HBP Spoilers contained within

[Shaun Hately]

I finished HBP two and a half hours ago and have been digesting 
events ever since. This post does contain spoilers.

S S S S S S S
P P P P P P P
O O O O O O O
I I I I I I I
L L L L L L L
E E E E E E E
R R R R R R R
S S S S S S S
S S S S S S S
H H H H H H H
O O O O O O O
U U U U U U U
L L L L L L L
D D D D D D D
B B B B B B B
E E E E E E E
K K K K K K K
E E E E E E E
P P P P P P P
T T T T T T T
W W W W W W W
E E E E E E E
L L L L L L L
L L L L L L L
O O O O O O O
U U U U U U U
T T T T T T T
O O O O O O O
S S S S S S S
I I I I I I I
G G G G G G G
H H H H H H H
T T T T T T T

All right - one first impression.

Snape - what can I say. It's going to be awfully hard to keep 
defending anything about him at this point, but I will probably try 
anyway. I'm still not convinced he's irredeemably evil, or even that 
he's not ultimately on the side of the angels. He took an unbreakable 
oath - to do what Draco could not do - and he fulfilled it. 

I do wonder... this is speculation and I need to think a lot more 
about this, but I want to believe that Dumbledore was right. That 
Snape could be trusted.

And so I have to say that I do wonder if, during his final moments 
Dumbledore wasn't pleading for Snape to kill him. It was all over - 
Dumbledore was at the mercy of the Deatheaters, and nobody could save 
him.

They were only delaying to allow Draco his chance.

Dumbledore knew he was a dead man - and I am certain that he did not 
what Draco to kill him - or to face the consequences of refusing to 
do so.

And so he pleaded - "For the first time, Dumbledore was pleading."

What was the plea? Was it 'Save me'.

Or was it 'Kill me.' Kill me and save Draco. 

I'm hoping for the latter - but it's going to be a long time before 
we find out.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at ... | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia