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Reader Comments: (Page 4)

could RAB possibly be Regullus Black as during the cleaning of 12 Grimlaud Place (bk 5) a locket has been mentioned however no perfect decription of the locket has been given.
also the description given by Sirius on Regellus, could he be actually that smart?

Posted by nikita on September 17, 2006 06:45 AM

I'm afraid Dumbledore really is .

I'm also of the opinion that Snape ed him, and that Snape still believes in a lot of what the Eaters represent.

As for why Snape ed Dumbledore, that is a long and involved answer that starts when Snape first hears the prophesy, repeats it to his master and then finds, to his horror, who Voldemort chose as the boy to . If Voldemort could be trusted to only Harry, perhaps Snape wouldn't have gone to Dumbledore, but he had to in order to protect someone else, someone Voldemort would likely to get to his victim.

Think back to Snape's worst memory. Your clue is there. Snape is probably the most interesting 'bad' guy I've read about in a while, and can be totally trusted by Dumbledore to bring about the demise of Voldemort because that is Snape's ultimate goal. Even Voldemort thought he had 'left him forever' and with good reason.

I'm not saying Snape is a good man, and he probably felt some loathing when ing Dumbledore with good reason, for Dumbledore did represent some things Snape has never agreed with nor understood, given his background. But Dumbledore's plan was the best one Snape could go with to get to his goal. And he help Harry, even teaching him when he could have ed him, in order to bring this about.

Posted by tinhutlady from TX, USA on September 17, 2006 12:04 PM

I'm not sure what you are getting at Tinhutlady. JK Rowling likes to fool her readers, and in every book she tries her best to fool us all. Snape is seen originally by everyone to be a bad guy, especially because Harry always seems to think that way by default. But we find, time and time again, that Snape is NOT a bad guy. Rowling tries each time to make us think he has finally turned to the dark side, but we should know better! Snape is not a bad guy, I assure you.

This leads us to a question. We know Snape has been working for Voldemort, probably as a double agent for Dumbledore. We know that Snape is great at occlumency (Book 5), and thus great at keeping thoughts away from other mind-readers. Thus, he could hide the fact that he was really working for Dumbledore. But Voldemort probably wouldn’t trust Snape completely, and thus leaves him out of a lot of hidden secrets. I think Voldemort even suspects Snape works for Dumbledore, so he probably would say, "To prove your allegiance to me, Dumbledore." So Snape tells Dumbledore that all his work to gain LV’s trust is about to go out the window. Dumbledore says, you are playing the most important role for the OoTP, and we need you to be completely trusted by LV. So Dumbledore thinks how he could fool his , to show LV he is truly , and to continue working in the shadows.

I always get back to this point, no matter where I begin arguing from, but it is a good point. Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard we know of. Remember when he is almost captured at Hogwarts by Umbridge and the others? Remember how after that the old wizards say that if Dumbledore doesn’t want to be found, he never be? I am sure we can think of a ton of examples as to how Dumbledore is very powerful and wise, and thus wouldn’t just allow himself to .

Each character in JK Rowling’s books plays a specific role, even though it isn’t totally obvious. Harry plays the naive boy, coming of age, in a time of turmoil, where he needs to learn to overcome forces that threaten his life and the lives of his friends. Dumbledore plays the role of the wise, always seeing, mentor figure that helps the protagonist (Harry) to accomplish his goals. This leads me to my point-- Dumbledore is the wise figure that sees everything, from all angles. He knows that LV needs proof to see that Snape is on the eater’s side, and so he thinks hard about how to prove this (without losing the battle they have worked so hard to fight). Dumbledore takes Harry out of Hogwarts on the night of the invasion, and in the end hides Harry from the Eater’s vision, but he also sees much deeper than is apparent at the time.

We know Snape needs to help Draco with his duty, and later we suppose that duty was actually to Dumbledore. If Draco doesn’t do this, he undoubtedly be ed. So Dumbledore tells Snape to help him finish his duty, which also helps LV to think Snape is on his side. At the same time, Dumbledore is able to go into hiding again, and help the OoTP (and Harry) behind close doors. We see that Dumbledore has chosen a plan that is perfect, like his character is supposed to do. It would be completely against his character to simply let himself , especially in a situation where he could save himself. Think back to Gandalf, who also was the role of the wise-helper figure in LOTR. He was ed by one of the most powerful beings, but his character does not allow him to simply . He chose the route that would allow himself to save his company, while also showing his enemies of his demise. Yet he comes back more powerful than before. Let me remind all of you that Gandalf truly s on top of the tower (after defeating the Balrog). That same character role could be seen with Dumbledore. Remember, they both play the same role in both the stories, which shows us that their fate is linked in many fashions. To simply outright would not only be against his character, but it would make the story seem less congruent. Dumbledore cannot , for his role in the story is not done, and since we know Dumbledore had a plan for Snape that night, he could not have planned his own .

