A brand-new Harry Potter theory

    • Gold Top Dog

    A brand-new Harry Potter theory

    Unless someone else has thought of this...I haven't googled it, I want to bask in my own brilliance for a little while.

    I think Dumbledore ENGINEERED HIS OWN DEATH. Yes, I do.

    Follow me here.......

    We know that Dumbledore asked Snape to kill him.

    We know that the description of the curse Snape used is wrong.

    We know that at the beginning of book 6, 5 potions were brewed. 4 by Slughorn, 1 by Harry, with the help of the Half-Blood Prince.

    We know that the 4 potions Slughorn brewed were used in various ways throughout the book.

    We know that Snape made an Unbreakable Vow with Bellatrix and Narcissa, supposedly to kill Dumbledore although that is not clear and I don't believe it is the case.

    We know that Regulus Black stole the original Horcrux and replaced it with the fake. Kreacher has the real one and may or may not know what he really has.

    We know that whatever the Unbreakable Vow referred to, Dumbledore knew about it.

    So....

    Dumbledore takes Harry on the quest for the Horcrux. In the process, Harry has to practically torture Dumbledore so that they can get it, but they do and just before Harry apparates them back to Hogwarts, Dumbledore VERY OBVIOUSLY "passes the torch" of fighting Voldemort over to Harry. He did that because he ALREADY KNEW he was going to die. He PLANNED it that way. Dumbledore has known since before Harry was born that either Harry (or Neville, but it turns out to be Harry) would have to kill Voldemort, or vice versa. Throughout the books, everyone standing between Harry and Voldy has been killed in one manner or another....everyone who loves Harry enough to try to protect him or get in the middle of the battle is dead, with the exceptions of the Weasleys and Hermione, but they know what has to happen.
    The potion that doesn't obviously get used in the book, the one that Harry brews, is the Draught of Living Death. In the potions class, all the other potions are explained...what they do...but not that one. I think it's a pretty accurate description of what happens to Dumbledore after he drinks the potion in the cave, though. It strikes me as very odd that Regulus Black, who was by the time he got the real Horcrux a hunted man, would have had time to either brew or otherwise obtain a potion to refill the bowl.
    I think Dumbledore did it. He found the cave, got to the bowl, filled it with the Draught of Living Death and later returns with Harry. He proves to Harry that in order to get what you want, you have to do repulsive things sometimes. After they leave the cave and apparate back to Hogsmead, Dumbledore is ADAMANT that he needs Snape. He needed Snape because he needed Snape to kill him. By his own engineering, he has weakened himself enough that Snape can do that. Snape wanted Dumbledore alive, he could NEVER have meant the Avada Kedavra enough for it to have a killing effect, so he had to use another spell to kill Dumbledore - a spell that would only be effective if Dumbledore was already incapacitated. He did that silently, and the AK out loud, so that no one would question his use of spell.

    Voldemort never tried to kill Dumbledore before...why start now? Dumbledore is the only wizard he was every afraid of..that is said repeatedly. Why send a young boy (Draco) to try to do it, and why would Snape make an Unbreakable Vow to help him? That makes NO sense. For some reason that will become very clear in book 7, Dumbledore needed to remove himself...to spur Harry on, to make Harry angry enough to take on Voldemort....or for some other reason entirely. Snape would never willingly agree to kill Dumbledore, but he would also never sacrifice himself to keep Dumbledore alive. I don't think that is what the vow was about. Nevertheless, Snape does kill Dumbledore because Dumbledore needs him to. We already know there is something deep and secret between them...some reason for absolute trust that no one else is aware of. The ONLY reason Snape would do it is at Dumbledore's request. Nothing else would be good enough.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I have to disagree with Dumbledore engineering his own death in the way you described because that would be the same as commiting suicide and Dumbledore would think that was unethical (quitting when all good people are needed)
     
    Willingly accepting death by drinking the potion so that others might live is within his moral parameters and even required in this case as D. sees himself as failing to prevent the rise of V and failing to protect the students in his care.
     
    Since he was already poisoned,  D would see setting himself up to be killed by Snape as morally okay because it would allow Snape to gain status with the Death Eaters and V. and continue his mission of infiltration with the ultimate goal of defeating V.
     
