DD death and Harry WAS: Re: Dumbledore as a judge of character ?

[Mike]

No: HPFGUIDX 166184

> > > Sherry:
> > > 
> > > It is the involvement of Harry.  Because he would feel it was 
> > > his fault Dumbledore died, and I don't think he could live 
> > > with that or ever come to terms with it.  <SNIP>
> > >
> > > I  don't think Harry should be one who kills,
> > > even accidentally. 
>
> 
> Alla:
> <snip>
> 
> I believe she was saying that she would not accept Harry being 
> complicit in Dumbledore's murder.  <snip>
> 
> That is not to say that JKR would not do it obviously, <snip>

Mike:

I'm feeling compelled to point out that Dumbledore was the one to 
*voluntarily* drink the green goo. I must also point out that DD 
finished about third of the basin *before* Harry had to help him to 
drink the rest. I can't say definitively whether Harry (or JKR for 
Harry) would feel responsible for DD's death if DD did indeed die 
<love that aliteration :)> from the potion. So let's examine the 
evidence, shall we? :)

For the sake of discussion, let's assume that DD died from the green 
goo. 

In my book, DD killed himself. In no way can we say that DD would not 
have died had he only drank a third of it. It is far more likely that 
if the stuff is going to kill someone, it is only a matter of how 
long one could hold out, if one only drank some of it. That is, maybe 
DD could have lasted an extra 2 hours if he only drank a portion of 
the potion, but he *will* die if the stuff is poisonous. So Harry 
feeding him the remaining 2/3rds of the stuff only hastens the 
result, it did not *change* the result. 

Plus, there is the not inconsequential fact that without Harry there 
to feed DD, there would also be no Harry there to *rescue* DD. DD 
would have succumbed to the third of a basin's worth and been stuck 
in the cave to die. (Of course, I can't say this for a fact, but it 
reads that way to me)

How can we, and more importantly Harry, feel it would be Harry's 
fault that DD died? Surely DD drank enough by himself to die from it. 
And I don't think Harry *would* blame himself for DD's death. Sure, 
he was repulsed at having to force DD to drink the rest of it. But 
that is distinctly different than being responsible for the decision 
to drink it in the first place.

" Only one thing mattered: This was not a Horcrux. Dumbledore had 
weakened **himself** by drinking that terrible potion for nothing."
< HBP p. 610, US Scholastic, Sep 06 printing, emphasis mine>

The narrator speaking from Harry's perspective gives no indication 
that Harry feels it was his fault that DD drank the goo. On the 
contrary, by this reading, it seems Harry knows full well it was DD's 
decision and therefore DD's fault for drinking the stuff "himself". I 
find no other passage where Harry reflects upon the drinking of the 
potion, so I submit that this is Harry's last word on the subject.

In the hypothetical world of Dumbledore dying from the green goo in 
the cave, it is all on Dumbledore's shoulders for coming to that 
ridiculous "I can only conclude that this potion is supposed to be 
drunk."

Mike, who still thinks the cave scene is too contrived, but alas, 
that's been beaten up enough.