Post by Lady Mage on Oct 13, 2005 18:42:23 GMT -5
This is an essay I wrote for school about what I think happened in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
[glow=red,2,300]Beware of Spoilers![/glow]
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of the wonderful, the marvelous, J.K. Rowling!!
I trust Dumbledore completely. Snape killed Dumbledore under Dumbledore’s order. The excuse they used at the end of the book was lame as to why Dumbledore trusted him, and personally, I don’t think that was the real reason. Don’t forget Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, or the conversation Hagrid overheard. And don’t overlook the fact that Dumbledore assigned Snape to the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, when he knows the job is jinxed. Or the fact that when Dumbledore was on the tower, he pleaded with Snape “Please…” he said. There is also some speculation as to whether Dumbledore is dead or not.
We know Fawkes was nearby, because after Dumbledore ‘died’ he began his long lament. We know that Fawkes has helped Dumbledore many times in the past, swallowing the jet of green light that was the killing curse in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He also saved Harry from death by the basilisk in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets .Why didn’t Fawkes save Dumbledore this time? He could have easily done it. I think the fact that he didn’t explains that maybe Dumbledore didn’t want to be saved, and this supports the theory that all along Dumbledore had planned to ‘die’ on that tower that night.
Then there’s what Hagrid overheard and told Harry, that Snape said Dumbledore was taking too much for granted, and that maybe he, Snape, didn’t want to do it anymore. They would be, of course, talking about Dumbledore’s planned murder. Dumbledore tells him that he had said he would do it (i.e. the unbreakable vow Snape swore in Chapter Two) and that’s that.
Don’t forget that Dumbledore assigned Snape the job on the Defense Against the Dark Arts Post, when he knew that the job’s jinxed, not allowing a teacher to stay for more than one year, because of Voldemort not getting the job when he was Tom Riddle. Dumbledore knew about the curse when he assigned Snape the job at the beginning of the year. But he never intended for Snape to stay longer than a year, because at this time, his plan for Snape to kill him and flee must have already been in place.
With this out look, Snape’s demeanor, and Dumbledore’s final words take on a whole new meaning. Dumbledore is pleading, and Snape looks at Dumbledore with hatred before saying “Avada Kedavra”. Remember Harry’s look of revulsion at having to feed Dumbledore the potion, hating himself all the while? Maybe Snape’s look of revulsion and hatred had to do with what he was about to do, not his hatred for Dumbledore. So even though Snape was ‘killing’ Dumbledore on his orders, it still was a very difficult thing for him to do, just like how hard it was for Harry to make Dumbledore drink the potion.
When Dumbledore says “Severus… please”, he isn’t begging for his life, but for his death. Remember way back at the end of Book One? Where Dumbledore says to Harry “That to the well-organized mind, death is the next great adventure” Does this sound like the attitude of someone who will plead to save his life?
Then there is the issue that Dumbledore isn’t really dead, just pretending. Remember how Dumbledore said to Draco Malfoy that he could pretend to kill him, and get him away to safety? This sounds very alike to what some fans think Dumbledore had planned for himself. One of my friends I met on the internet calls this the “Let’s play dead together” scene. Dumbledore even offers to do the same with Malfoy’s mother and father, at least once Malfoy’s father gets out of Azkaban, the wizarding prison.
Also, every other time we’ve seen the killing curse performed, the recipient of it just dies. We see that in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Voldemort kills Frank Bryce, the Riddle’s caretaker, and again at the end of that same book when Cedric Diggory, the other wizard from Hogwarts competing in the Triwizard Tournament, is killed. These people simply just died. However, when Snape performs the same killing curse on Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Dumbledore is blasted violently over the wall and away from the tower. Perhaps Snape said the spell, but said a non-verbal different spell. After all, J.K. Rowling has been telling of non-verbal spells the entire book. Maybe it was to prepare us for this. Thus, Dumbledore isn’t dead, but seriously hurt. Another alternative is that Snape didn’t really mean the killing curse. You might remember that in the previous book, Harry tried to use Crucio, the pain curse, on Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater, and it didn’t work, because he wasn’t going to enjoy the pain.
After the scene of Dumbledore’s murder, we hear the Phoenix Lament. The song is so sad and beautiful. Whatever Fawkes is doing, he’s working pretty hard at it. But are we supposed to believe that Dumbledore’s pet is only echoing everybody’s grief? Are we so easily to forget that phoenix tears have healing powers? Madame Pomfrey, the healer begins crying and gulps loudly, maybe realizing what is going on. It certainly seems as if J.K. Rowling wants us to believe Fawkes is doing some healing.
At the funeral, no one sees Dumbledore’s body. We see Hagrid carry the ‘body’ to the funeral, but it’s covered. We never see the body. As part of the funeral service a fire burns Dumbledore’s body, and when it dwindles, his ‘body’ is in a white marble tomb. Again, we don’t see the body. More importantly, no one lights the fire. Sound familiar? A body bursting into flames on its own? Sounds suspiciously like what we’ve seen Fawkes do several times in the course of the series. And you remember what happens after, right? Fawkes is reborn. And in case we didn’t get this, J.K. Rowling mentions that Harry sees a shape of a phoenix in the smoke. So who do they think they were fooling at the funeral? Everybody it seems.
These clues seem to point to the fact that either Dumbledore is not dead, and/or Snape was acting under Dumbledore’s orders, by killing him (or pretending to kill him). Each one of these clues, by themselves, are not entirely convincing, but when you put them together, they are hard to dismiss. Then again, I may be totally wrong. It’s just hard when the character you love the most is, or appears to be wrong in trusting someone, and dies as a result.
