I feel that this story began wonderfully, and your description of Severus’ death was chilling however, from what we’ve seen of Snape, he’s always listened to Dumbledore. He may not always have liked, but he always has sucked it up and dealt with the hand he’s been given. I think that you miscalculated Severus’ character after he woke up, and when he woke Draco up. Draco’s name is in the warning “draco dormiens nunquam titillandus”. I think that perceptive Severus would notice and be suspicious of Draco from then on. He’s a smart man, with keen observation skills. I doubt that he would make such a grave mistake, even if he believed Draco was his friend of sorts. Dumbledore was Severus’ friend, and Severus killed him. Some say Lily was Severus’ friend, and he helped to betray her. He would probably have been more than willing to leave Draco to sleep and gone. Or perhaps even put a sleeping charm on Draco while he was away, just to be sure.

Draco’s characterization, too, conflicted with what we’ve seen of him. We know he is not a murderer. He balked on the Lightning-Struck Tower, why would he kill Severus, who’s been nothing but kind to him, and acted as his protector?

Despite this, I think that, had it been two other characters, this would have been an excellent example of cognative dissonance, believing one thing although you know the contrary is true.



Author's Response: wow, thank you very much for that excellent critique! and in terms of canon, I absolutely believe everything you\'ve pointed out. that said, I hope you don\'t mind if I say a few things to defend my work a bit. first off, this isn\'t my theory on what will happen or what is possible, not even close. In this tangent of mine, Draco, while not strong on the tower, is working alone now. he has been pushed to a level of brutal cruelty, something that he has held inside where Snape can\'t see. and as for his name being in the warning, it was an intentional mislead, and Dumbledore\'s description of the \'dragon\' indicates someone powerful and deceptive, something Snape may not have thought to apply to Draco who is young and rather cowardly in his opinion. the whole theme of it is about taking important things for granted, missing things that are right in front of you. Snape woke up intending to do exactly as Dumbledore asked him, but he miscalculated to his cost. I really do appreciate your in depth analysis of my little story. It helps more than you know.