Dumbledore or Snape

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 141409

Sherry:
> But a person
> choosing to sacrifice their own life for the good of others is a 
different
> thing.  But Dumbledore didn't need Snape to do that.  He was already
> slipping down the tower.  He could simply have let go and dropped I 
think.
> If he asked Snape or arranged with Snape to be killed by Snape's 
hand, I'm
> thinking he's possibly even more evil than Voldemort.

Ceridwen:
Dumbledore wasn't clinging to the outside of the tower wall, from the 
way I read it, he was within the tower walls or crenilations (?), 
leaning against them and slipping down to the floor.  He was getting 
farther and farther from the way over the walls as he slipped down.  
Had he allowed himself to drop, he would only have ended up prone at 
Draco's feet.  He was growing weaker and weaker, probably from the 
cave potion (and, possibliy, also from the little water he ingested 
when Harry threw it on him), and whether he could have been saved at 
some point before this or not, he was apparently growing closer to 
death.  Witness the way his skin got whiter.  At this point, he 
couldn't have offed himself if he'd made a monumental effort, at 
least not from the way he was sliding down.  And, he had been 
disarmed.

At that point, we don't know.  The book doesn't tell us.  We do know 
that both Dumbledore and Snape are accomplished in Legilimency, so we 
might wonder if there was some communication between them.  We do 
know that Dumbledore would not beg for his life.  We do know that 
Harry is petrified to the wall and invisible at this point, and we 
discover after the fact, that the spell releases after Dumbledore, 
its caster, is dead.  We can speculate about what will happen to 
Harry, who is prone to acting bravely without assessing the odds, if 
he is released into a nest of DEs and one werewolf.  We can speculate 
that Dumbledore would have died, or would have been killed by the DEs 
on the tower or by Greyback, had Snape not done it, and that Draco 
may have been harmed or killed, and that Harry probably would have 
been killed, and that the DEs inside Hogwarts would have remained to 
inflict more injury and possibly kill someone, if Snape hadn't told 
them to get out.  I think these speculations are reasonable since we 
have no canon either way.

And, we know this is a wartime situation, which is different than 
peacetime.  So we should adjust our viewpoints accordingly.  Still, 
it will all only be speculation until canon proves only one right.

BTW, I agree with you on the slippery slope argument regarding 
euthanasia.  IMO, it's a case by case decision, and should only be 
according to the will of the intended future deceased.  In the 
instance of Dumbledore, to bring it back to HBP, I do think it was 
his choice to die at that point, for a variety of reasons which 
overwhelmingly convinced him that this was the proper choice.  He 
just couldn't do it for himself.  And, I do think Snape may have 
resented being used in this capacity in the event that it become 
necessary, based on the argument Hagrid overheard in the forest.  As 
you said, and I completely agree, it is a horrible burden.

I also agree that there are too many people who think the infirm or 
differently abled should be euthanized, to 'put the world out of its 
misery'.  I have a special needs child, and I've had people tell me 
that about him.  I am very critical about euthanasia arguments, both 
for and against.  It is indeed a slippery slope!

Ceridwen.