Dumbledore's-death-is-a-fake-theory

[hg_skmg]

No: HPFGUIDX 143725

(snipped)
Miles:
There are differences much more important than the Dark Mark. The  It 
is not difficult to fake blood, no need to use Dragon's blood. We can 
be pretty sure, that "faking human blood" is not among the 12 uses of 
Dragon's blood Dumbledore and Flamel discovered...

hg:
True, but why fake it if it's already in your pocket, maybe?  I've 
thought for a long time that it's a strong possibility that Slughorn 
took Dumbledore's place that night (except no-one died).  Even 
without a switch, if Slughorn was on the back-end of a faked death, 
he'd have that bottle on hand with little use for it other than a 
purpose such as this.

Miles:
To cast the Dark Mark is a question of seconds only, so Gibbon did 
have no reason to stay on top of the tower. There was no need for 
Rosmerta to see it before DD and Harry arrived, the only thing for 
her to do was using her coin to contact Draco when they arrived.

hg:
If you're suggesting that Rosmerta wasn't truthful when she told them 
the DM had been set minutes before they arrived, I suppose that does 
shed some doubt on the possibility of another person setting it.  But 
if we take what she says at face value, it seems too much time 
elapses before Dumbledore & Harry arrive for Gibbon to have set it -- 
it would seem to me, instead, that he saw it already set when he went 
up to the tower.


Miles:
> I agree, that he could have had a motivation to fake his death. But 
I really doubt that he had the chance to do it. To fake this death 
scene, he would have had to anticipate not only a showdown with 
Deatheaters. He was surprised that they managed to come to Hogwarts. 
I do not think this was faked surprise, because this bunch of 
murderers in his school, endangering every student - no, Dumbledore 
would never take that kind of risk. But without knowing Deatheaters 
coming to Hogwarts, how could he plan the scenario on top of the 
tower, or some similar one?

hg:
I think he did anticipate that Malfoy was poised to strike, and that 
it would be that night.  He also anticipated the need to fake his 
death, as he almost must be aware of the UV.  I don't think he'd plan 
that scenario up on the tower to play out as it did; rather, he'd 
have a loose plan and deal with the surprises (such as the DE's) as 
they came.  But I think with a year to come up with something, he'd 
find a way, and he'd choose life and continuing the struggle against 
Voldemort, over avoiding a big lie to the WW.

Miles:
And to bring in the meta killer argument: Rowling stated in 
interviews, that characters who die in her books are really dead and 
do not return.

hg:
I'm taking this out of context, but it applies to what I've said 
above: If he never died, he was never "properly dead," and thus she 
hasn't broken her own rules.

(And Miles, thank you for the feedback.)
hg.