Who killed Dumbledore? Karmic justice and literary devices

[kibakianakaya]

No: HPFGUIDX 145285

Like many others, I was struck by the parallels between Harry's 
reaction to feeding Dumbledore the potion and Snape's reaction to 
AK'ing the Headmaster.  Looking at the hypothesis that Harry 
killed (or contributed to the death of) Dumbledore with the green 
poison, it seems to me that JKR's intent is to show how very similar 
Harry and Snape really are.  I'm coming from the DDM!Snape POV.  

If Snape is to be of any use to Harry in Book 7, they will have to 
reconcile somehow, at least to the point where they can talk.  Harry 
has to have a basis to understand Snape's action.  What better basis 
than to realize how close he himself (Harry that is) came to killing 
Dumbledore simply because Dumbledore asked him for his word and he 
willingly gave it.  This situation gives Harry the ability to 
understand and ultimately forgive Snape for killing Dumbledore.  
(Whether Snape actually killed Dumbledore or not is irrelevant to my 
argument right here - the crux of the matter is that Harry believes 
Snape killed Dumbledore.)

If Harry in any way contributed to to Dumbledore's death, it makes 
the lines between good and evil just a little more blurry and, in my 
opinion, more realistic.  Yes, Harry is a good person and acted in 
good faith in the cave.  But perhaps his actions result in something 
he wants no part of. 

The way out is for Harry to forgive Snape and, if he is to live with 
himself, to forgive himself.  I think that is where JKR is leading 
us. 

"kibakianakaya"