[HPforGrownups] Re: Dumbledore's Death -- 13 to a table defense

[yellows at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 76746

I had a thought this morning about the 13-to-a-table issue. 

Trelawney tells us that, when 13 people sit at one table, the first to rise will be the first to die.

In OoP, 13 people sit at a table and Sirius is the first to rise and the first to die. 

Yet, in GoF, 13 people sit at a table and DD is the first to rise while CEDRIC is the first to die.

But I've thought of something -- GoF is the book in which JKR gives us quite a lot of references to DD's old age. She seems to go on and on about it toward the end, calling him "old and weary" (pg. 604, UK paperback), and, even during The Pensieve chapter, "it struck Harry suddenly how very old he was looking" (pg. 520, UK paperback). 

What if DD was *supposed* to die during this book? What if he has grown very, very old by now and is starting to show it? What if his life couldn't hold out much longer than The Pensieve chapter -- BEFORE Cedric meets his own end? 

But DD senses his own death coming and knows that Harry still needs his help. DD can't leave Harry alone so early in the game, so DD cheats death. Perhaps he calls his old friend, Nicolas, as asks for some of the Elixir to give him just three more years. 

In that case, DD *should* have been the first to die, but because he beat the system, he was an exception to the rule.

:)

Brief Chronicles