Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum - View Single Post - Finished! (Harry Potter)

Eroica · #1 (**permalink**) 18-July-2005, 12:26 PM

SPOILERS!!!

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Quote:

So Snape was a Death Eater all along and Dumbledore was a fool to trust him - a mistake which has cost him his life?

Wrong! At least I hope it's wrong. Otherwise Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a poorly plotted book - even more so than The Order of the Phoenix.

We know that Voldemort did not trust Snape. If he did, and he wanted Dumbledore dead, he would surely have gotten Snape to do it. A powerful wizard like Snape, one who is implicitly trusted by Dumbledore, should have no trouble catching the latter off his guard and hitting him with the Avada Kedavra death curse. But instead, Voldemort recruits a snotty-nosed sixteen-year-old to devise an elaborate ruse to get trustworthy Death Eaters into Hogwarts to do the dirty job - Death Eaters like Fenrir Greyback.
Dumbledore knows that his death is imminent. That is why he is so anxious to impart all that he knows of Voldemort to Harry. He knows that the time is close when he will no longer be able to do this; he shares all the relevant Pensieve memories with Harry; he discusses Voldemort's character, plans, tactics, etc; he gets Harry to get Slughorn's true memory concerning the Horcruxes; he even takes Harry along with him on a dangerous mission to let him see what sort of things he will have to encounter while searching for the remaining Horcruxes.
Dumbledore trusts Snape implicitly. This is the one thing he resolutely refuses to discuss with Harry. Clearly he has something on Snape which convinces him of the latter's fidelity. What that is we don't yet know, nor why he refuses to confide in Harry or any of the others. Harry believes at the end that Dumbledore was fooled by Snape. I don't. I'm willing to trust that Dumbledore knows what he's up to. When Harry once again questions Snape's trustworthiness, Dumbledore replies: "I have been tolerant enough to answer that question already ... My answer has not changed."
Conclusion. Dumbledore and Snape have planned Dumbledore's "murder" from the beginning. Dumbledore knows that he is not destined to kill Voldemort. Harry is. So he is prepared to give up his life if it means persuading Voldemort that Snape really has returned to the dark side. By killing Dumbledore in front of other Death Eaters Snape has done enough to sweep away any lasting doubts Voldemort may have had concerning him. Voldemort will trust Snape now as implicitly as Dumbledore did, and it will be his failing. In the final duel with Harry, Snape will turn on Voldemort at the crucial moment, giving Harry the vital seconds he needs to finish the latter off - just like Darth Vader in Star Wars (though surely Snape will not turn out to be Luke's - I mean Harry's - father!).

If it is Snape and Dumbledore's plan for Snape to "murder" Dumbledore in front of the others, this explains a number of things.

When Harry and Dumbledore return to Hogwarts after getting the Horcrux, Dumbledore sends Harry to get Snape. "Go and wake Severus ... tell him what has happened and bring him to me. Do nothing else, speak to nobody else and do not remove your [Invisibility] Cloak." Why does he do this except to ensure that he does not die in vain. He and Snape have been caught on the hop. Everything will have been in vain if they miss this chance. It is vital that Snape be alerted. Everything else is irrelevant.
When Malfoy, however, interrupts Dumbledore and Harry on top of the Astronomy Tower, Dumbledore paralyses Harry (who is beneath his Invisibility Cloak), allowing Malfoy to disarm him. Why does he do this? He and Harry together could easily have handled Malfoy, who's alone. Harry thinks Dumbldore is trying to save him. In fact, he's making sure that Harry does not interfere and save him. He knows that he can hold off Malfoy. He just has to hope that Snape will get there in time to finish him off as they planned.
When Snape is roused from his bed by Prof Flitwick, he stuns the latter but does not kill him. Similarly, when he finds Ron and Hermione outside, he sends them in to look after Flitwick, when he could so easily have killed them too. If he truly is a Death Eater, why does he kill no-one but Dumbledore? He even spares Harry at the end; in fact he saves Harry from being killed by the other Death Eaters, supposedly reminding them that Voldemort wants Harry for himself.

Of course, I have a history of getting these things wrong, and I had arrived at these conclusions before I read the last two chapters, so ...