Prophecy, Snape, a possible Dumbledore Horcrux... and what about Scrimgeour?

[Elizabeth Dalton]

No: HPFGUIDX 134718

I was so surprised when the library called me Monday to say I'd gotten 
to the top of the list for a copy of HBP that I didn't arrange to pick 
it up until Tuesday, because I assumed it was a different book... after 
I'd ordered my Ancient Forest Friendly copy from Canada, and was 
patiently waiting! Finished it in two evenings, been digesting ever 
since. Worth the wait, of course. I had expected we'd lose Dumbledore in 
this book, and after the second chapter, I was pretty sure Snape was 
going to get stuck with the dirty deed -- I didn't think Malfoy would 
manage, despite his tough talk. But there were plenty of surprises, too. 
(Tonks and Lupin???) Fred and George moving into providing defense 
supplies was a nice twist. All in all, a good read. And of course, 
plenty of new questions hanging:

ceej suggested that Snape must have heard the whole prophecy. Earlier 
Cheryl suggested that in fact, the prophecy is about Snape himself, as 
he was the one who was "approaching" at the time.

I've been wondering about this since we heard the prophecy at the end of 
OotP... and also, since the middle of HBP, whether even Dumbledore heard 
the whole thing, if there was a bit of ruckus in the middle of it. Those 
ellipses (...) in the middle of the recording of the prophecy have 
always bothered me, and I notice Dumbledore didn't have Harry dive right 
into that memory, but merely played it as a hologram, which might make 
blanks or editing less noticeable. For a while, I thought the whole 
prophecy was referring to Snape, but then his birthday is in January, 
apparently... but what if the prophecy is about two different people? 
What if Snape is the one who can defeat the Dark Lord, but Harry, born 
as the seventh month dies, is important (and marked, etc.) for a 
different reason?

Then again, I'm pretty firmly in the "Dumbledore's faith in Snape will 
be vindicated" camp. Dumbledore has seemed so certain, and he was plenty 
suspicious of Tom Riddle, so he's not taken in by every evil charmer who 
comes along. Perhaps he had bottled memories of Snape's to refer to, or 
an Unbreakable Vow (with Hagrid as the Binder? Is this the ONE secret 
he's actually managed to keep?) Not that it matters. Snape could be 
completely self-serving and still be the one to do in Voldemort. I just 
happen to think Snape is too complicated to be simply a bad guy at this 
point. He and Harry will always hate each other, but that doesn't mean 
Snape is without redeeming value. I agree with others who have pointed 
out that even as he exits, he's teaching Harry. There's something very 
complicated going on there.

The interesting thing is that based on the TLC/Mugglenet interview, 
Trelawney apparently could have a complete memory of the prophecy, 
accessable by pensieve, even though she doesn't remember her prophecies 
when she actually produces them. Then again, Dumbledore's memory should 
also have been complete, even if he was distracted by disturbances at 
the door at the time. But he said he had told Harry everything he 
"knows." Hmm....

I have a theory to suggest about the potion in the cave, which I didn't 
find on a search (sorry, I just couldn't possibly keep up with posts 
this week). Sure, Dumbledore would never willingly make a Horcrux -- not 
using the method described to Harry. But what the potion puts Dumbledore 
through is clearly horrific. Whether it's watching Voldemort kill 
people, or just watching his own worst nightmares, e.g. the students 
being killed, Harry or his parents being killed, etc., Dumbledore would 
rather be killed himself than live through it. One might, in fact, 
describe the experience as one of having his soul ripped apart. Notice 
that he describes his return to Hogwarts as "more or less." Maybe he's 
less half a soul? He's certainly greatly debilitated. Did that tearing 
of his soul inadvertently make a Horcrux? Is that why his portrait isn't 
very chatty? Was that his Patronus flying away at the end? Could that 
happen if he were really dead? (But would Fawkes have been mourning if not?)

But if there is now a Dumbledore Horcrux around (perhaps the locket that 
Harry has), Dumbledore isn't going to want it to stay that way. He would 
not want to be existing anywhere with half a soul. He may be able to 
advise Harry in some way through the Horcrux ("Use the Force, Luke..."), 
but he'll want the Horcrux destroyed, if not immediately, at least as 
soon as Voldemort is defeated. Tossing the Horcrux through the Veil 
should suffice, I would think, especially if Dumbledore wants to go. I 
could just see him (or his spirit form), smiling at Harry, waving 
goodbye, and calmly striding through the arch to face the next mystery.

Miscellaneous other questions:

Nobody else has a clock like Molly's. Where did she get it? Did she make 
it? Did Arthur -- with his fascination for Muggle implements?

Who is Dumbledore's heir? (Maybe he left everything in trust to the school.)

Anybody else notice Trelawney is getting pretty good with those cards-- 
even if she isn't paying attention?

What would Kreacher have told Harry if Harry and Dobby had let him talk?

Now here's the question that's really bothering me: we were given a 
description of the "half-blood prince" way back when from Rowling 
herself, and it matches the description on p16 of the American 
printing... of Rufus Scrimgeour. Again, I searched through the archives, 
and I don't see anything about this. Did I miss it? Why were we told 
Scrimgeour is the Prince if Snape is? Usually JKR doesn't out and out 
lie to us. Are there two Princes? Is Snape doing even MORE undercover 
work? It boggles the mind.

It's going to be a long two years.

Elizabeth