*When* did Dumbledore die?

[ornadv]

No: HPFGUIDX 145142

Pippin wrote:
> Dumbledore died of the poison, IMO, some ten or twenty minutes
> after he'd fallen from the tower. He may have been
> conscious long enough to open the locket, he may
> have decided not to call for aid in order to preserve
> Snape's cover and keep the vow from going into effect,
> or because his first priority was to see that Snape and
> Harry got the Death Eaters out of the school. Any
> way you slice it, neither of them is a murderer in this
> scenario. Death by misadventure.

Orna:
Just want to add Harry's first intuition – he badly wanted to get 
Snape and DD together – feeling that that would reverse things. It 
would support your theory, since Snape would be the one who could 
heal DD – perhaps. 
BUT – that means that Snape ran away, while he knew DD's state, and 
him being the only one who can rescue him. So how does that help?
AND – Harry froze – perhaps not because of shock as he thinks, but 
because DD was still alive when  he fell over. OK. But his being 
able to move again – how do you explain it? DD wandless freeing him, 
Snape nonverbally freeing him? 

I don't have an explanation for the fresh blood, but
. As you said, 
it might be a flint, which could be explained away by – the effect 
of the potion – disabling the congenial of blood. 

>lealess
>Snape sees what's going on and flings
>Dumbledore over the edge of the building. Dumbledore floats down, 
>and arranges his death much as Slughorn arranged his debacle by 
>Death Eater, complete with blood (dragon's?).
<snip>
>And Dumbledore may be out of the action, but he may not yet be dead.

Orna:
I like your suggestion very much – combined with Pippin's theory. 
Much more than all those shortcomings, I have suggested. It gives a 
moment of something like happy hope.
But – I do believe DD is dead. Corpse, Funeral, Phoenix song, 
portrait,– all point to DD being dead.
I also think that in a way DD (tried) to help us accept his death – 
from PS he talks about death being a natural thing, in HBP he 
recurrently foreshadows his death in many dialogues. It doesn't help 
much when the clock strikes, but I do believe him dead. 

Orna