Tuesday, March 28, 2006
I couldn't believe that Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore died in the HBP, yeah, I was a bit sad. Rowling'd done a great job in characterisation, it feels damn real. So I analysed the text, and found out some surprising clues. I think that Snape is a good guy and he was pretending to kill Dumbledore. Everything was planned in advanced by none other that Dumbledore himself. How is it possible? Read on. Let's get down to business. Yeah.
Firstly, I think that this is a very important clue that Dumbledore did not die. How is the killing curse,
Avada Kedavra, like? Well, this is from GoF :
He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumbled. He was dead before he hit the floor. (Goblet Pg 19)This was when Frank Bryce, the old caretaker of Tom Riddle's abandoned house got killed by Voldemort using the killing curse. The second example is in the same book, when Cedric dies:
From high above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare." A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!" A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to ground beside him. Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead. (Goblet Pg 553)
However, in HBP, when Snape killed Dumbledore with Avada Kedavra, the reaction was different.
Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!" A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror never left him; silently he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air. For a split second, he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he slowly fell backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight. (Prince Pg 556)
Notice that Dumbledore had flew out of the tower, unlike Cedric, fell to the ground instantly, and Frank, who also fell dead immediately, no flying of sorts.
Now look at this,
Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor. (Chamber PG 142)And this,
Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before Snape could take even one step toward him, he had raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled -- except that his wasn't the only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out. Harry looked around. Both Ron and Hermione had tried to disarm Snape at exactly the same moment. (Prisoner Pg 265) Expelliarmus causes the victim to lift off his feet and fall backwards violently. Remember that Snape is good in non-verbal spells? '
Cruc-' yelled Harry for the second time, aiming for the figure ahead illuminated in the dancing firelight, but Snape blocked the spell again; Harry could see him sneering. Then,
'Incarc-' Harry roared, but Snape deflected the spell with an almost lazy flick of his arm.'Stupe-''Blocked again, and again, and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!'This shows that Snape could have easily done Expelliarmus non-verbally while saying Avada Kedavra and thus result in a Avada Kedavra effect. (A jet of green light)
But there is even another clue that Dumbledore's flying off the tower that night was a prearranged ruse between himself and Snape. Back in chapter nineteen, when Harry orders Dobby and Kreacher to follow Malfoy around in an effort to figure out what he was up to, Dobby replies:
"Yes, Harry Potter!" said Dobby at once, his great eyes shining with excitement. "And if Dobby does it wrong, Dobby will throw himself off the topmost tower, Harry Potter!" (Prince Pg 395)
Notice, Dobby says "throw himself", not something like "you can throw me". Also, Dobby specifically mentions "the topmost tower", exactly the place where the "death" of Dumbledore later occurs in the same way.
Now, even though Dobby gets around and probably hears a lot of things he shouldn't in the castle, I'm not suggesting Dumbledore could so easily slip up and let Dobby be privy to such a secret plan. But what I'm suggesting is that Rowling is using something Dobby says to plant a clue for us that later on in the story it would be Dumbledore, himself, who planned the whole death thing, and caused himself, or arranged for himself, to be thrown from the top of the tallest Astronomy tower.
To answer Jia Han, I did not say that he did not suffer any injuries, in fact, I assume that he had suffer
serious injuries. But remember, immediately after Dumbledore's murder, when everyone was assembled in the hospital, this was what had happened:
Madame Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her any attention except Ginny, who whispered, "Shh! Listen!" (Prince Pg 573)
Everyone was there, Ron and his parents, Hermione, Lupin, Tonks. Yet it is Madame Pomfrey who Rowling emphasises is struck by this turn of events. Continuing:
Gulping, Madame Pomfrey pressed her fingers to her mouth, her eyes wide. Somewhere out in the darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way Harry had never heard before; a stricken lament of terrible beauty. (Prince Pg 573)
Then Rowling mentions:
Harry felt, as he had felt about the Phoenix song before, that the music was inside him, not without ... How long they stood there, listening, he did not know, nor why it seemed to ease their pain a little to listen... (Prince Pg 573)
And then McGonagall enters, changes the subject, and the phoenix song is forgotten.
Many minutes later, after all the retelling of the night's affair, Rowling mentions Fawkes is still at it:
They all fell silent. Fawkes's lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside. (Prince Pg 579)
After the subject was changed again, the pheonix was still at it. Whatever it was he was doing, Fawkes was working hard at it, and not giving up. Yet we are supposed to believe, as in the title of this chapter, "The Phoenix Lament", that it is only Dumbledore's pet echoing everyone's grief?
Do you so easily forget that phoenix tears have powerful healing powers?
Significantly, it is the healer, Madame Pomfrey, who is brought to tears by the phoenix song. She knows the healing power of the phoenix well. She gulps with eyes wide. She recognizes something special is going on.
Also, Rowling tried to point out the healing qualities of the phoenix song, Harry feels it inside, the way he did last time he was healed by one, and most importantly, it seems to
ease his pain!
From these passages, it certainly seems that Rowling wants us to know that Fawkes is doing some healing! Perhaps Fawkes is not powerful enough to bring someone back from the Avada Kedavra, but what if Dumbledore was not really hit by an Avada Kedrava, and instead hit with Expelliarmus, and was injured by his fall? This should answer your questions.
Lol! I overlooked this so obvious part in the HBP!!! Take a look:
Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. (Prince Pg 568) It's just right before my eyes! When Avada Kedavra is cast, Dumbledore could not have position himself to look like he was sleeping as he would be instantly dead. It would be too much of a coincidence for him to be positioned like that, Rowling must have added it to make Dumbledore's playing dead more obvious. You only die once. You will not know what is the position you will be in when you die, thus Dumbledore will not be able to play dead successfully, though he convinced Harry as Harry saw him "die".
-Under Construction-
