Do any list members think Dumbledore might have asked Snape to kill him?

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 146942

Corey:
> Hi list members, how's it going? Are any list members of the view 
> that Dumbledore might have asked Snape to kill Dumbledore because 
> he was dying anyway? I think Snape killed Dumbledore because he's 
> with Voldemort. Just wondering what people think.

Ceridwen:
It's pretty hard to decide.  That was my first impression, because 
Dumbledore has said, in effect, that he is not afraid of death.  So, 
why would he beg for his life?

There have been some possible answers to that specific question - 
that he doesn't want Snape to tear his soul, that he still has things 
to teach Harry, being two of them that I recall offhand.

Then, there are the clues (or possibly red herrings) mentioned in the 
cave, immediately afterwards, and on the tower which show Dumbledore 
being in a very bad physical state.  Harry has to say Rennervate 
twice to get him to wake up in the cave, Harry has to help him out of 
the cave and use side-along Apparition to get him back to Hogsmeade; 
in Hogsmeade, he is portrayed as weak and fading fast and only 
Rosemerta's news that the Dark Mark is over Hogwarts can rally him.  
On the tower, he is sliding down the wall as he talks to Draco, and 
he is unnaturally pale.  His quickness seems to be failing him too, 
because Draco was able to disarm him.  When Snape shows up, his 
voice, which has been strong or at least not noticeably weak from 
Harry's viewpoint, suddenly becomes very weak to the point of sending 
shivers down Harry's spine.

Other clues:  Dumbledore mentioning more than once at the cave that 
he is expendable while Harry is not; Hermione's mention of certain 
potions/poisons having no antidote; possibly the argument Hagrid 
overheard between Snape and Dumbledore in the forest (though that is 
only partially heard, and reported second-hand).

Would JKR introduce euthanasia into a series that is supposed to be 
for growing children?  She has already introduced senseless death, 
children losing their parents, people being tortured into insanity, 
and other things that, recently, people have thought to be too nasty 
for kids to deal with.  However, euthanasia is a current political 
hot-potato, widely debated with no concensus in a child's real 
world.  Would she seek to influence children to perhaps go against 
their parents by bringing it up and offering this solution to them?

I do think there was more to the AK on the tower than what Harry saw 
and absorbed.  Don't forget, the situation was already emotionally 
charged, with Harry's fear for Dumbledore being threatened, and his 
temporary relief of seeing Draco's wand falter.  If Harry, 
our 'reporter on the scene', misses something, it is understandable.  
Soon after, he misrepresents something Dumbledore told him, quite 
possibly because of the emotional stress he was under, alternately, 
because of his hatred for Snape, which has just been taken to a new 
level.  So, I think it's up in the air.  And I am on pins and needles 
waiting for book 7 to get it sorted out.

Ceridwen.