Snape and Dumbledore on the Tower/ Blood on DD face

[Zara]

No: HPFGUIDX 165347

 
> Bart:
> It is not. It is more how HARD they bleed (at least in detective 
fiction). 

zgirnius:
Pippin is also raising the issue of how *long* they bleed. Dumbledore 
still had a wet trickle of blood on his face after all the events 
of "The Flight of the Prince", which she estimates took 30 minutes. 
(I think it could be rather less, myself, nonetheless, it was some 
time).

As far as JKR's knowledge - am I confused, or is her husband a 
medical doctor? I think if she meant this to be a clue, she certainly 
had the resources to go to to get the right answer. 

On the other hand, if she wanted a convenient tender gesture for 
Harry to make, she proabbly wouldn't bother to worry about time 
elapsed, hearts not beating, etc. It is a nice moment.

Bart:
> Let's see if we can give a list of the key questions about 
Dumbledore's death:
> 
> 1) Is he really dead?
> 2) Is he completely dead or just mostly dead?
> 3) Was he dead BEFORE the AK spell was cast?
> 4) Was the proximate cause of death the AK spell?
> 5) Was it a real AK spell, or a fake covering up the real spell?
> 6) How did he get levitated over the roof?
> 7) Was he actively and irretrievably dying before the AK spell was 
cast?
> 8) Whose orders was Snape following?
> 9) What was the effect of the poison he had taken (it certainly was 
poison, whehter or not it was DEADLY poison)?
> 10) Why was there blood on Dubmbledore's face?

zgirnius: 
A list!
I would add, 

11 )did Snape and Dumbledore know throughout the book that 
Dumbledore's condition from the Ring Curse was terminal? I don't 
believe this myself, but it is a fairly popular theory.

on 7), there is an in between sort of possibility no included in the 
question - that he was not dying irretrievably, but required prompt 
attention by an expert of Snape's caliber to survive. (Attention 
Snape could not give because of the Vow. Literally - he would drop 
dead from trying).

One might ask also what Dumbledore meant by his plea, though perhaps 
you'd stick that under 8).