Snape and Dumbledore on the Tower/ Blood on DD face

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 165334

Ryan:
> Maybe I'm missing something, but how does the blood on Dumbledore's
> face prove that he didn't die on the tower?

Ceridwen:
The reasoning is, if Dumbledore had died on the tower, his heart would 
have stopped pumping blood at that moment.  The AK was directed at his 
chest.  The AK, according to canon, kills instantly.

Therefore, when he was found at the base of the tower, there should not 
have been a trail of blood from his mouth as the blood would all have 
settled low in the body due to gravity.  Dumbledore did not, as Harry 
saw, fall headfirst, and he didn't apparently land on his head.  He was 
on his back.  So, the blood would not have been able to go upward 
without a beating heart to pump it to the mouth.

I'm not a forensics expert so I can't say for sure.  But it does sound 
like a sticking point, *if* JKR knows this much about forensics and is 
not going for the visual effect here.

Ceridwen.