Slughorn and Dumbledore: possible motive

[ceridwennight]

No: HPFGUIDX 138222

hg:
[snip elements of Slughorn-Dumbledore theory; go upthread to read them]


> REALLY looking forward to your reply, Auria!  And maybe someone 
else 
> will have something to add?...

Ceridwen:
And, where was Fawkes?  I would imagine that if Dumbledore was in 
trouble, Fawkes would rush to his aid.

On the left-handed thing, Dumbledore has been working in spite of an 
injured right hand all year.  He could have been using his left, and 
getting used to it as well.  Using his non-dominant hand might indeed 
decrease his magical reactions, or even his magic if the dominance of 
the hand plays a part.  Like trying to write with the wrong hand.  So 
I'd only add that as a possible.  Just me, though.

The portrait could be Dumbledore, not *of* Dumbledore.  That would be 
a great place to hide.

But, maybe someone else played Dumbledore.  Not Slughorn.  Someone 
who can die and then be reborn.  I don't know if the bird can be 
changed into someone else, but if anyone could do it, Dumbledore 
could.  He taught Transfiguration, and is shown during the series, 
transfiguring different items.  And, he's had decades more practice 
than anyone else we've met in the series, except for that witch who 
administered his O.W.L.s to him, who is still testing students.  If 
the potion in the cave wasn't a deadly poison, then the sinking down 
the wall might be Fawkes coming to the end of his adult cycle 
anyway.  Can't vouch for becoming pale, though.

And, we've already been informed in the books that a powerful wizard 
can project his mind into another being.  Voldemort has done this 
twice: once when he inhabited Nagini to attack Arthur, and once at 
the MoM when he inhabited Harry during his duel with Dumbledore.  
Harry had to say the words Voldemort put in his mouth, IIRC.

So, the scenario goes:  During that five minutes, Dumbledore 
transfigures Faweks, then slips into his mind and guides his actions 
like controlling a robot.  On the tower, that's DD talking through 
Fawkes again.  If there was Legilimency, that would have been the 
mind of DD, too.  I don't think it explains the body being blasted 
straight off the tower, though it might.  I can't see how.

And, being in a human form at death, Fawkes would take longer to 
transform, so he does the flaming phoenix thing when the tomb is 
sealed.  Which would explain the image of the phoenix rising Harry 
(and perhaps others) witnesses.

What it wouldn't explain:
1)Snape being alive.  Unless it does count if he *thought* he was 
killing Dumbledore.  Or, as someone else suggested, it might act like 
a geas, where the assured death takes an ironic twist later on down 
the road.
2)Fawkes' lament.  Though we are never actually shown that it's 
Fawkes.  The song has the power of a phoenix to heal (the spirit, 
here, maybe this is some of that magical music mentioned in another 
post?), so it must be a phoenix.  But Fawkes might have died, been 
reborn, sang his own song, then was transfigured again, buried, and 
burned back to life again.
3)Fawkes would be reborn as a chick, not as a fully-grown phoenix 
taking flight.  But, I'm not up on mythology - when a phoenix finally 
does die for good (do they ever die for good?) what are the signs?  
Or, could this be a blending of mythological types, and Fawkes has 
reached Nirvana?

I like theories.  Slughorn being Dumbledore, or at least taking part 
in a deception as he's one of DD's old and dear friends, appeals, and 
gives yet another reason for his particular part in HBP.  He has 
quite a few roles already.  Utilizing his more Slytherin tendencies 
would make sense.  He could even be the one to transfigure Fawkes, as 
Dumbledore lies near death due to the damage to his hand.  Once 
theories begin, there are so many possibilities!

I still cling to *my* baby, that Dumbledore was already dead, and is 
only temporarily alive due to Harry's double 'rennervate' and his 
plea.  Second favorite possibility, that he was dying already, 
noticeable evidence in the Tower chapter, and the time had passed 
where intervention would be possible.  But, I like your Slughorn 
theory, too.  Maybe our two babies could play together for a while, 
at least until book 7 comes out?

Ceridwen.