The blackened hand again

[Peggy Wilkins]

No: HPFGUIDX 148961

Juli wrote:
<SNIP>
> And that's where I keep going back to my first read of HBP, and how
> the constant mention of Dumbledore's injury had me thinking "What is
> it with that stupid blackened hand anyway?! Why do we have to  keep
> hearing about it?" And that's really what I thought! So why was it  being
> regularly brought to our attention if it wasn't significant?

Peggy:
Good question.

Juli wrote:
> I think it was significant. An injury that even the WW's greatest  wizard
> can't overcome? That doesn't heal? A dead hand that remains part of
> his living body--because it *can't* be removed and replaced with a
> false hand like Wormtail's, or because Dumbledore doesn't want it
> removed (or covered, which also seems odd)--which is it? Does
> Dumbledore really enjoy waving that thing around at every  opportunity,
> or is JKR trying to hit us over the head with it?
>
> Combine that dead hand with Dumbledore's actions from the beginning
> of HBP--taking the Dursleys to task for their treatment of Harry  while
> also asking them to take Harry in one more time (as if he can't  be sure
> he'll have an opportunity to do either later), going after the memory
> Slughorn has always had *now*, giving Snape the DADA position when
> he knows Snape cannot overcome the curse (a normal wizard can't
> survive it intact, let alone a double-agent already walking a  tightrope),
> and suddenly taking a direct role in teaching Harry everything he  can
> about Tom's past and destroying horcruxes--it's as if Dumbledore
> knows he has limited time. And I think he does know, not  because
> he expects Snape to kill him, but because he knew since Snape
> saved him from the ring curse--not cured him, but "saved" him--that
> he was living on borrowed time.
>
> Whether this means Snape used a draught of living death,  a stopper
> death potion or some other magic to halt death, I don't know. But  it
> does mean Dumbledore is dying from the beginning of HBP, and
> he knows it... <snip>

Peggy:
There is another interpretation we should consider: perhaps this was
all for show.  What if Dumbledore wants people to believe he is
slowing down and weakening?  This perception starts subtly in book 4,
where Harry starts to note how old Dumbledore looks.  He sees the
lines in his face.  But his perception of Dumbledore's age is
fleeting--one moment Harry sees the usual strong Dumbledore, then a
moment later he sees age and weakness.  These perceptions seem to
waver back and forth.

By the time of HBP, Snape is actively spreading the report (at
Spinner's End) that Dumbledore's reflexes have slowed and he has
suffered an injury shortly after the MoM because of it.  (Note that he
doesn't reveal the cause of the injury; does he know?)  Dumbledore
makes no effort whatever to hide this at any time; does he want it
noticed?  Does he want rumors to spread?  Is Snape assisting in
spreading the word?

Harry continues to notice contradictions in his perceptions of
Dumbledore.  The instance I remember most clearly happens when they
are swimming to the cave, and Harry notes that Dumbledore isn't slow
at all and is a strong swimmer.  He doesn't seem like a dying man
here; at least not until he is weakened from drinking the potion.

Dumbledore seems to use people's perceptions to his advantage, and he
seems only too willing to allow rumors to spread.

--
Peggy Wilkins
enlil65 at gmail.com