Various very spoilerish responses and a further question

[eloise_herisson]

There was an old man with a beard
Who said "It is just as I feared
I drank lots of potion 
Then swam in the ocean
And now I confess I feel weird."


> Kathryn:
> 
> <<And since Dumbledore's eye locked with Snape's I suspect he did 
> know about the potion but regardless Dumbledore asked him to do it 
> (you don't actually think he ws pleading for his life? I mean come 
on 
> that was obvious surely).>>

Phyllis:
> I think it was obvious that Dumbledore *was* pleading for his life, 
> and the only way I could believe something to the contrary is if 
I'd 
> just imbibed a large dose of Alan Rickman Befuddlement Draught.

Eloise: 
I'd humbly suggest that at this stage nothing is *obvious*, although 
I agree with Kathryn's interpretation.


Phyllis:
> I think Dumbledore had finally realized that Snape was double-
> crossing him, and that's why Dumbledore appointed him to the DADA 
job 
> (and I think it had something to do with their row as well).  
> Dumbledore (unlike Snape) knew Voldemort had jinxed the job, so by 
> granting Snape his heart's desire and appointing him to the job, he 
> ensured that Snape would only be spending one more year at Hogwarts.

Eloise:

Whereas, as I wrote earlier, I believe that Dumbledore had been 
protecting Snape from the cursed job until now because he needed him. 
He was planning his own death and so at last, Snape could have the 
job which meant he would have to leave Hogwarts. Snape is an expert 
in the Dark Arts. Can he really not recognise a cursed job when he 
sees one? I think he went in with his eyes wide open.

If Dumbledore knew that Snape was double-crossing him, then why 
didn't he get rid of him by some more effecient means than waiting 
for the curse to kick in? It's not like he would have been able to 
rely on him for inside information form LV's camp, so he didn't need 
him. Why, when he was weakened by *poison* did he repeatedly say that 
the person he needed was *Snape*? Why not demand Slughorn, Pomphrey?


Phyllis:
> Dumbledore put the freezing charm on Harry so Harry wouldn't enter 
> the fray that Dumbledore suspected was about to ensue.  Dumbledore 
> would know that if he died, the spell would be lifted.  And knowing 
> Harry as he does, if Harry witnessed his death, Harry surely would 
go 
> after Snape - thus thwarting the entire reason Dumbledore put the 
> charm on him in the first place (to protect Harry).

Eloise:

He put the freezing charm on Harry because he was the one person 
present who could muck up the plan. He felt safe with Harry. He had 
allowed Harry to come with him, protect him, he knows what Harry is 
capable of. I am sure that he did not want Harry to kill 
unnecessarily, yes. But he didn't prevent him from entering the fray 
at the MOM.

Phyllis:
> Dumbledore tells Harry in OotP that everyone else's life comes 
second 
> to Harry's.  In HBP, Dumbledore shows Harry that his (Dumbledore's) 
> life is included in that - by saying that Harry's blood is more 
> important in the cave, and by freezing Harry rather than defending 
> himself at the top of the Astronomy Tower.  Why would Dumbledore 
put 
> Draco's life over Harry's, then?

Eloise:

He didn't. He knew Harry was in no real danger from Snape, as we saw, 
yet again, that he wasn't. Dumbledore didn't want Draco to be a 
killer. He needed Severus to act the part of loyal DE. He needed his 
death *not* to look planned.

Phyllis:
> 
> Why would Dumbledore want to die when he knew the magnitude of the 
> task ahead: the number of horcruxes left to be found and destroyed?
> 
> And I don't believe that Dumbledore was on death's door, either.  
He 
> knew he needed help to fight the effects of the potion, but he 
wasn't 
> done fighting yet.

Eloise:
Because *Harry* is the one who must do it. Because there is something 
magically potent about his death that will in the end aid Harry. 
Because the Author has stated that Harry needs to do this final task 
alone and Albus and Severus are but pawns in the game. Well, not 
pawns, but pieces on the board. ;-)

I think the potion is actually a bit of a red herring, put in to make 
us have exactly this kind of debate, create the ambiguity in 
the "Snape, please". She persistently creates this deliberate 
ambiguity, as in the overheard conversations with Quirrell and 
Dumbledore in the forest, as in the Spinners End chapter.

And something else. If LV was prepared to have *Draco* bump off 
Dumbledore, why the heck didn't he just order Snape, with his 
infinitely greater skill and opportunity just to do it as soon as he 
was convinced of his return? Equally, although Snape explains to 
Narcissa and Bellatrix why he couldn't murder Harry under 
Dumbledore's nose whilst he "believed" Voldemort dead (which, of 
course, we know that he didn't) this doesn't explain why he 
apparently made no attempt to harm him, or deliver him up to  
Voldemort throughout OoP. No mention of the Dark Lord wanting him for 
himself, like he shouts out at the end of HBP. 

I'm afraid the jury's very much out on this one.

~Eloise