Harry is Snape.

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 141410


James Sharman wrote:
> > For all we know the information about
> > the poison passed between them in the
> > first half second and they spent the
> > rest of the time reminiscing about the
> > good old days. 

Eggplant wrote: 
> Unfair! If you can invent new magic on the fly that Rowling never even
> hinted at you can justify any plot no matter how ridiculous, but even
> then you can't make it work artistically.

zgirnius now:
I quote from Chapter 24, HBP (this is on P. 524 in the US edition):

Harry knew what Snape was going to do and he had never been able to 
prevent it....
   The bathroom seemed to shimmer before his eyes; he struggled to 
block out all thought, but try as he might, the Half-Blood Prince's 
copy of *Advanced Potion-Making* swam hazily to the forefront of his 
mind.
   And then he was staring at Snape again, in the midst of the wrecked, 
soaked bathroom. He stared into Snape's black eyes, hoping against hope 
that Snape had not seen what he feared, but -
   "Bring me your schoolbag", said Snape softly, "and all of your 
schoolbooks. *All* of them. Bring them to me here. Now!"

zgirnius again:
I would consider this to be strong indication of the possibilities of 
Legilimency, and of Snape's capabilities in that area-he did nothing 
apparent in this scene. No incantations, wand movements, etc. He just 
looked at Harry. In what follows, I supply a parallel retelling of the 
events on the Astronomy tower, by a third person narrator who, unlike 
Harry, knows what Snape is thinking and tells us. In it I suppose only 
the ability by Snape to perceive images in the forefront of the mind of 
an individual not practicing Occlumency.

Now, the relevant scene from HBP, Chapter 27 (starting p. 595, US 
edition):

But someone else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly.
   "Severus..."
The sound frightened Harry beyond anything he had experienced all 
evening. For the first time, Dumbledore was pleading.

My narrator:
But Dumbledore had also spoken Snape's name, quite softly. 
   "Severus..."
What did he want to tell me, Snape wondered?

Back to the book:
Snape said nothing, but walked forward and pushed Malfoy roughly out of 
the way. The three Death Eaters fell back without a word. Even the 
werewolf seemed cowed.

The narrator continues:
Snape strode wordlessly towards Dumbledore. As he approached Draco, 
reaching out to Dumbledore with his Legilimency, a dreadful image 
appeared clearly in the forefront of Dumbledore's mind: he lay, his 
shoulders supported by young Potter, who was offering Dumbledore a 
crystal goblet full of a glowing green potion. Snape could see nearby 
the now almost empty basin from which the potion had come. Dumbledore's 
grey color and labored breathing told the tale of the Dark and 
dangerous nature of this potion. Beyond, dimly visible in the gloom, an 
Inferius broke the murky surface of the lake. Snape, disturbed by this 
vision, stopped and pushed Malfoy roughly aside.

And back to the book:
Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and 
hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face. 

"Severus...please..."

The narration continues:
As Snape pushed Malfoy aside, a new and even more horrific image 
replaced the scene with the potion. Struck by a jet of green light, 
Dumbledore was lifted over the ramparts of the Astronomy Tower and 
dropped out of sight, while Snape, wand still raised, looked on. 
Snape's face twisted with revulsion at this suggestion, and hatred of 
himself for having taken that cursed Vow with Narcissa. 
Dumbledore spoke again. "Severus...please..."

Suddenly, the horrible vision or Dumbledore's murder was replaced by a 
memory, and one Snape immediately recognized. It was from that fateful 
night, when he had come to Dumbledore full of remorse for having told 
the Prophecy to Voldemort. He saw himself, a young man scarcely out of 
Hogwarts, once again promise to Dumbledore that he would do anything, 
*anything* Dumbledore required of him, to make amends for his crimes.

The book and narrator together, now:
   Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
   "Avada Kedavra!"

zgirnius:
I'm not saying this is what happened. Rather, my point is that nothing 
supposed by me here is inconsistent with the magic of Legilimency as we 
have seen it practiced by Snape earlier in this very same book. The 
overall clarity of the first two images would be a consequence of the 
fact that Dumbledore very much *wants* Snape to see what he is 
thinking, where Harry, though he has no clue how to do this, was trying 
to keep his thoughts *from* Snape. Also, while the first image 
especially takes several lines to describe, it is not a "video". It is 
a snapshot, a single image that captures a moment in time with all of 
the relevant details, thus it can be transmitted instantaneously. (What 
the potion looked like, that DD drank all or almost all of it, that it 
was having serious ill effects, that the place where it was located is 
clearly the product of some serious Dark Magic, as there are Inferi 
swimming around it, and finally that almost certainly the second broom 
was for Harry, since he has accompanied DD on this adventure.) The 
third and final image does not need to be very detailed to work, as it 
merely serves to evoke Snape's own independent memory of the event in 
question. I am of course rather making up the mamory from whole cloth-
but something like it happened based on Dumbledore's own account.