Heroes and Not - What should Snape Have Done?.

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 145264

Sherry:
> i believe that Harry notes that Dumbledore is sounding stronger
> toward the end of the conversation with Draco.  Excuse me, if I'm
> not remembering correctly, but i've only read the tower scene once
> so far.  Dumbledore is also the greatest wizard alive, possibly of
> all time.  i cannot believe that he was incapable of summoning
> back his wand with a cute little nonverbal spell, and effectively 
> dealing with the death eaters who were on the tower.

Jen: This is the part of the tower I keep coming back to and 
wondering about. Dumbledore is weak from the potion, but the Dark 
Mark acts as a stimulant on him and he races with Harry back to 
Hogwarts. He flies immediately to the highest tower right under the 
mark and asks Harry to leave and go find Snape. 

When Draco appears, Dumbledore loses his wand casting two spells at 
once according to Harry. Then never at any point during the rest of 
the tower sequence does he attempt to get it back. Even in the 
moment where he appears to be facing death at the hands of the four 
DE's, he doesn't try to fight. He knows if they kill him Harry will 
unfreeze, but he doesn't nonverbally accio his wand, summon Fawkes 
or do anything overt to help himself or Harry. All he appears to be 
doing is trying to stay alive as long as possible

How to explain his actions? There are two possibilities I see:

1) He is truly weakened by the potion as Harry believes and is 
incapable of using magic to help himself. The last effort to get 
back to Hogwarts spent his life and he is dying very quickly, 
hanging on only to finish the important business of leading Draco to 
understand he still has a choice no matter how dire the 
circumstances. Once that mission is accomplished, he is incapable of 
doing more and turns his and Harry's fate over to the other people 
present on the tower.

It's clear Dumbledore is NOT well, that he is weak and using 
tremendous effort to stay alive. He uses his last effort and 
strength helping Draco and then faces the four DE's who appear. But 
what about Harry? Dumbledore is all about making hard choices and I 
don't for a minute blame him for using his last strength to help 
Draco see the right path. That's who he is. But he's spent 16 
*years* attempting to safeguard Harry's life and all the people 
Harry will save by defeating Voldemort; he's guided him in the role 
fate dealt him and as he himself said, grown to love Harry. I can't 
believe no matter how weak Dumbledore was he wouldn't be trying to 
protect both Draco and Harry. So, that leads me to another option:

2) Dumbledore sees the Dark Mark and knows it is meant for him. He 
doesn't know how Draco could possibly get DE's into Hogwarts but his 
worst fear has happened. He flies directly to the tower and orders 
Harry away from him, telling him to put on his Invisibility Cloak, 
talk to no one and go get Severus. In this scenario, he believes by 
the time Snape and Harry return, he will either be dead or will have 
found a way to safeguard Draco and defeat the DE's who are after 
him. In the process both Harry and Snape will be safe, both from 
themselves interestingly enough ;): Harry from his saving people 
thing leading him to danger and Snape from the Unbreakable he took.

Now this scenario fits better with who Dumbledore is, I believe. He 
is about protecting others even at the cost of his own life, and 
this plan would take into account all the different variables in 
play: He directs the DE's away from the others and to himself by 
landing on the tower, he ensures Harry's relative safety and he 
keeps Snape and his Unbreakable away from whatever choice Draco 
might make.

Then Draco arrives and since I believe the above the scenario, there 
must be something Dumbledore is doing on the tower to save both 
Draco and Harry besides using his wand. He must hear what Harry 
hears, that the Order members are unable to get into the tower to 
help. I think it very likely he deduces instantaneously what Harry 
figures out later on, that only someone with a Dark Mark will be 
able to enter the tower. In my mind the only logical explanation is 
he is trying to stay alive long enough for Snape to appear. And from 
there personal opionin reigns--Dumbledore either made another 
mistake that night putting his trust in Snape or Snape did what 
Dumbledore expected he would. Either way, Harry and Draco got out 
alive and Draco apparently is considering his options.

Jen R.