I know some people are still skeptical, which I understand completely. The fact is, Rowling lies to her readers, as all good story tellers do. She acts as if we NEED to think Dumbledore is , because to think otherwise would (to a degree) ruin the story. Wouldn’t it have ruined the book if we knew Dumbledore was supposedly to in the end of book 6?(sorry to everyone who did have the story ruined). The same could be said with his revival in book 7, it is not supposed to be known! Rowling even go as far as to say that Dumbledore is truly , just to set us in a mood for the tale of the seven book. I don’t know for sure if Dumbledore come back, but I do know that Rowling always lie to her readers on a subject that is very important to the plot development of the story.

Posted by Brett Johnson from Boulder, CO on September 17, 2006 6:31 PM

if dumbledore is alive, how come the freezing charm was lifted off harry?

Posted by toto from kansas on September 17, 2006 6:52 PM

Toto dumbledore could be alive. There is a possibility. The dumbledore who is could be an imposter. As my brother (pavan srivatsava) told that it was aberforth and not albus he could have lifted the charm. Any way David Haber in HBP we had read when Hagrid and slughorn were singing a song:"They laid him to rest with his hat inside out And his wand snapped in two, which was sad." this tells us that the wand of a person be snapped into two. Why was that not done after the burial of dumbledore's body? Also i want a question answered that is can potraits be created even if the person is alive? because dumbledore's potrait was hung in the headmaster's room. Because in JKR's first book you have seen that the potrait of dumbledore's was in the chocolate frog which harry had opened. Dumbledore was alive then.This is another reason as to why dumbledore is not .

Posted by Satya Pramodh from Hyderabad,Andhra Pradesh on September 18, 2006 06:41 AM

While it does appear that Dumbledore is in the book, there are so many open ends to the event. Dumbledore is no idiot. He has trusted Snape all along. So why would it definitely be the "colonel in the library with the candlestick"? Remember, all those who have passed at Hogwart's are visible in the paintings to begin with. Harry has a big event in store for him in the last book. Someone has to do in Valdemort. (although for the life of me I am still trying to figure out why all these master wizards with their more advances powers can't just get together and handle that slime together instead of relying on a child, but I digress) There most definitely is something there that is not going to be disclosed until the end. I think Dumbledore had to be "silenced" so that this great event can come to pass in the last book. Maybe the phoenix be Dumbledore in the end to assist Harry. We're thinking in Muggle terms and need to think more in the magical way in order to figure this out. I am sure whatever is in store for us it be well worth the wait.

Posted by Carol DiNatale from Thomasville, NC on September 18, 2006 11:40 AM

Just wanted to add a comment on Snape - on page 616 of the US version of HBP, McGonagall says: "He (Dumbledore) always hinted that he had an IRONCLAD reason for trusting Snape." This has always made me think that there was a better reason for Dumbledore to trust Snape than just his professed remorse over having passed along the information about James and Lilly to Voldemort.

Posted by Patti D. from Akron, OH on September 18, 2006 5:25 PM

well, i for one, belive that dumbledore is NOT . he worked extremely hard to find out about u-noo-poo's past life. i don't think he can just like that. there are many theories about dumbledore being or not-possibly one of them is true. We'll just have to wait for the 7th book.

Posted by palak from delhi,india on September 19, 2006 01:12 AM

Remember too that Dumbledore has the ability to see the future...(PoA - he knew that the 3 were at Hagrids trying to save the hippogriff on the second go round - thats why he stalled and re-directed attention so they could get away). He has powers beyond normal wizards. I too believe he could be a Dumbledore from the future (Very similar to a star trek episode where the captain came back in time in later years and sacrificed herself to save her younger version). And I also believe that dumbledore can be the phoenix - he is an animagus too.

Posted by Sharon from Michigan on September 19, 2006 11:54 AM

Something I noticed. I believe that the person Harry found, IS Dumbeldore. I think Snape faked the ing curse. I've heard lots of theories based on the fact that all kinds of non verbal spell casting were used in the book, makes sense. Snape could say the words (in book 4, Moody stated you could say the words, and he wouldn't even get a bloody nose), but think a different spell, non verbally. I think that's what happened.

I've looked all over, and haven't seen anyone else notice this. It's very simple. Whenever the ing curse has been used, and in real life, if someone s, their eyes typically are open. EVERY time it's used, the persons eyes are open. Dumbeldore's were CLOSED. Wait! Didn't someone say something about a draft of living laying around in Slughorn's class? Couldn't the blast that knocked Dumbeldore (which NEVER happened before) be simply to get him out of everyone's sight, so he could take this draft?

Posted by Rob from Baltimore, MD on September 19, 2006 12:58 PM

You need to double-check that Eyes-Open thing. I believe you find there is one description of an AK in a book where it does not mention whether the victim's eyes are open or closed. So, this cannot be an absolute clue. That's why it's not mentioned in the original article.

Posted by Dave Haber from Los Angeles, CA on September 19, 2006 1:31 PM

I need a refresher, can the elixir of life *save* you from a ly curse, or can it just extend your life indefinitely like it did for Flamel? I can't remember if this property was ever mentioned. In other words, having taken the elixir, could you still be ed?

I'm just curious because, as somebody else mentioned, Dumbledore could easily have had a bit of elixir stored away from the stone.

Posted by April from Wisconsin on September 19, 2006 2:20 PM

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