Dumbledore's wounded hand

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 136687

 

Any speculation as to why DD, with his vast magical skill and  the
super healing powers of a phoenix nearby, left his burned hand in  that
condition?

Wrexx





Julie says:
I assume phoenixes can't heal everything. Fawkes didn't show  up 
to help Dumbledore on the Tower either. So some curses must be 
impervious to phoenix tears. 
 
I don't know about anyone else, but I was getting kind of annoyed
with the continual mention of Dumbledore's blackened hand.  I
too thought "Why doesn't he fix that stupid thing, it's gross!"  But
I don't think he could fix it. It occurred to me once DD died  that
his hand was a symbol of his impending death. (So was the
fact that he fervently started teaching Harry about Tom's past 
and about the horcruxes, after five years of a basically hands off
approach, I think. And as for putting Snape in the cursed  DADA
position, well that decision fits a "limited time left" theory too.)
 
I don't know if Dumbledore was actually dying throughout the book,
but I do think the curse could only be stopped before it did  further
damage, not reversed. Thus DD's hand was basically dead, though
the rest of him continued to survive. Perhaps the second curse in
the cave potion undid any possibility of continued survival. That 
would explain why DD seemed to be fading fast on the Tower. And
it may be that the lake water Harry splashed on DD's face had the
added effect of setting in motion a transformation into an inferi, a
reason for DD to "choose" death on his own terms, i.e., plead with
Snape to deliver the killing blow before the inferi transformation 
could take full effect.
 
We never got enough concrete information to prove any of these
points, and deliberately so on JKR's part. We'll have towait for 
Book 7 for that proof (or disproof). But this is the explanation
that works best for me. 
 
Julie 


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