A Somewhat Pollyanna-ish Look at Dumbledore's Death

[msbeadsley]

No: HPFGUIDX 138567

> > sandy wrote:
> > of possibility that Snape's "AK" on top of the tower was
> > nothing more than the WW equivalent of special effects, and that
 
> zgirnius:
> (so that Snape would do the "special effects") why do you prefer to 
> have DD actually kill himself (stop preserving his life, to more 

My way, there was no murder OR suicide. In this scenario, Dumbledore
was just finally overcome by the effects of the cave potion, and/or
the ring curse, and/or old age, and he merely controlled the *timing*
of his final moments; he did not kill himself. There's a difference
between eking out one's last moments usefully then cooperating with
the inevitable and *killing yourself*, which is suicide. (I have had a
couple of ailing pets wait until my hands were on them to breathe
their last, and I do not consider that they committed suicide; I have
also heard of terminally ill patients "waiting" until their family was
present to pass.)

> zgirnius:
> Hmmm. I think the staged UV is even more problematic than your
> first solution. Based on the description of the Vow-making process 
> that we are given, it would seem that the person doing the magic 
> (whose wand is causing the red fiery bonds to appear) is Bellatrix.

Maybe Snape's instructions to Bella on how to do it are bogus: "You'll
need your wand; you'll need to move closer." But I honestly don't
think that's it. I think Snape is prompting her to take action rather
than telling her what action to take. So...okay. Snape didn't engineer
the deception; he just sort of fell into it: read on.

> I really can't see her as being in on any such deception. I find it
> very hard to believe she is anything but the fanatically loyal DE 
> she has always seemed to be.

I agree that Bella, like Renfield (from Dracula), has little volition
aside from the will of the Dark Lord. (But I want to see Bella eat
bugs...)

> Have you already worked out a way Snape would stage this? And for 
> whose benefit is he staging it? (It would seem Bella would be the 
> obvious person to stage it *for*, again...)

The magic during the U.V. seems "off" to me: the wand is Bella's, but
the intent seems to be everyone else's. From the book: 'Bella watched,
her wand upon their clasped hands, her eyes wide.' (She is pretty
clearly still surprised, even awed.) Narcissa speaks, questions, and
Snape answers. Where else have we seen magic where the motive energy
or intent behind it was not the wand-holder's? But I don't think this
is relevant, either, except as something that occurred to me that I
wanted to mull over. (Examining ports in a storm, of course.)

I think the answer here has been formerly posted (I don't know by who,
sorry), at least in part: that the crucial bit of information in this
scene is the timing of the twitch of Severus's hand. It happens right
after Narcissa says, '"And, should it prove necessary...if it seems
Draco will fail..."'. This moment is the one when Snape has the
impulse to pull his away. (It's how I interpret the "twitch," anyway.)
I think Snape is expecting the words that follow to be specific and
devastating: "...will you kill that interfering old man Albus
Dumbledore?" or "...will you kill that young upstart Harry Potter?". 

What he hears instead, "will you carry out the deed that the Dark Lord
has ordered Draco to perform?" means that, while he has convinced the
ladies that he knows what "the deed" is, he is essentially off the
hook (and can leave his hand in place and mouth his agreement). Of
course, Cissy and Bella and Draco, later, know what he has apparently
agreed to. (And Draco thinks Snape is trying to steal his thunder,
which goes well with the notion of the lightning struck tower, but is
one more indication of what a callow child Draco actually still is.)

Snape will spend the year trying to figure out what it was that he was
supposed to have sworn to do, and fail. He and Dumbledore will discuss
possibilities, but it will not become clear to them until later.
(Dumbledore probably realizes when Katie and Ron narrowly escape
deaths meant for him.) Eventually, Snape will come to find Draco
holding a wand over Dumbledore atop the tower and assembled Death
Eaters pointing out Draco's inadequacies and realize...

And at this point, he might almost as well be bound by that Vow. Snape
still has to behave as if the U.V. is what drives him, because his
all-important deep cover is still the most valuable thing (aside from
Harry) the side of light has. His expression of hatred and revulsion
may be the only sign of his utter denial, while he realizes what
Dumbledore already knows: at this point in time, even with help from
Snape and/or Fawkes, Dumbledore is done for. There is no more time.
(Dumbledore suspects this may turn out to be the case and immobilizes
 Harry. There is nothing *this* boy can do; he has to be preserved to
play out his role later. And, if straits are not so dire as expected
in a few minutes, releasing Harry will be trivial.)

Time. For Dumbledore's life and Snape's life as he knows it, it's all
run out at once, like the rubies from the Griffindor hourglass. All
Snape can do is play his part, then round up Draco and the Death
Eaters and say goodbye to Hogwarts and the last fifteen years. He
departs--not for parts unknown, but known too well. (He could always
have gone back to teaching Potions...)

(Blather: who ever heard of a contract that says "under
conditions known to all present parties"? The purpose of contracts is
to make sure everybody knows *what* the expectations are as well as
binding all parties to follow them. At the very least, contracts say
something like, "per the stipulations set forth in section E,
paragraph 4 of the agreement titled..." which means that all parties
have a common reference point. We never see that all three parties to
he U.V. actually have one with regards to that final third.)

(More blather: the idea that the Vow turned into a sham because
Narcissa was too afraid of the Dark Lord to, er, eschew obfuscation
(avoid confusion) is absolutely delicious to me. Ah, first Voldemort
is too scary for anyone to use his name; then he is too scary for
anyone to clearly repeat his *orders*?!? It sounds outrageous, but
it's absolutely true, isn't it? Hey, what if the name thing is due to
uncertainty about how to pronounce it? "If I forget to leave off that
final "t" sound he'll Crucio! me...")

> Always fun to read new speculations!

Fun to write, too!

Sandy aka msbeadsley