Dumbledore was fully aware that he would be killed by Snape before he even left the grounds of Hogwarts.
And, what are believed to be pleading moments with Snape “Please Severus…” are actually him pleading for Severus to go ahead and kill him…finish the job.
For reasons that will likely be revealed in book 7.
After all, Snape not killing Dumbledore, and fully revealing himself as a double agent would destroy all the work that they had done up to that point.
And they STILL had not fully disclosed WHAT the unbreakable vow was about…even though we know that Draco was imparted with the task of killing Dumbledore…I think that there is still wiggle room in that area. After all, Rowlings red herrings are masterful in misleading us. (who didn’t think that Voldemort was the HBP for the greater part of the book?)
This of course, is only a theory, and yes, I do believe that Dumbledore is in fact dead. (more so than I believe Sirius is dead…)
Actually, Rowlings stated in an interview that neither Harry nor Voldemort was the HBP. I actually thought it was Gryffindor himself.
Nevertheless, I figured Dumbledore had to die. And he knew it. With Dumbledore there, Harry always knew that he would be protected from Voldemort. There was always a safety net. In order to truly release his potential, Dumbledore had to die (happens in every Hero story… just look at Star Wars).
But, no. I highly doubt Snape is “guilty.” He most likely killed Dumbledore with his full permission in order to save Draco, of all people. They talked about how the act of murder spoils a man’s soul… and for whatever reason, Draco must remain pure.
Now, my guess is that the last Horcrux is Harry himself (or his scar). How else could you explain all of Harry’s abilities and his connection with Voldemort? And they talk about the fact that Horcruxes can be living creatures… Which makes one wonder: how can you destroy the last Horcrux without destroying Harry?
Wow Abadd, I never thought that Harry could be a horcrux, but now the more I think about it the more it seems like a reality. Good call.
As for that R.A.B. character I think it was someone in the Black household. Regelus maybe. They talked about him briefly in the fifth book, but at the same time gave some interesting details.
I, too, believe it’s Regulus. In fact, does anybody else remember the pendant that nobody could open that was mentioned in Book 5?
However, Mundungus is likely to have stolen the pendant and sold it off. Otherwise, there was little reason for his mini-plotline to have been mentioned at all in the 6th book.
One more point about Snape: Dumbledore specifically mentions that the DADA position is cursed. Yet, he knowingly put Snape into that position. He knew that Snape would only last the year at Hogwarts. What else can explain it?
No I don’t remember the pendant oddly, I should really reread the 5th book.
Also about Snape, maybe thats why he held out so long about the DADA position to Snape, he only gave it to him when he almost knew the time was right for Snape to either leave or initiate his plans.
It’s worth mentioning that Dumbledore could have simply made a mistake in trusting Snape in the first place. We’ve got to remember that, as wise as Dumbledore was, he was only human. It’s possible that Harry was right about Snape being on Voldemort’s side - perhaps Dumbledore had been too trusting of Snape all along.
Did Dumbledore know that he was going to die before leaving the castle? Maybe. I’d like to see some proof of this, if that is the case. If Dumbledore knew that Snape was going to kill him, then surely he would have done something to both avoid his own death, and also found a way to hide Draco Malfoy from Voldemort earlier on in the story.
About Dumbledore giving Snape the DADA position when he knew that it was cursed, like Felix said, Dumbledore may not be needed Snape at Hogwarts for the plans that he intended Snape to carry out.
Well, Dumbledore knew about Draco’s plans, as he stated. If Draco failed in his plans to kill Dumbledore, Draco would have been killed. Dumbledore is very protective of his students, regardless of who they are.
Snape made an Unbreakable Vow (likely with Dumbledore’s permission) to do the deed if Draco failed. Failure to kill Dumbledore would result in both their deaths, something Dumbledore would not have allowed.
Dumbledore essentially did a braindump onto Harry, giving him all the knowledge he had about Voldemort, and then setting him on the path to finish the job. This is very telling in that Dumbledore probably knew that he wouldn’t be around much longer to protect Harry.
Dumbledore can perform magic without a wand. He could have easily disarmed Draco and gotten away… but I refer you back to my first two points.
Why else would Snape have told Harry, “Close your mind!”
I generally believe that the reason why Snape nearly snapped when Harry called him a coward was because he just had to kill the only man to have ever treated him fairly and give him a second chance… which took a tremendous amount of bravery and self-sacrifice.
I firmly believe that Snape is still part of the Order, but Rowlings will make that dubious until the last moment possible, where Snape will sacrifice himself to save either Harry or Draco (at this point, when a character has been “tainted” as much as Snape, the usual only recourse is to have them die a noble death).
I was talking with a friend and they also mentioned how in the fifth book, when Umbridge, (I believe) told Harry that to do the death curse that Snape used on Dumbledore you have to actually mean it, and when it kills the person they usually just fall limp to the ground, not fly away. So maybe Snape purposely didn’t kill Dumbledore, also you never see Dumbledores body in the funeral and his wand is never snapped in have.
The most interesting piece is that the coffin ignites in flame as if Dumbledore is a pheonix being ready to be reborn…
That’s the site my friend got all this info on apparently I just skimmed over it, but will definitely go back and read through it when I have more time.
Having finally read the book, I can now contribute.
I had the same thought as Abadd in that Harry was one of the Racoux’s (sp). The prophecy does say “Neither can live whilst the other is alive”. Perhaps, when Voldemort killed Harry’s mum, he realised that Avada Kadavra had backfired and he used the nearest available thing to him, that being Harry himself. So, there is a sorry possiblity of a Terminator-2 style ending…
I love the way Rowling starts to throw abbreviations around without reminding us what they stand for. I spent half the book wondering “Why is DA a group? I thought that was Dark Arts…”. Then, in like chapter 25 “Dumbledore’s Army” is mentioned. Good grief.
I wonder why Sectrasectum (sp) isn’t one of the (four) unforgivable curses? It sounds as bad as Crucio from what happened to Malfroy.
[quote=“Arcie”]
2) I love the way Rowling starts to throw abbreviations around without reminding us what they stand for. I spent half the book wondering “Why is DA a group? I thought that was Dark Arts…”. Then, in like chapter 25 “Dumbledore’s Army” is mentioned. Good grief.[/quote]
Thats what happens when books are released 2-3 years apart.
