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Reader Comments: (Page 3)

i've got no new theories whatosever than those that have been posted here already....

one thing though, i truly wish from the bottom of my heart that Albus Dumbledore is not ! How could JK Rowling such a great character? It's like LOTR without Gandalf. The Shannara Series without the druids Bremen, Allanon and Walker Boh. If she wanted Harry to face Voldemort on his own, without any help from Dumbledore or from anybody, she could have easily devised a plot without ing Dumbledore. After all, in all Harry's face offs with Voldemort, Dumbledore was not there to help him. I be extremely disappointed and sad if Dumbledore is truly and never come back. No
intellect needed here..just pure "EMOTION"!

DA FOREVER!

Posted by maita from Philippines on September 14, 2006 5:19 PM

Since there a couple of comments about Rowling's Gandalf reference:

Gandalf most certainly did . At least in the sense that ANY of the higher powers of Arda can . He is of the same order of power as Sauron, one of the Maiar, who are lesser aspects of the greater Ainur.

Gandalf did in his struggle with the Balrog. It was a span of eight days that past between their descent into the abyss and their climbing toward Durin's Tower, presumably battling all the way.

The battle at the summit of Zirakzagil, the highest peak of the Misty Mountains, lasted for two days and nights before Gandalf cast the Balrog from the spire and 'smote his ruin upon the mountainside'. However, Gandalf did ..."he strained out of thought and time."

Gandalf sacrificed himself fully. That is, in fact why he was returned in a greater stature (presumably by Eru-Iluvatar). Remember that Gandalf's sole mission was to give courage to the hearts and minds of men. He was restrained in the exhibition of his 'true' power as a Maia. However, in the Balrog he encountered a being of the same order of power (Balrogs were also Maia).

Anyway, Dumbledore's situation is entirely different. Dumbledore embos the archtype of all omnipotent and omnibenevolent wizard. In fact, he may be just that. However, as we have seen, it is ONLY the DARK powers that seem to be able to hold at bay. is a part of the 'natural' order in Rowling's perilous realm. To subvert that, as Voldemort has done, is a perversion and affront to the laws of the universe.

To say that Dumbledore won't be pulling a Gandalf should be expected and easy to understand. Dumbledore is, first and foremost, a man -- hence his many lectures to Harry about the importance of and choice. Gandalf was a celestial being wrapped in the flesh of a man, not bound by the same mortal restrictions as other creatures.

It's an entirely different scenario.

Posted by Shane Harris from Kentucky on September 14, 2006 11:44 PM

I went to the 8/2 RCMH reading and wanted to throw out an idea.

-There is still the possibility that Dumbledore resurrecting is going to be a huge surprise and JKR HAS to spread Disinformation to preserve that until 7 comes out.

I don't know how precisely to take her words, but she said "Dumbledore is not going to do a Gandalf." -But, could he resurrect in a fashion different from Gandalf? -Did she put her face in her hands not because she was about to disappoint a 9 year old kid, but because she was about to lie to him to preserve a surprise?

Anyway, Neat Site. Cheers.

Posted by WL from NYC Area on September 15, 2006 02:22 AM

Do not forget the past books. Most impt. is the 4th book. It is when Dumbledore said to Snape "Are you ready(with your task?)"

Posted by Lorgin from Philippines on September 15, 2006 07:26 AM

This is, without a doubt, an excellent site! I'm very pleased to have come across it. The theories presented here are very comforting to me, as I am a huge Dumbledore fan and was most disappointed at the end of The Half-Blood Prince. I said I *am* a fan, not that I *was* a fan, because I don't believe he's either. Maybe I'm just an optimist, giving in to wishful thinking. If so, then so be it. The facts won't be in until book 7 is released, so until then, anything is possible.

Immediately after I finished reading the HBP, I latched onto the fact that things aren't always what they seem, and I started looking for some loopholes, some hidden or disguised hints that Dumbledore might not have actually d. Was I in denial because Dumbledore is my favorite character? Maybe. But are the clues really there? This site shows me that many people see clues... so either they exist, or we're collectively reading too much into the passages we quote as evidence.

There were 2 things that jumped out at me immediately as I read the ending of the HBP. One was the way Snape seemed to be giving Harry *useful advice* as he fled the grounds with Malfoy. My initial reaction was, "What the heck? He's commentating on what Harry is doing wrong, teaching Harry what he needs to correct his mistakes!" I think Snape's meaning could be interpreted in 2 ways... for example, I often wonder if his line "no Unforgivable curses from you" wasn't meant as a measure of protection for Harry as much as for himself. To me, it read as if Snape wasn't allowing Harry to complete an unforgivable curse for his own good... like he didn't want Harry to have that on his conscience (or his ministry record?) And the second thing that struck me as odd right off was Harry thinking he saw a phoenix shape flying away just before Dumbledore's tomb appeared at the . What was that supposed to signify? It hit me that Dumbledore could be an unregistered animagus, and he had turned into a phoenix! Others have proposed this same idea with good support, so I'm not going to try to prove it here. So, after I got over my initial "I hate you Snape" emotions, I began to see that maybe Snape *is* still on the good side, and that the entire night's events were an elaborate set-up, created by Dumbledore to fake his .