[glow=red,2,300]Beware of Spoilers![/glow]
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of the wonderful, the marvelous, J.K. Rowling!!
I trust Dumbledore completely. Snape killed Dumbledore under Dumbledore’s order. The excuse they used at the end of the book was lame as to why Dumbledore trusted him, and personally, I don’t think that was the real reason. Don’t forget Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, or the conversation Hagrid overheard. And don’t overlook the fact that Dumbledore assigned Snape to the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, when he knows the job is jinxed. Or the fact that when Dumbledore was on the tower, he pleaded with Snape “Please…” he said. There is also some speculation as to whether Dumbledore is dead or not.
We know Fawkes was nearby, because after Dumbledore ‘died’ he began his long lament. We know that Fawkes has helped Dumbledore many times in the past, swallowing the jet of green light that was the killing curse in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He also saved Harry from death by the basilisk in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets .Why didn’t Fawkes save Dumbledore this time? He could have easily done it. I think the fact that he didn’t explains that maybe Dumbledore didn’t want to be saved, and this supports the theory that all along Dumbledore had planned to ‘die’ on that tower that night.
Then there’s what Hagrid overheard and told Harry, that Snape said Dumbledore was taking too much for granted, and that maybe he, Snape, didn’t want to do it anymore. They would be, of course, talking about Dumbledore’s planned murder. Dumbledore tells him that he had said he would do it (i.e. the unbreakable vow Snape swore in Chapter Two) and that’s that.
Don’t forget that Dumbledore assigned Snape the job on the Defense Against the Dark Arts Post, when he knew that the job’s jinxed, not allowing a teacher to stay for more than one year, because of Voldemort not getting the job when he was Tom Riddle. Dumbledore knew about the curse when he assigned Snape the job at the beginning of the year. But he never intended for Snape to stay longer than a year, because at this time, his plan for Snape to kill him and flee must have already been in place.
With this out look, Snape’s demeanor, and Dumbledore’s final words take on a whole new meaning. Dumbledore is pleading, and Snape looks at Dumbledore with hatred before saying “Avada Kedavra”. Remember Harry’s look of revulsion at having to feed Dumbledore the potion, hating himself all the while? Maybe Snape’s look of revulsion and hatred had to do with what he was about to do, not his hatred for Dumbledore. So even though Snape was ‘killing’ Dumbledore on his orders, it still was a very difficult thing for him to do, just like how hard it was for Harry to make Dumbledore drink the potion.
When Dumbledore says “Severus… please”, he isn’t begging for his life, but for his death. Remember way back at the end of Book One? Where Dumbledore says to Harry “That to the well-organized mind, death is the next great adventure” Does this sound like the attitude of someone who will plead to save his life?
Then there is the issue that Dumbledore isn’t really dead, just pretending. Remember how Dumbledore said to Draco Malfoy that he could pretend to kill him, and get him away to safety? This sounds very alike to what some fans think Dumbledore had planned for himself. One of my friends I met on the internet calls this the “Let’s play dead together” scene. Dumbledore even offers to do the same with Malfoy’s mother and father, at least once Malfoy’s father gets out of Azkaban, the wizarding prison.
Also, every other time we’ve seen the killing curse performed, the recipient of it just dies. We see that in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Voldemort kills Frank Bryce, the Riddle’s caretaker, and again at the end of that same book when Cedric Diggory, the other wizard from Hogwarts competing in the Triwizard Tournament, is killed. These people simply just died. However, when Snape performs the same killing curse on Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Dumbledore is blasted violently over the wall and away from the tower. Perhaps Snape said the spell, but said a non-verbal different spell. After all, J.K. Rowling has been telling of non-verbal spells the entire book. Maybe it was to prepare us for this. Thus, Dumbledore isn’t dead, but seriously hurt. Another alternative is that Snape didn’t really mean the killing curse. You might remember that in the previous book, Harry tried to use Crucio, the pain curse, on Bellatrix Lestrange, a Death Eater, and it didn’t work, because he wasn’t going to enjoy the pain.
After the scene of Dumbledore’s murder, we hear the Phoenix Lament. The song is so sad and beautiful. Whatever Fawkes is doing, he’s working pretty hard at it. But are we supposed to believe that Dumbledore’s pet is only echoing everybody’s grief? Are we so easily to forget that phoenix tears have healing powers? Madame Pomfrey, the healer begins crying and gulps loudly, maybe realizing what is going on. It certainly seems as if J.K. Rowling wants us to believe Fawkes is doing some healing.
At the funeral, no one sees Dumbledore’s body. We see Hagrid carry the ‘body’ to the funeral, but it’s covered. We never see the body. As part of the funeral service a fire burns Dumbledore’s body, and when it dwindles, his ‘body’ is in a white marble tomb. Again, we don’t see the body. More importantly, no one lights the fire. Sound familiar? A body bursting into flames on its own? Sounds suspiciously like what we’ve seen Fawkes do several times in the course of the series. And you remember what happens after, right? Fawkes is reborn. And in case we didn’t get this, J.K. Rowling mentions that Harry sees a shape of a phoenix in the smoke. So who do they think they were fooling at the funeral? Everybody it seems.
These clues seem to point to the fact that either Dumbledore is not dead, and/or Snape was acting under Dumbledore’s orders, by killing him (or pretending to kill him). Each one of these clues, by themselves, are not entirely convincing, but when you put them together, they are hard to dismiss. Then again, I may be totally wrong. It’s just hard when the character you love the most is, or appears to be wrong in trusting someone, and dies as a result.
