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New Revelations

by David Haber

On August 2, 2006, at the second night of the Harry, Carrie, and Garp event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, J.K. Rowling says Dumbledore is . But is that the whole story? How does what J.K. has said relate to all of the clues and theories on this site?

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Reader Comments: (Page 12)

Well, Dumbledore not pull a "Gandalf" eh? He is definitely ? And by what exactly? How come the Avada Kedavra is so different in this story than it has been anywhere else? Why is Dumbledore not "scared to " like all the other victims?

Posted by Allen on November 4, 2006 11:13 PM

i a not sure that voldy didn't see the spell before but why would snape use sectesumpra instead of avada kedavra.
and yes voldemort would probably block it and that's my point when i said that harry learn the unforgivable curses.
and who said harry wouldn't use it on voldemort, every year harry want's to torture him more and we know the sectesampra tortures someone and him soon. i know it said he wont use it on his worst enemy but i feel that it changed and yes there be many battles in book 7 starting when he turns 17.

Posted by ahmed al sairafi from manama, bahrain on November 5, 2006 06:16 AM

I still think that the draught of living has some significance. Perhaps not necissarily in Dumbledore's , but in the seventh book perhaps. It just strikes me as odd that all other potions mentioned has had a use so far, but not that one. But I digress. I agree that Dumbledore as an animagus would be awesome, but I believe that the situation with Dobby would be far more likely. It intrigues me to the nth degree that he was not at the , as well as being decidedly absent from following Malfoy as ordered. Though, an explanation would be that the pair of elves were a little while behind Malfoy and could not get past the Eater's magical barrier once conjured.

Posted by Ethan from Green Bay, Wisconsin on November 5, 2006 12:39 PM

please correct me if i'm wrong, but i think gandalf DID and was sent back by the greater powers. he was also presumed by the fellowship which accounts for half the business of gandalf... but i think it can be fair to say that gandalf did .

Posted by naomi from sydney on November 5, 2006 2:08 PM

I would place my bets that Snape is a good guy. This makes the story more meaningful that even bad guys have a good side. This would also mean all the while Dumbledore has been right about Snape. Dumbledore is always right. On the fateful night when Dumbledore d, Snape has read his mind: Dumbledore asked him to him, and Snape did. It should be no problem for Snape despite his initial minute display of uningness, since Snape is a gifted and accomplished Dark Arts wizard and he can easily carry that intent to which is necessary to perform the Avada Kevdra curse.

I think Dumbledore is for sure. Jo has confirmed that. She mentioned this to those who are in denial. I don't like Dumbledore either: he's my favorite character, so full of wisdom and vision. I would say the Dumbledore-phoenix theory to be too wonderful as I believe the final book to have a totally twisted turn. But I believe Dumbledore has left some sort of help for Harry after he d. The invisibility cloak maybe, or Fawkes itself.

Seriously I think there are so many things to account for. How is the final book going to contain everything? Well the absurd ending would something be like this: all the 4 kids from Gryffindor come out with a patronus each. Harry's stag, Neville's toad, Hermione's cat and Ron's rat. They Voldy with these. Harry s, Ron and Hermione becomes a pair who reminisce their good friend. Ginny, being the 7th child, possess extraordinary talent and wisdom and becomes the youngest headmaster of Hogwarts.

Posted by jin from singapore on November 6, 2006 10:00 PM

Is Dumbledore an Animangus? Is his animal a Phoenix? If it is, the Phoenix does ! It is reborn from the ashes. In which case she is right, Dumbledore is ; but he also be reborn!

Posted by Joyce Wendeln from Miamisburg, OH on November 7, 2006 07:06 AM

It's 4am and I just finished book 6. I was late to join in the fan club and just started reading book 1 after I finished grad school about 2 months ago. My boyfriend and I are both avid readers and trade books back and forth. When he discovered the empty hole in my life that was Harry Potter, he forced me to read the books. I was maybe 2 pages into book 1 when I forgave him.

After finishing book 6 this evening/morning/night, I left my boyfriends snoring body to come into the office and find solace. I googled for 'dumbledore ' and found you all. I read something recently that stated that characters in books and movies trigger the same neurological response as friends in real life in the human brain. I guess that sums up Dumbledore's . You all have probably had a year to grieve and rationalize it, but thank fawkes that this site existed so I could read through the last year or so and feel like maybe I'm kinda normal for crying so hard at the of a character who only exists in text (I haven't seen any of the movies yet but they are netflixed and on their way).

The boyfriend claimed I am lucky as I have much less time to ponder and wait for book 7 than he did when he finished book 6. I suppose he's right. Thank you all:) I feel as foolish as a school girl but I also feel better. I think of Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy and the likes) as such a genius because he is never afraid to anyone, and that gets to the heart of you (but why or why... I am a leaf on the wind...:( ). JK Rowling is definetely the same kind of genius. Cheers!