These thoughts made me very happy.

Then I read Rowling's confirmation that Dumbledore really is , and I started to lose hope again, but not for long. I decided that there were still ways around his , so I set out to look for some new ideas... and I found this wonderful site which has restored my faith. The people here have layed out many suggestive facts in a neat logical order - some that I had considered, and others that came as a welcome surprise.

So there actually are multiple theories explaining the events on the tower. Some depend on the assumption that Snape did not really cast the avada kedavra curse at all, and instead he cast something else with the intent of throwing Dumbledore. One theory is that Dumbledore is an animagus, so he broke his fall from the tower by turning into a phoenix halfway down, and then he escaped his own tomb by flying away. Another theory is that he has a horcrux, possibly Fawkes, so that even if Snape did him, he could come back later. (An ingenious idea which I hadn't considered.) Another could even have something to do with the Sorceror's Stone... could an elixir be stored away and saved for future use? Did Dumbledore make himself temporarily invincible in some way? Could the potion in the cave have had something to do with it? Did someone for Dumbledore in the past so that he gained a magical protection similar to Harry's?

The ending of the HBP spawned more than enough questions (by the way, what DID happen to Dumbledore's hand?) and it instilled sufficient doubt to make me believe that *anything* is still possible. And I choose to believe that Dumbledore lives.

Thanks for making a site to focus our thoughts on this issue!

Posted by April from Wisconsin on September 16, 2006 01:41 AM

To the person who said that Dumbledore had a horcrux, I dont think that is possible as you have to someone to split your soul in 2. AD is not as er!

Posted by Clair from Wales on September 16, 2006 06:41 AM

I used to think that Dumbledore faked his ... but now I think that he had ordered Snape to him, due to the vow that he had took and the fact that he was becoming weaker and he was more of a liability to the Order's cause.

Posted by Big Harry Potter Fan from from the Moon on September 16, 2006 12:14 PM

Along with the spell being the wrong color and what JK said, there is still one thing that bothers me. Why is Harry released from the spell when Dumbledore "s"? A theory for his release, now this I've got to hear.

Posted by Tenaya Cvach from Scottsdale, Arizona on September 17, 2006 7:36 PM

Remember when Dumbledore and Harry were discussing the Ministry's suggestions on secret codes and passwords at the beginning of book 6, and Dumbledore told Harry that for future reference his favorite jam is raspberry? I thought that we would see this bit of info come into fruition in book 6, but it did not. With the of Dumbledore, the "raspberry code" begins to make sense. It now can beautifully fall into place in book 7 upon Dumbledore's return (possibly with the intervention of Aberforth, a goat, and a phoenix). It looks like Harry not accept/recognize the person claiming to be Dumbledore until the revelation of raspberry. This also conforms to "Dumbledore is not going to do a Gandalf", because if Harry needs the raspberry code then it probably not look like Dumbledore (or maybe he just won't believe his eyes).
Another point: Didn't Dumbledore the previous dark wizard some 50 years prior? If Faukes is a "good" horcrux, then that is when it happened?

Posted by Michael Hawley from Buffalo, New York on September 17, 2006 7:42 PM

I still have yet to make up my mind whether Snape Is Good or Snape Is Evil, because one thing bothers me that I have yet to read on any board. When Harry and the DA went to rescue Sirius he only told Snape, So who informed the Order That these 15 yr olds were going to the ministry.

If Snape Is Evil why would he send Harry help? In OotP, not sure what chapter but it mentions Snape being the one who informed the Order.

If Snape Is Good then ing DD is justified
Here is How I see.

Lily d to protect her son. James was going to anyway. What is to say that DD was going to , Nothing, at first he was only facing Malfoy and DD was very powerful. Powerful enough to disappear while taking out 3 - 4 Ministry Aurors.

Do people really think a few Eaters would stop DD?

So with this if he d protecting Harry as Lily did would this not give Harry new protection. Maybe Snape is Evil, but stupid, no, After ing DD he must know of the protection.

Posted by James on September 18, 2006 2:13 PM

I never thought DD d for a second. I had read somewhere that Rowling's favourite books were the Narnia series and that was why she was going to write only 7 books. Of course she went much further with her love for Narnia, doesn't DD lie on a stone table for his ? Having read the words "stone table" I immediately thought, he's coming back, just like Aslan and Gandalf and...

As too how he'll be able to come back. When I read the chapter with DD and Harry searching for the Horcrux in the cave, something was not right. DD seemed to know too much about what was in the cave. I got the feeling he was there before.

Because of this feeling it made me think that by drinking the green liquid, it was going to save him or suspend his or something. He knew Draco might him so drinking this green liquid must have something to do with why he isn't really . Didn't he start to act strange after he drank it?

Just my thoughts. Love your site!

Posted by Samantha from Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 18, 2006 4:40 PM

*sigh* While I would love to believe that Dumbledore is not , the fact that JKR herself said "Dumbledore is definitely " doesn't lend itself to hope. Perhaps we should just accept it and move on. After all, there's still the possibility that we'll be able to see his influence.

Posted by Kate from Point Lookout, Missouri on September 19, 2006 09:22 AM

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