Dumbledore and Polyjuice

[Nate Hennessey]

No: HPFGUIDX 160454

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "twitterpatedbabykoala" 
<mcdumbledore at ...> wrote:
>
> Snape's Witch:
> >      If Snape is a polyjuiced Dumbledore then who is the man 
with  
> >  Harry in Chapters 3 and 4?  Surely not Snape?  No, no, no.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't have the book in front of me right now, so I can't speak to 
> chapters 3 and 4 specifically, but I will say that something that 
> struck me overwhelmingly in HBP was Dumbledore's newfound tendency 
to 
> gloat.  It was subtle, in most respects, but that - more than 
anything 
> else (the Unbreakable Vow, the stuff on the Astronomy tower) - made 
me 
> suspicious of a Polyjuice situation right away.  Maybe tomorrow 
I'll 
> have a minute to dig out the book and give some canon examples of 
> Dumbledore's oddly Snape-like self aggrandizement, or maybe some 
kind 
> soul who noticed the same thing and has a few minutes tonight will 
do 
> it for me?
> 
> Becca

Reply by Nate:
I made a post about this about a week or so ago, regarding
Snape being polyjuiced as DD at the Dursleys/Slughorn's 
in Ch 3 and 4.
I can't seem to find it in the backlog of posts now, but I did 
keep a copy on my computer. I hope that it isn't breaking
the rules to repost the gist of it.

My attention was drawn not by the way Dumbledore seems to
gloat, but by several references to the time during this
chapter and because Dumbledore discusses imposters with Harry.

1st reference to the time:
"An alarm clock, repaired by Harry several years ago, 
ticked loudly on the sill, showing one minute to eleven." 
pg 46 of HBP (Bloomsbury, UK edition, 2005).

2nd reference to the time:
"The minute hand on the alarm clock reached the 
number twelve, and at that precise moment, the streetlamp 
outside the window went out." pg 47. Making the time 
'Dumbledore' arrives 11pm. However, at this point, we 
are not told it is Dumbledore. Harry sees:
"A tall figure in a long, billowy cloak was walking 
up the garden path." 

3rd reference to the time:
"The church clock chimed midnight behind them." 
pg 62. Here Dumbledore and Harry arrive in Slughorn's 
village. Making it exactly one hour since 
'the figure' arrived at the Dursley's, assuming 
the two clocks correlate exactly (which in real 
life they probably would not).

On pg 63, Dumbledore tells Harry he should 
have asked Dumbledore a personal question to 
make sure he wasn't a Death Eater or an imposter 
(which seems to draw attention to the idea that 
Dumbledore may in fact be an imposter).

Finally on pg 70, right in the middle of 
conversation with Slughorn,
"Dumbledore stood up rather suddenly.
'Are you leaving,' asked Slughorn at once, 
looking hopeful.
'No, I was wondering whether I might use your 
bathroom,' said Dumbledore."
It seems to me that either Dumbledore had a 
sudden attack of the bladder (as old men do) 
or the imposter's polyjuice finally started 
to wear out, and he/she had to go and retake the potion.

Another few points about the imposter, who 
I believe may be Snape.

On pg 48, we are told Dumbledore is dressed in 
a "long black travelling cloak" which seems a
 bit at odds with his normal bright coloured 
clothing (However, he could be wearing this 
for stealth purposes - it would make sense that 
he wants to be concealed, after all, he has 
also done something to the streetlamps, presumably 
using his putter-outer). The point I am also trying 
to make here is that the Dumbledore figure could be 
Snape - who is known for his billowy black robes. 
This would also explain the references to the 
time which permeate these two chapters - polyjuice
 use, timed to run out around an hour later. 

Also note that Dumbledore "drew his wand so 
rapidly that Harry barely saw it" pg 50 - 
as if he didn't want Harry to identify it. 
(Or, so that he didn't scare the muggles - 
there's at least two interpretations of every quote 
I use here)

The time between Harry sighting the figure 
outside and the time Harry dresses and makes it 
downstairs could be a few minutes, giving the 
imposter time to down his polyjuice. The reason
 I don't think the figure had taken the polyjuice
 before arrival is illustrated above - Harry 
hears the clock chime twelve at Slughorn's, 
before Dumbledore disappears into Slughorn's bathroom. 
However, it would make more sense that Snape 
took the polyjuice before arriving at the Dursleys 
- he wouldn't want to expose his movements to 
any Death Eaters, Order Members or Ministry 
Officials watching the Dursley's home.

However, you have to note that if this is Snape,
 he is remarkably good at a) playing Dumbledore 
and b) not showing his true feelings regarding 
Sirius (whose property is discussed in chapter 3)
but on page 303, Snape asks Draco
"Where do you think I would have been all these
 years, if I had not known how to act?" Granted, 
Snape's basically affirming Draco's comment 
about DADA job being an act, but still. Food for 
thought?

Cheers, Nate