[HPforGrownups] Re: Is Harry an idiot because he thinks Snape is guilty? Was: Why wizards are

[lady.indigo at gmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 140578

On 9/21/05, lebeto033 <lebeto033 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> I just can't see any evidence that points towards anything other 
> than Snape killing Dumbledore. Sure, evidence can be brought into 
> light at some later point but a telepathic conversation is possible 
> but it's only conjecture. 
> 

I'd say there's much more that's suspect than the possible conversation or 
why Dumbledore would plead with Snape. (Something the 'Dumbledore would 
never plead' argument doesn't take into account is that he may be pleading 
that Snape doesn't turn to the dark side, worried about Snape's fate as 
opposed to his own. But I digress.)

The ambiguity behind the Dumbledore murder probably wouldn't hold up in 
court, but it's definitely a question of what Dumbledore knew and how he 
acted accordingly. First of all, Dumbledore's words are full of 'if I should 
have to leave you's from the very start of the book. There's a level of 
finality to everything he says and does, which I don't think is just an 
author's tool. Sirius never acted that way before his death (though we did 
spend more time with him before he died). If I were Harry I'd have at least 
noticed. Second, Dumbledore put Snape in the cursed DADA position, which I 
think says a great deal. Yes, there might have been more benevolent ways of 
seeing Snape doesn't get a second DADA year, but the curse has never been 
kind before and seeing as it IS a curse, cast by Voldemort no less, I don't 
think it ever would be. Dumbledore put Snape at considerable risk for a 
reason, I think, when he had no need to. He didn't HAVE to use Snape to fill 
the DADA position; he could have had Slughorn and Snape share Potions 
classes, for instance, remniscent of Trelawney and Firenze, or given Snape 
some other duties.

Most importantly is everything Dumbledore was completely and totally aware 
of and how he did nothing to act on it. He knew there was an Unbreakable Vow 
involving Snape and Draco. He knew Draco was on a mission to kill him. If 
he's either perceptive or (most likely through Snape) informed enough to see 
the murder plot is meant for him and who is meant to carry it out, as well 
as be completely unsurprised when he learns Snape and Draco are involved in 
this vow, I don't think he's beyond at least guessing the possibility of HOW 
Snape is bound to protect Draco, no matter how much he trusts Snape.

People keep thinking that the best thing for Snape to do was give up his own 
life, but why? He's an incredibly valuable spy who needs to renew the faith 
of the Death Eaters. Dumbledore has been ailing, arguably even dying (I'm a 
pretty solid follower of the 'stoppered death' theory by now), and whatever 
power he has, it's known that Harry's the only one who can defeat Voldemort 
in the end. Obviously Dumbledore's not going to sacrifice Draco's 
well-being. Dumbledore being the one who must die actually seems like a 
natural conclusion to me. I keep coming back to Ron's SS speech: "There has 
to be sacrifices." I thought that was foreshadowing Ron's death. Now I think 
it foreshadowed Dumbledore's. It couldn't have possibly referred to Sirius, 
who died not for the sake of strategy or a greater good but instead rather 
needlessly and pointlessly, much like most deaths in wartime.

And then not only does Dumbledore freeze Harry on the tower, preventing any 
interference, but his corpse seems serene and his portrait is smiling and 
sleeping peacefully. And Snape hardly seems to be gloating, in fact wearing 
a look at one point like he's in pain.

But no, I don't think Harry's an idiot for not having put all this together 
at a highly dramatic and emotional moment. Even if he were to do so later, 
he'd be operating on a lot of faith - I know I certainly am - and with much 
more personal bias against Snape than I have. I hope he'll certainly notice 
these things then, instead of just thinking that Dumbledore was someone 
utterly blind, who placed 'inexcuseable' trust in Snape for a reason anyone 
could have poked holes in. I do think he'd seem smarter and more mature for 
noticing this stuff. But even then I'm not sure how he could act on it. 
Again, none of it is the kind of evidence that could hold up for sure.

As for the Avada Kedavra, it could very possibly have the potential to make 
the struck wizard fly up in the air. We don't know every time it was ever 
used, or the levels of power it might hit with, or if any other 
circumstances could have come into play. And is it possible the blood could 
have come from falling from that great height? (I'm not a CSI, 
unfortunately, I couldn't say for sure.) Either way, they're details we 
missed easily enough and that Harry could have easily not thought about 
right away. (He's not a CSI, either.) If it turns out when tempers have 
cooled that the flying and blood were impossible, well, *then* I'd expect 
him to think about it. But only then.

- Lady Indigo


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]