  What happens if you break it, then?"

 "You die," said Ron simply. (The Half-Blood Prince, 325-326)

The Unbreakable Vow is a mysterious spell that we only encounter once in the Harry Potter series.  Ron mentions that Fred and George tried to get him to make one when he was five, but luckily their dad was able to intervene before anything happened.



However, the Unbreakable Vow between Snape and Draco's mother actually happened, in another valiant effort by Snape to secure his trustworthiness with Voldemort's supporters.

Narcissa is very worried about the mission that Voldemort has given to her son: to kill Dumbledore.  She asks Snape to look after him, but Bellatrix keeps insinuating that Snape is not loyal enough to actually do anything.  Therefore, when Narcissa suggests the Unbreakable Vow, Snape agrees, to Bellatrix's shock.

"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"I will," said Snape.

A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands like a red-hot wire.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will," said Snape.

A second tongue of flame shot from the wand and interlinked with the first, making a fine, glowing chain.

"And, should it prove necessary...if it seems Draco will fail..." whispered Narcissa (Snape's hand twitched within hers, but he did not draw away), "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to perform?"

There was a moment's silence.  Bellatrix watched, her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide.

"I will," said Snape.

Bellatrix's astounded face glowed red in the blaze of a third tongue of flame, which shot from the wand, twisted with the others, and bound itself thickly around their clasped hands, like a rope, like a fiery snake. (36-37) 

I find this spell so interesting and, horrible though this may sound, I wish we had seen someone break an Unbreakable Vow in the book.  I don't understand exactly how this magic is supposed to work.... How exactly does the spell determine what the best of Snape's ability to protect Draco might be?  And how does one die from breaking the Vow? Do they suddenly drop dead once a condition is broken?

Tomorrow will be my 21st Harry Potter themed A to Z posts! It's V for Veritaserum!

P is for Pensieve

Wouldn't it be nice to take a video of your memories so you could remember events clearly? Or perhaps set aside something that requires more thinking, but you don't want to ponder just yet?  Ever wanted to easily share your thoughts and memories?

That's pretty much what Albus Dumbledore's pensieve does for him.  Except, to go even a step further, it lets you be in the scene as an observer, rather than just watching it from the outside.

"I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind."

"Er," said Harry, who couldn't truthfully say that he had ever felt anything of the sort.

"At these times," said Dumbledore indicating the stone basin, "I use the Pensieve.  One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure.  It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form." (The Goblet of Fire, 597) 

Dumbledore uses his Pensieve to teach Harry everything he knows about Voldemort's past.  When he attempts to show Harry something from Slughorn's memory about Voldemort, it becomes obvious that the memory has been changed.  In the midst of a normal replaying of a memory, "the whole room suddenly filled with a thick white fog, so that Harry could see nothing but the face of Dumbledore, who was standing beside him.  Then Slughorn's voice rang out through the mist, unnaturally loud, 'You'll go wrong, boy, mark my words'" (The Half-Blood Prince, 370).

Dumbledore explains the phenomena: "'As you might have noticed,' said Dumbledore, reseating himself behind his desk, 'that memory has been tampered with'" (371).  From this experience, we learn that we can trust the memories shown in the Pensieve.

With all the mystery surrounding Snape and what his true loyalties were, it is important that he give Harry his memories, rather than his words, to prove his goodness.

The Pensieve showing Harry the dying thoughts of Snape is so powerful of a message that Harry ends up with a high respect for the man.  He even names one of his children after him, and tells Albus Severus that he was named after "the bravest man I ever knew" (The Deathly Hallows, 758).

Tomorrow in my Harry Potter themed A - Z post, I will be featuring Quibbler - a questionable wizarding news source.