Why Harry Had to Watch (was "Dumbledore’s flawed plan")

[Matt]

No: HPFGUIDX 136067

--- Kathy wrote:
>> If the potion had killed [Dumbledore], it would have 
>> been a truly pointless death, which is why he wanted 
>> Snape brought to him immediately. If Draco killed him, 
>> it would also have done nothing to imptove the situation 
>> for the Order. Only by having Snape kill him could 
>> [Dumbledore] place an Order member right beside Voldemort.

--- "kiricat4001" (Marianne) replied:
> I suppose, but wouldn't he have thought it through to the 
> point that he tells some senior Order member that this 
> might happen?  Now the only evidence the Order has is DD's 
> death by Snape's AK . . . .  So, Snape, if he is indeed 
> still on the side of the angels, is cut off from his 
> fellow angels because they think he's a murdering turncoat. 
> Snape will have to do some fancy footwork to make anyone in 
> the Order believe him.

Snape is no angel, but not everyone working against Voldemort is an
angel, just as not every bad person is a Death Eater.  Clearly if
Snape is still working against Voldemort he is a sleeper.  Like his
erstwhile roommate ("Pettigrew owes his life to you. You have sent
Voldemort a deputy who is in your debt . . . .  [A]nd I'm much
mistaken if Voldemort wants his servant in the debt of Harry Potter."
-- PA, ch. 22).  

Still, for those who adopt the view that Snape and Dumbledore were
acting pursuant to some plan (whether concrete or free-flowing), the
resulting deception of Harry is probably the most difficult aspect of
the scene to explain.  Why was Harry forced to watch the man he
trusted least kill the man he trusted most, believing that it was
murder, if indeed it was not?  

There are other aspects of the scene -- and those that follow -- that
are more difficult for Turncoat!Snape advocates to explain. 
Dumbledore's pleading, for instance: it is well-established that he
would not plead with anyone to save his life, so what exactly is he
doing at the end there with Snape.  The best attempt at an explanation
I have heard is that he was trying to ask Snape not to "scar" Draco
(and/or Harry) by murdering Dumbledore in front of him, but that
strikes me as a bit weak.  And Snape's reaction to Harry's jab about
cowardice is so much easier to understand if you believe that Snape is
being forced to hide something from Harry that would prove his bravery.

But let me return to the more difficult task of trying to explain why
Dumbledore would have allowed/required Harry to observe the scene.  I
think there are a number of possible explanations, and while surely
none will satisfy everybody, it may be that each will appeal to a
few-body's.

1) No other alternative: things were just falling apart; best DD could
do was ensure that Harry didn't interrupt the drama.  

2) To cement Snape's position with Voldemort and permit him to fulfill
his purpose as a sleeper, Dumbledore needed a witness to tell the
world that Snape had killed him; he didn't know who else would end up
on the tower, but could ensure that Harry was there and able to bear
witness.

3) Having Harry see Snape deliver the coup de grace was regrettable,
but necessary in order for Harry also to see Draco's change of heart.
 Dumbledore thought it so important for Harry to see the latter that
it was worth poisoning him against Snape.

4) Along the lines of (2), but having Harry deliver the news ensures
that Snape will be blamed and lays the best groundwork for Snape's
"deep cover."  Harry is sure to observe the situation and report on it
in the manner least favorable to Snape.

5) As Dumbledore has pointed out, Harry has a choice whether to pursue
Voldemort or to give up, flee, go into hiding, etc.  Watching
Dumbledore die, betrayed, at the hands of a Death Eater is the last
step in molding Harry into a zealot who cannot accept failure in the
quest to defeat Voldemort.

I readily admit that none of these explanations is perfectly
satisfactory to me.  All of them rely (as must any explanation of
these events) on the assumption that Harry's understanding of Snape's
mission is not critical to that mission, but none of them provide any
explanation as to why not.  Still, each has some degree of credibility.

(1) has to struggle in addition with Dumbledore's historic [double
meaning intended] ability to anticipate how a situation will play out
and manipulate it so that everyone is in a perfect position to do what
s/he must.  Possibly Dumbledore should be permitted a bit of slippage
given his weakened state.  If we really want to indulge the "weakened
Dumbledore" theory, we could even take a step further back and posit
that Dumbledore did not intend for Harry to observe the entire scene;
it just played out that way.  (See for example hickengruendler's views
in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/135897).  These
explanations are difficult because they are simply inconsistent with
our prior observations of Dumbledore's tactical genius.

(2) is more in keeping with Dumbledore's usual mastery of the
situation, although as has been pointed out it assumes that Snape's
mission will not require anyone on the "right" side to know the true
arrangement.  This explanation also casts Dumbledore as a utilitarian
-- willing to use Harry to his ends despite the negative effect on
Harry's psyche -- to a degree that may be uncomfortable to those who
view Dumbledore as a moral perfectionist. 

(3) is a more narrow explanation.  Possibly it does the best job of
offering a sympathetic reason for what Harry is forced to go through.
 It ought to be more appealing to those who believe that a change of
heart by Draco will play a major role in book 7.

(4) is more cynical than those before it, but in keeping with some
views of Dumbledore as less of a kindly old schoolteacher and more of
a crafty war general (albeit on the side of the right and the good). 
This would be coupled with the view (already expressed by some) that
if Harry knew the truth, Voldemort might read his mind, which would
blow Snape's cover.  I agree with Marianne that the latter argument
loses some force given the highly sensitive task that has now been
delegated to Harry (destroying the horcruxes).  But although that task
is vital, keeping it secret from Voldemort may not be as critical as
it is to keep Snape's mission secret.  If others are correct in
theorizing that Voldemort has "maxed out" his horcruxes at seven, due
to a fascination with that number, the main risk in his discovering
the mission is that he may fortify the remaining horcruxes, or set
traps for Harry involving them.  Those steps (which VM might take as a
precaution in any event) only make it more important for Harry to have
some "inside" assistance, whether he knows about it or not.

(5) abandons any pretense of nobility in Dumbledore's treatment of
Harry, and is more in line with a "MAGIC DISHWASHER" view of
Dumbledore: a utilitarian puppetmaster, concerned fundamentally with
the broad social consequences of the struggle against Voldemort,
rather than with what befalls any individual, even Harry.  See, for
example:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/39662
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/79390
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/81010

-- Matt