    So Snape killed D for more than one reason:
     
    A. Snape killed D as an act of mercy as he was going to suffer and die anyways
    B. Snape killed D to give himself more status with the Death Eaters and Voldemort.
     
    [sm=2cents.gif][;)
    • Gold Top Dog
    LOL yes...but if he knew he HAD to die, to allow Harry to continue, and to help Snape continue his job as a spy...what is wrong with engineering it so that it was on his own terms?

    Harry says in book 1 "I don't think anything happens at Hogwarts that Dumbledore doesn't know about."
    • Gold Top Dog
    OK, next question:

    Why did Dumbledore trust Snape so much?

    I am working on a theory....but...it's not clear in my head yet. Something that just occured to me about the meaning of a word.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Maybe JK has seen or read LOTR too much and Dumbles will be "back" in an even more powerful form...lol.
    • Gold Top Dog

    ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

    Maybe JK has seen or read LOTR too much and Dumbles will be "back" in an even more powerful form...lol.


    I don't think that happens with Dumbledore. I think it might happen with Sirius Black.
    • Gold Top Dog
    i heard on the radio that someone has posted several chapters on photobucket. maybe that will reveal the truth beforehand? [:D]
    • Gold Top Dog
    I refuse. I am not googling HP, not looking on photobucket, nothing. I will get my copy at midnight on Friday and not a minute sooner, and I won't expose myself to anything HP until I have finished the book. (Sometime on Saturday.)

    I think people who post spoilers are evil. It does nothing but ruin the book...I don't only want to know the ending, I want to know by what logical process the ending happened. I am only one person and I know many people feel differently, but I think J. K. Rowling has earned the right to have her wishes about when the book is released respected. I think "cheating" and getting the book early is a bad way to repay someone who has written books that I have gotten so much from.

    [sm=soap box.gif]
    • Gold Top Dog
    jkr has said that dumbledore WONT be "doing a gandalf".
     
    i think dumbledore would not have engineered his own death as such... that seems to grate against everything his character stands for.  but i think he would accept it with dignity and courage and would plan for it.  he seems to be aware of his impending death from the begining if book 6.  he seems like a man tying up his loose ends if you know what i mean.  perhaps when his hand got blackened he knew it was something that wouldnt get btr and wd slowly kill him?
     
    just my thouhgts [:D]
    • Gold Top Dog
    OK, I am more than willing to be proven wrong on Saturday! [:D]

    More theories:

    Percy will join the Death Eaters because Voldy will offer him power that he would never otherwise get.

    We will find out the significance of Harry's eyes and this will be one of the keys to the story. Lily gave Harry some kind of magic with her eyes.

    Draco will kill his father.

    There is some key plotline having to do with the danger of revering something or someone. (A clue in the meaning of a word.)

    We will find out something important involving Severus and Lily. I think it is that Snape was in love with Lily, and when Voldemort killed her Snape turned his back on him.

    We will find out what caused Snape's redemption, and thus why Dumbledore trusted him.

    Molly Weasley will die. If not her, one of the others, but I think her.

    Harry will find out how to get Sirius back from behind the veil. (There is a clue to this in the movie of The Order of..that isn't in the book.)

    We will find out the TRUE nature of the curse that killed Dumbledore. It wasn't the AK.

    Petunia will help Harry in some very necessary way.

    More in a bit..
    • Gold Top Dog
    [sm=bump2.gif]

    Need more theories!
    • Gold Top Dog
    Petunia will help Harry in some very necessary way.


    what way? [sm=rotfl.gif]
    • Gold Top Dog
    I'm getting the book as we speak so if anyone HAS to have it before everyone else, let me know! [;)]
    • Gold Top Dog
    I also think Molly Weasley won't make it.  I also have a feeling that Hagrid and/or Hermione will die for the cause.
     
    Sorry but Snape will definately turn out to be a good guy in the end.
     
    How do you guys think that Harry will vanquish the dark lord?  Will he really kill him?  How will he do it?  I dont think he has it in him to do an unforgiveable curse.  And how on earth is he going to get all those horcruxes when he wasn't exactly instrumental in finding or retrieving the locket?
     
    My current most all-consuming theory is that I *need* some revels.... I cant stop thinking about the strangely addictive orange flavoured ones and its very distracting.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Should I read the first chapter?  The book is HUGE, thank good ness!  Soooooo tempting...must.save.for.vacation!  [8D]