Posted by Mary Smith from san jose, california on November 8, 2006 03:56 AM

TO: Mary Smith, San Jose
Welcome to the wonderful world of Harry Potter! I too came to HP late (after the 3rd book was published) because I foolishly thought it was a children's book series. I quickly discovered, however, that while children can thoroughly enjoy the stories, the brilliance of the writing is in the subtle "hidden" storylines and the depth and complexity of the characters. I too am obsessed with the series, unfortunately, my husband still resists reading them so I am compelled to seek out others who want to ingly discuss the series in nauseating detail. HP has brought me so much joy (I reread the series twice while in graduate school) & this site showcases the broad-appeal of the story and the keen intellect of HP fans around the world. The HP bond displayed on this site represents a real-life version of the "International Magical Cooperation" talked so much about in GOF. After working your way through all of the posts on this site, you'll probably be ready to start rereading the series again (and I'm sure that won't be your last time). I am on the verge of starting the series again myself - prompted by some of the fabulous observations on this site. I am now obsessed with the clues regarding "Dobby" -I always thought it strange that Dumbledore stated that he would see himself holding "socks" if he gazed upon the Mirror or Erised ("desire" spelled backwards-took me a while to figure that one out [duh!]) - (also, why didn't DD step in front of the mirror when Harry asked him?). DD also really defends house elves in OOtP, not to mention all of the other DD & Dobby clues mentioned elsewhere on this site. While I look forward to Book 7 so that some of these quetions are answered - I worry how she is going to explain so much in one final book. Therefore, I suppose we should enjoy the fun of speculation while we can! I look forward to your future posts as you fall deeper under the HP spell!

Posted by AJ Senape from PA on November 9, 2006 07:49 AM

Hey, wait a minute! JKR said that Dumbledore wasn't going to "do a Gandalf"! Gandalf does - read the book, he s and is sent back until his task is done! If Dumbledore doesn't "do a Gandalf", it either means he's alive or he's permanently - no coming back from the . All the evidence points to the fact that he's alive! Or if he's , JKR is really slipping up and leaving a bunch of holes in the story- and that's not like her! He must be alive! I mean, she didn't go right out and say "yes, he's ." She said it criptically so that everyone think she said he was , but she actually was saying that he is alive! It's the same thing with fooling a lie detector- think of something that makes what you say true!
Dumbledore is not !

Posted by Allison from North Dakota on November 11, 2006 3:22 PM

Ive read and read and i think that of myself i really know alot about Harry Potter and probably can guess what is going to Happen I think everyone is missing and looking over a crucial Player in Harrys Life and That is the man who fell behind the Tapestry Sirius BLACK

Posted by Tony Verdugp from Tolleson, AZ on November 12, 2006 6:57 PM

OK, maybe Sirius has something to do with it. I have personally been expecting Sirius to contact Harry in some way ever since he d. True, it is a strange way for him to , and is sort of anticlimatic. But, Tony, how, exactly, do you think Sirius is going to help Harry? I'm just curious.

Posted by Emily from Nebraska on November 13, 2006 3:21 PM

JK is a master of subtle hidden meanings and also of red herrings. One important thing I would like to address is why can't Dumbledore be alive. All the way through the previous books she hints and leaves breadcrumbs for us to follow; in Philosophers Stone she mentions the Draught of Living which is a sleeping potion so powerful that it makes a person seem , this in itself would be a strong argument for Dumbledore to be alive but what makes it stronger is that in Half Blood Prince Horrace Slughorn actually makes an entire couldron (aswell as 3 other potions) which he shows to Harry and his class mates in the first potions lesson. Another point to mention which relates is how these potions were left in the open which enabled Crabbe and Goyle to steal some of the contents of another couldren, how hard would it have been for someone like Dumbledore to lay his hands on this potion if two numsculls like Crabbe and Goyle could manage it. In a more general view of this why would JK bring back this potion in this book, why? She does it to help give rise to the idea that Dumbledore is still alive, it is not a mere coincidence that this potion makes a reappearence as it is not a coincidence that Dumbledore drinks a potion while trying to retrieve the Horocrux in the cave!
Another interesting point to look at is the comment about Non-verbal spells. These are spells which can be done by thinking the spell instead of saying it, and these spells were a under lying theme all the way through the Half Blood Prince. Remembering this go back to The Goblet of Fire and the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class where Mad Eye Moody tells the class about Unforgiveable Curses, he tells them that each one of them requires someone to concentrate very strongly upon it and want to do it (also in Order of Phoenix Bellatrix Lestrange tells Harry when he performs the Cruciatus curse that you really need to mean it). Taking this into account it is safe to say that this is no mere weak theory, it may be a red herring left by JK but it seems all to plausible for it to be that. Does it not sound plausible that snape performed a different spell using the non-verbal technique, if he were not concentrating on ing Dumbledore then that spell would not have worked and the non-verbal spell would have. Only adding to this idea is the result of the spell, it is true that normally a person merely keels over when hit with Avada Kedavra but Dumbledore was blasted off the tower.

It is not just longing which makes me think that Dumbledore is alive it is by looking at the evidence which JK has left for us to find, some things are theory but some things like the different result of the spell is fact (it was different) and this should be enough for any Harry Potter fan to have doubts about whether or not Dumbledore is still alive. There are many other ideas to look at but this has to be one of the most plausible in my mind.

Posted by Lloyd K from Scunthorpe, England on November 13, 2006 4:40 PM

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