Dumbledore going to die?

[ingachristsuperstar <ingachristsuperstar@yahoo.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 52998

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "grover_the_weird <
grover_the_weird at y...>" <grover_the_weird at y...> wrote:
> JKR keeps describing Albus Dumbledore as "weary" and 
"tired".  Of 
> course, people automatically assume he's really old which he 
probably 
> is hence the really long beard and white hair.
> 
> So I'm just wondering, when is Dumbledore going to die? the 
5th book? 
> Probably not in my view, since there's still the 6th and 7th book 
to 
> go.
> 
> Then the beloved Harry Potter will have to fight Voldemort 
without 
> the headmaster's help, and that doesn't seem right until the 
final 
> battle. 
> 
> What do you think? Should Dumbledore die to help Harry 
realize that 
> without a lot of help from others, he's just a wizard and not 
much 
> else? 
> 
> [Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Harry-The-Prophesized-Boy-
Who-
> Saves-The-Wizarding-World.]
> 
> -Clarity

I'm pretty sure he'll die at the end of Book 6.  My certainty is of 
course not based on my amazing prophetic powers but on the 
idea that Dumbledore dying can't be a small incident - it must be 
a climax.  And the most logical place for this climax would be 
Book 6, leaving Book 7 in which Harry must do things on his own 
(or without Dumbledore at any rate).  

I don't think he could possibly die in Book 7, since the climax 
there will inevitably be Harry's defeat of Voldemort.  I really can't 
see Dumbledore as a part of that.

And I don't think it could be Book 5 either, since that would be too 
early.  It would leave Harry vulnerable for too long, narratively 
speaking.  Inevitably Voldemort will attack Hogwarts after 
Dumbledore's death, but I don't think he'd just wait about for 2 
whole books to do it.

But this does bring up an issue I've been thinking about a little.  
The references to Dumbledore's advancing age could have 
significance other than when he'll die (since we know he won't 
die of natural causes anyway).  I'm thinking the references might 
also be there to stress the age of the "Old Crowd".

We only know the names of a few of them, but it seems that 
three out of the five mentioned (Dumbledore, Mundungus, and 
Arabella) are quite old.  Only Sirius and Lupin are young, and 
they each have their problems anyway.  I'm starting to wonder 
how effective they are going to be in the upcoming struggle and 
whether that will play a significant role in the plot.

-Ing