Editorial
Kanais
This is an editorial that I am currently writing for Mugglenet's
editorial section. There will be a FAQ section afterwards, so please
submit questions and/or comments and I will be sure to put them up with
a credit to your name! (I wrote this at 1:30 in the morning, so bear
with me, please)
With everyone talking about the 6th book, I was hyped up as well. I got
my hands on a copy of "Half Blood Prince" and immediately started
reading. It was so good! I got to the last chapter, and pretty much
started bawling when I learned about Dumbledore's death, and the fact
that Snape was the one to kill him. Well, about five weeks later, after
the shock wore off, I was reading an editorial that said that
Dumbledore faked his death. This put me into a frenzy. I immediately
started thinking up all the possible ways that he could have stayed
alive. Now I was of the mindset that he had died, and time to move on.
But then it hit me. Snape is supposed to be a good guy, which means he
doesn't want Dumbledore to die either. I thought: What if it was all a
setup?
So here are my points of theory.
Dumbledore isn't dead, which shows that Snape is not a Deatheater
Dumbledore needed to continue helping Harry with the Horcrux situation,
but in order to fully be able to help without Voldemort's knowledge, he
had to fake his death.
Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard alive. He could surely fake his
own death convincingly.
Dumbledore asks Snape, "Severus...please...". This is perhaps one of
the most controversial lines in the entire book. It can be interpreted
in so many ways, but I take it to mean, "Severus, please do this, you
have to kill me.." meaning he had to continue with the setup.
Dumbledore and Harry get up to the Tower, and while Harry is under the
Invisibility cloak, Dumbledore immobilizes him. Why? For the simple
reason that he wanted Harry to think him dead, to tell everyone that he
had been killed. That knowledge would spread, all the way to Voldemort
himself. As an added bonus, if Harry were questioned via Occlumensy or
Veritaserum, or even shown in a Pensieve, all he can verify is that
Snape killed Dumbledore when Draco couldn't. This would protect Harry
and any suspicions would die down, since Harry and Dumbledore are very
close and share knowledge.
Now here is the somewhat tricky part: retelling the story from
Dumbledore's POV.
All we see is Harry's, but Dumbledore's is vital in this theory.
"I can help you, Draco." "No, you can't," said Malfoy, his wand shaking
very badly indeed. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'd kill me.
I've got no choice." "He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come
over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than
you can possibly imagine." (HBP, USA pg 591)
Dumbledore then offers to expand his mother in the protection, and even
Lucius when he gets out of Azkaban.
This part is very interesting. Draco doesn't take him up on the offer,
but Dumbledore is saying he has ways that could make it appear that
Draco died when he really hadn't. This sounds just like what Dumbledore
is going to do for himself.
When the rest of the Deatheaters (plus Snape) come in, Dumbledore isn't
even worried. This is just like him to be this way, but knowing that he
won't be dead helps ease the tension. When Dumbledore says that
climactic line, "Severus...please..." (HBP pg 595) he could be saying
it for Harry's benefit, but also communicating via Occlumensy to Snape.
Snape is a good Leglimens, but he can let others in when he wants to.
Dumbledore told him what to do and which spell to use, so that the
Unbreakable Vow he took with Narcissa won't kill him. Then Dumbledore
goes over the ledge, we see (from Harry's POV) his dead body, and then
the funeral.
Ok, that was a bit sketchy. There are so many loopholes and missing
links to it. Here are some finely detailed parts to help fix it up.
The Unbreakable Vow
Well, it is unbreakable, I'll give you that. The entirety of the
vow is never said, though...Look at this passage from the second
chapter of HBP:
"And, should it prove necessary...if it seems Draco will fail..."
whispered Nercissa (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." (HBP pg 36-37)
It only says "the deed that the Dark Lord has ordered Draco to
perform". It doesn't say to kill Dumbledore, although that would ruin
the book if it did. So what if we assume that the "deed" is to say
Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore? That would be assumed it would kill him.
What exactly did Snape use on Dumbledore, if he's still alive?
Well, it obviously doesn't say, but let's see the effects of the
spell, shall we?
An Avada Kedavra spell just kills them. Every time someone uses it, the
victim falls over dead.
"He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in
the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light,
a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumbled. He was dead before he hit
the floor." (GoF pg 15)
"From high above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the
spare." A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words
to the night: "Avada Kedavra!" A blast of green light blazed through
Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to ground beside
him. Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was
dead." (GoF pg 638)
Ok, they just fall to the ground, and they die. Normal, right? But when
Snape uses it on Dumbledore, he doesn't just fall, he is "blasted into
the air".
"Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada
Kedavra!" A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and
hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror never
left him; silently he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted
into the air. For a split second, he seemed to hang suspended beneath
the shining skull, and then he slowly fell backward, like a great rag
doll, over the battlements and out of sight." (HBP pg 596)
This is not normal at all. In fact, if you think about it, he was
knocked back. What other spell do we know of that knocks someone back?
Well, the most likely thing that comes to mind is Expelliarmus, also
known as the knockback jinx. Hmmm... Coincidence? I think not. And
look! Snape knows how to use it! He has done it before! Remember the
duel with Lockhart?
"Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at
their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash
of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew
backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to
sprawl on the floor." (CoS pg 190)
Ok, this doesn't change the fact that Snape said Avada Kedavra. But
remember all the importance of nonverbal spells in this book? Both in
all the classes, and in the DA. Snape must have done a nonverbal
Expelliarmus, and then just said Avada Kedavra. It would result in a
flash of green light, plus the full effects of Expelliarmus.
Ok, this makes sense except for the fact that Avada Kedavra isn't
called the Killing Curse for nothing! But if you look back, you will
see what Professor Moody pointed out in GoF:
"Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it
-- you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say
the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed." (GoF pg 217)
This shows that you have to know how to use the magic to perform the
spell, but Snape already knows that. He is quite powerful to begin
with. But in OotP, we learn more about it, when Harry fights Bellatrix
in the Department of Mysteries.
"Hatred rose in Harry such that he had never known before. He flung
himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed "Crucio!" Bellatrix
screamed. The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not
writhe or shriek with pain as Neville had -- she was already on her
feet again ... "Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you,
boy?" she yelled. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really
want to cause pain -- to enjoy it ..." (OotP pg 810)
So if Snape didn't mean what he said, if he didn't want to put
Dumbledore in pain, then wouldn't the curse be said, the Oath be
fulfilled, and yet Dumbledore live? Makes sense to me.
Oh, and another thing. How could Dumbledore fake his death?
Well, if you look again at page 596 "For a split second, he seemed to
hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he slowly fell
backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of
sight." you will see that this section is a double whammy. First, it
says that it looked like he was suspened in air, and then slowly fell
backward. If he was slowed down, it could be by an nonverbal spell by
either Snape or Dumbledore. "Petrificus Totalus" (in the movie) is what
Dumbledore says to slow Harry's fall on the Quidditch pitch. If you
recall, he didn't even use his wand. His wand was knocked out of his
hand earlier by Draco, remember? He could still perform the spell
without his wand.
The second part says that he fell "like a great rag doll". I don't know
if this helps any, but my theory is that he at some point either
switched his body with a fake yet lifelike dummy, and then apparated,
or moved his soul out of his body and went into something else, like a
Horcrux or something. This could possibly be Fawkes, but I am unsure,
and there is not anything in canon to prove it. I go better with the
first idea. I think if he's gonna help Harry later, he would want his
real body back to do it in.
Ok, so if this is true, then what purpose does this passage serve?
"Hagrid was walking slowly up the aisle between the chairs. He was
crying quite silently, his face gleaming with tears, and in his arms,
wrapped in purple velvet spangled with golden stars, was what Harry
knew to be Dumbledore's body." (HBP pg 643)
Makes sense. From Harry's POV, it is as if Dumbledore's body, wrapped
in the sheet, or whatever it was, is being carried by Hagrid to the
table/tomb. But it never says it is Dumbledore under the sheet. We
never see the body, so how do we know it was him?
Well.. that concludes my theory. Please R/R !! I will have this up for
about a month, and then I will submit it (along with the faq) to
Mugglenet. Please don't get all farfetched, but if your idea has some
merit, I will most likely put it in. If there are multiple versions of
the same question, I will put in the one that is the most developed
idea. Oh, and if you want to be credited, put in your name and age.
That's all!
Kanais
In the section about his fall, we know that a bind can only be released
when the person dies, or someone releases it. Well, Snape couldn't have
done it, he doesn't know of Harry's presence. Dumbledore must have
remembered to release the spell holding Harry.
Again, please R/R!
Kanais
reading people's minds...
~Triton
Hm....good point there. Now that I think of it, I don't know quite how,
but it is more of a one-sided conversation.. check this out, from OotP:
"His (Snape's) cold, dark eyes were boring into Harry's, who met his
gaze unflinchingly, concentrating hard on what he had seen in his
dream, willing Snape to read his mind, to understand..." (OotP, pg
744-745, USA)
And down the page, this one:
"Snape looked back at Harry, who stared at him, frantic to communicate
without words.
"Voldemort's got Sirius in the Department of Mysteries," he thought
desperately, "Voldemort's got Sirius---"
(OotP, pg 745, USA)
These show that you can communicate, of a sort, by using Occlumensy.
However, it is one-sided, and unless the person you are trying to talk
to actually uses it on you, you can't do much about it. Does that help?