cryptic remarks by DD at tower

[Katie]

No: HPFGUIDX 135285

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Chris" <labmystc at y...> wrote:
> > Now -- what's all this "after a fashion" and "yes and no" stuff? 
I 
> don't think DDore's "lost it" 
> > from potion drinking (he is weak, but no evidence that he's 
addled, 
> right up to the point 
> > he gets AK'd). What does he mean that he came back "after a 
> fashion???" He seems to be 
> > there, all right. I think he's definitely dead, none of this 
coming 
> back from the dead stuff 
> > for me -- but that "after a fashion," what the heck is that 
about? 
> And ahat does he mean 
> > by saying "yes and no" when Draco asserts that the plan (display 
> the Dark mark, get 
> > Dumbledore to hurry up to see who'd been killed) worked? If the 
> scene is read at face 
> > value it DEFINITELY worked ... yet Dumbledore's saying that, in 
> some respects, it didn't.
> 
> > Julie H, chicago
> 
>  
Chris said:     You got me thinking now. He had a drink and came 
back, "after a 
> fashion." And he responds to Malfoy's plan working, with "yes and 
> no."(US, 590). So everything Malfoy said is true, DD did have a 
drink 
> and he returned, plus as Malfoy said, the plan worked. The only way 
> DD could answer these questions cryptically is if he NEVER came 
back. 
> I pose to this to all on this list: Through your reading of the 
last 
> few chapters, was there ever a time when DD was out of sight of 
> Harry? Took a drink, plan worked somewhat...I smell a polyjuice 
> potion fraud of Dumbledore!!! Is the Dumbledore that Snape AK'd 
> really Dumbledore? Thoughts?
> 
> Chris



Now Me: (Katie)

Heres the quote, page 590, US hardback edition

----"Now, about tonight," Dumbledore went on, "I am a little puzzled 
how it happened....You knew that I had left the school? But of 
course," he answered his own question, "Rosmerta saw me leaving, she 
tipped you off using your ingenious coins, I'm sure."

"That's right," said Malfoy. "But she said you were just going for a 
drink, you'd be back...."
"Well, I certainly did have a drink....and I came back...after a 
fashion," mumbled Dumbledore. "So you decided to spring a trap for 
me?"

"We decided to put the Dark Mark over the tower and get you to hurry 
up here, to see who'd been killed," said Malfoy. "And it worked!"

"Well....yes and no...." said Dumbledore.------

The way I read the "after a fashion" part is this.

Rosmerta saw Dumbledore head into Hogsmeade that night and assumed 
nothing notable was happening so DD must be off for a drink. He did 
not stop by her Three Broomsticks, so she must have assumed that he 
was headed over to the Hog's Head, the other bar in town.  She then 
alerted Draco by thier charmed coins, telling him all of this. I 
assumed that Draco decided to alert the Death Eaters to enter 
Hogwarts through the  other cabinet in Borgin and Bourkes. Once they 
were in, he set the Dark Mark up in the sky over the astronomy tower, 
hoping that it would be seen from the Hog's Head and that DD would 
have rushed back to the castle straight away.

If you think about it, Harry and Dumbledore must have been gone for a 
very long time, what with climbing down into the cave and getting to 
the center island and drinking the potion and finally getting back 
past the inferi and back to Hogwarts. If Draco was waiting up on the 
astronomy tower for such a time period, I'm sure he probably headed 
back down the tower to find the other Death Eaters fighting the 
Order. He later goes back up to find that Dumbledore has returned. 

Ok to the "after a fashion" part. Well DD definatley had a drink, but 
it wasnt the friendly kind that Rosmerta and Draco were suspecting. 
Its a figure of speech. The "kind" or "fashion' of drink that Draco 
had been imagining, such as a friendly round of beer at a pub, was 
actually a horrible potion, that we cant even say for certain wasn't 
fatal. DD wasn't about to tell Draco why he was really so late in 
returning from a "friendly round of drinks". It had nothing to do 
with DD state of mind, or his state of existance after drinking that 
horrible potion. It was more like a figure of speech to mislead Draco.

And the "yes and no" part, well I took it that no matter if a Dark 
Mark was on top of the tower or not, DD would have raced back to the 
castle anyway, especially if the potion was fatal. There just so 
happened to be a Dark Mark above the astronomy tower that caused DD 
to race to the top of the tower instead of to the front door. In 
actuality he raced back to the castle to find Snape for an antidote 
or what not, and he wasn't going to give Draco all of the credit of 
leading him there, thats why he answered with "yes and no".

IMO, I do not think you need to read much more into it than that. 

 Katie