Re: Dumbledore's "“peaceful expression”? (was: Dumbledore's pleading)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 141811

Neri wrote:
> I wasn't accusing anybody. I just thought that the process of a
tiny, completely innocent phrase gradually acquiring the status of
canon is interesting and even, might I say, educational. This was the
usual process that I encountered (throughout many posts by many posters):
> 
> A) Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the angle of his arms and
> legs he might have been sleeping.
> 
> B) Dumbledore had a peaceful expression when he died.
> 
> C) Dumbledore was not betrayed. He died satisfied that whatever he
> asked of Snape will be done.
> 
> A is canon. B is a subtle interpretation of canon. The meaning of A
could well be that Dumbledore's expression was neutral, or that it's
simply not very important for the story. However, B isn't important by
itself, but as a stepping stone to C. Once A is all but forgotten and
B is established as the undisputed canon (and by September it was, by
all the posters I've seen) C seems almost unavoidable. With the
> general direction of the process it would have probably acquired a
near-canon status next. You need to read A next to C to realize that
there's some distance between the original and the interpretation.
> Again, I don't have any problem with interpretation. I just think
that treating interpretation as canon might lead you to some weird places.

Carol responds:
I don't know of anyone who views C as canonical, and those of us who
believe that B is a valid interpretation do not necessarily agree on
what the (apparently) peaceful expression means.

Once again, the quote that you so kindly supplied:

"Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms
and legs, he might have been sleeping. Harry reached out, straightened
the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose, and wiped a trickle of
blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. Then he gazed down at the
wise old face and tried to absorb the enormous and incomprehensible
truth: that never again would Dumbledore speak to him, never again
could he help..."

Once again, Dumbledore looks as if he's asleep (if Harry ignores his
position and looks only at his face). Harry straightens Dumbledore's
spectacles and gazes into his "wise old face." (Fact, right, with no
interpretation or speculation?)

I interpret this evidence to mean that Dumbledore looks like
Dumbledore with no notable change in his "wise old face" except that
his eyes are closed, in marked contrast to Cedric, whose "open gray
eyes [were] blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted
house" (GoF Am. ed. 638). Imagine Harry gazing into DD's face if the
once twinkling blue eyes stared back at him, expressionless and empty
rather than closed, with their presumed blankness concealed. Surely he
would react as he did with Cedric, feeling only horror, not the gentle
impulse to straighten DD's glasses. Dumbledore does not look either
surprised (like Cedric) or terrified (like the Riddles), all of whom
died instantly and none of whom had time to close their eyes. (That's
the way an Avada Kedavra works, from what we've seen.)

I think we can at least say without contradiction that DD's "wise old
face" is *composed*, especially if paired with the *canonical*
peaceful expression in the portrait, which is also sleeping, and
contrasted with those of the known AK victims.

We can't, of course, declare Snape innocent on the grounds of
Dumbledore's expression (though we can speculate on what a failed or
fake AK might mean in terms of his culpability). But, like the blast
that lifted Dumbledore off the ground rather than causing him to fall
dead instantly, DD's expression, and particularly his closed eyes, is
one of several pieces of evidence (no blinding flash, DD blasted over
the wall rather than falling instantly dead) that seem to differ
markedly from the undisputed AKs we've seen. 

It is reasonable to examine the evidence and hypothesize on the basis
of it. That, I believe, is what we do on this list. (I, for one,
haven't forgotten that Narcissa's tears canonically splashing onto
Snape's chest led to ACID POPS. :-) )

Carol, who considers the "peaceful expression" *semi*canonical, but
will try to remember to say "DD's apparently composed expression" in
future