Dumbledore's pleading - Forgive and Forget, or Not

[zgirnius]

No: HPFGUIDX 141517

> Valky:
> So we go, that if Severus Snape did not cast a full
> intensive killing curse but instead something that blasted DD
> over/through the ramparts, then Why? 
> 
> One thing is for sure, if he did it intentionally then he is *not* a
> killer. It comes down to Dumbledore's choice the moment he is in the
> air. Fawes did not catch him, so Dumbledore's choice is clear and
> Snape is vindicated of his responsibility therewith.  
> 
> Now I ask those clever listees who have whiled away much effort to
> reconstruct the Tower scene from the angles of triage, cold 
equations
> and choices of lesser evil, to consider -
> 
> The same scene, the same danger, the same sacrifice. And
> Snape/Dumbledore choose not for Snape to deliver a lethal blow, but 
to
> send Dumbledore over the edge of the tower where he *dies secretly 
and
> unseen*, his body comes to rest far from the reach of the vileness 
it
> was once surrounded by. What are they doing?

zgirnius:
Well, having DD's body fall off of the Tower removes any incentive 
for the DEs to stick around. (Gross, but what if Fenrir is a trifle 
peckish? What if Voldemort would like a trophy?) This is important 
not only because it is not something any of us want to see happening 
to DD's body, but also to protect Harry. Since the DEs leave 
immediately, they are gone once Harry realizes he is free of DD's 
spell. Snape either casts the AK and follows up with a nonverval 
spell that moves the body, or fakes the AK using some nonverbal 
spell/spells. 

It could also be, as you suggest, that Snape *intended* Dumbledore to 
just fall off the tower, assuming Fawkes could somehow help him save 
himself, as you suggest. I find this a bit of a stretch since DD is 
without his wand-but I suppose Fawkes could fetch DD's wand to him, 
then DD could lower himself more slowly (as we saw him do to a 
falling Harry in a Quidditch match in the past). 

But this could also be unintended. It's true the flying up bit seems 
totally wrong based on what we've seen. But we've never seen Snape 
cast the AK before. Maybe his is just peculiarly powerful in terms of 
physical side-effects. We've never seen a *failed* AK either. Missed, 
yes. I mean here 'failed' in the same sense that Harry failed to 
Crucio Bella in the MOM scene in OotP.