What is the role of the Dragon Blood in the series? WAS: Re: CHAPDISC: HBP4

[hg_skmg]

No: HPFGUIDX 143524


Constance Vigilance:
<SNIP>
At the end of the book, we have another death scene. The scene is very
> convincing, and this time it includes a dark mark in the sky. There is
> even a dash of blood on the face. Is it a real death scene, or has
> Dumbledore learned from his experience at Slughorn's? The vast
> majority of readers believe the death scene is real. Exactly *because*
> of the presence of dragon's blood at Slughorn's is the reason I
> believe Dumbledore's death is faked. Who is the master of dragon's
> blood? Add to that the fact that the death occured out of view - over
> the parapet - and I think we can make a good case for Dumbledore's
> survival...It is important for the final battle that Harry not
> expect any rescue, so Dumbledore must take himself out of the picture.

hg:
I wholeheartedly agree and hope to expand upon two points.

First, the Dark Mark.  It seems there's room to speculate (when 
comparing the timelines of the activity/players in Hogsmeade with those 
at Hogwarts) that the Dark Mark was already set when Gibbon went up to 
the tower to set it.  Lupin assumes that Gibbon did it, but if he did, 
it seems to leave not enough time for Rosmerta to see it, Dumbledore & 
Harry to arrive, etc.  I wonder if he left the top of the tower so 
quickly because he saw it was already there.

Second, I think it's more JKR's intent that Harry should "go it alone" 
than Dumbledore's; however, CV says it in such a way that I can 
envision Dumbledore being motivated, at least in part, to fake his 
death for this purpose.  There are other purposes to be served by 
making this choice, and one of those particularly appealing to me is 
Dumbledore's ability to lure Voldemort into unwittingly leading him 
directly to the unknown Horcrux.  If Voldemort discovers that 
Dumbledore has been hunting down the Horcruxes, which he could most 
likely do in a number of ways, it would make sense that his first 
action would be to check on all of them to make sure they're in place 
and intact.  This would probably be risky on Dumbledore's part, a 
gamble with time and with Harry's ability to figure out what and where 
the known ones are, but it seems like a gamble Dumbledore might take, 
in my opinion.

hg.