[HPforGrownups] Green Potion, Regulus, Snape, and DD (was: Dumbledore's Past?)

[elfundeb]

No: HPFGUIDX 168855

Celia now:
I have my own wacko idea for what happened with the green goo, which
I will describe below, but I find I end up with the same issue you
state above- how does this apply to the larger story enough that JKR
would bother?? But then again, theorizing for the sake of theorizing
is its own fun, right?

Debbie:
Oh, yes, wild theorising.  The list can never have enough theorists.

Celia:
We're at Hogwart's, and lonely student Severus Snape, left behind by
his older "gang" who have all left school, befriends young Regulus
Black. (there was lovely thread about this idea several months back.
After school, perhaps DE Snape is even the person to recruit Reggie
into the DEs. This enhances the animosity between Sirius and Severus
nicely.)

Debbie:
I'm with you, except that I doubt Sirius would have known this detail.  He
might have suspected Snape, but I doubt he knew the details.  By that time,
Sirius was surely camping out with the Potters.

Celia:
Time passes...Potions-expert Snape, as a DE, prepares the green
potion
for LV, not knowing what it will be used for. Meanwhile, DE Reggie
is getting cold feet and learns about the locket horcrux (again,
greater minds than mine have proposed wonderful scenarios for this
to happen, most involving Bella). He wants to get out and eliminate
LVs horcrux at the same time. Knowing he will likely die, Reggie
goes to the cave, drinks the potion, steals the horcrux, and,
feeling himself fading, writes the RAB note.

Debbie:
My first question is, whether Regulus really wanted to get out.  (I confess,
I don't trust anything Sirius says; he's too biased.)  Regulus had a much
better chance of thwarting Voldemort from the inside, even if he doubted he
would get away with it for long.  I'll bet the whole "cold feet" bit was a
cover story because Regulus had already done some other damage Voldy didn't
want anyone to know about.

I also question whether Voldemort put the locket in the cave himself.  I
tend to think that Bella put the locket in the cave with Kreacher's
assistance and that Reggie switched lockets before it was placed in the
cave.

Celia:
BUT, as a last chance
he dashes off to the one potions expert in his life- his pal
Severus. Snape realizes what has poisoned him and knows he cannot
save Reggie from his deadly potion. But, being savvy and self-
interested Snape, he realizes he can use Reggie's death to his own
advantage. He AKs the dying "traitor" Regulus (we know he was killed
by someone, but not LV), thus sealing his reputation as an extremely
fanatical and loyal DE (sound familiar?) able to regain LVs trust
even in unlikely circumstances.

Debbie:
Here's the part I really have trouble with.  Poor Snape, making a career out
of assisted suicide.  For Snape to have already AK'd a poisoned man would
take away the dramatic force of Snape's choice up on the Tower.  And the
combination of the threat on DD's life and the UV created extenuating
circumstances that would not have been present if Snape had taken care of
Regulus.  It doesn't make sense for Snape to have done this, at least under
those circumstances.  Now, if Voldemort had ordered him to kill young
Reggie, that might be a different story.

Celia:
Added cool aspects of this theory for the Cave and Tower scenes: DD
would know from Snape about the green potion, (but not necessarily
where the cave is, why Regulus drank the potion, or about the
horcrux) so he knows what he is getting into when he drinks it.

Debbie:
I'm quite enamored of the idea that Snape created the green potion, and
while he may not know about the cave, it would explain why Dumbledore knew
the potion would render him incapable of taking the horcrux.

Celia:
The question I have about this theory then is… based on what he says
as he drinks the potion, I wonder why young Dumbledore blames
himself for his parents' deaths? What a sad idea. Hmmm…

Debbie:
Ah, I think I have a simple answer to this one.  What if DD was a youth when
this happened?  Harry, like many other youth, frequently blames himself for
events that are out of his control.  If DD is reliving his own memories,
look what they say about him.  Not only does he willingly accept blame, but
he offers to sacrifice himself to save others ("Don't hurt them, don't hurt
them, please, please, it's my fault, hurt me instead . . .").

So maybe we could tweak this theory.  It wasn't Grindelwald at all who did
in the parental Dumbledores; it was a previous incarnation of evil who
killed them, leaving young Albus an orphan and his brother so scarred he
never could read again.

I really should come up with a clever theory of my own, now.  Hmm, I've got
it!  What say you that Aberforth is also a double agent?  Canon support to
follow . . . .

Debbie
not sure this makes sense


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