Harry Potter book 6?

Question

Is Dumbledore REALLY dead? I think a wizard powerful enough to stop Voldemort wouldn't stand there and let snap kill him. They say that because the spell was lifted from Harry that Dumbledore is surely dead, but isn't the WHOLE BOOK BASED ON NONVERBAL SPELLS?!?!? Wake up people! lol...Dumbledore is a master wizard...don't you think he could manage a nonverbal; spell? And don't you think it odd that his body wasn't displayed at the funeral?!@!?!?!?11one!!

1. If Snape were to truly believe that he killed Dumbledore, wouldn't that prevent him from being killed? If he knowingly broke it, he would have died.

2. In Potterverse, portraits are NOT only of dead people. Don't you remember Dumbledores chocolate frog card? He was movin around on that, and he was certainly alive and healthy then.

3. Of course the hero must go on alone. Dumbledore will stay out of it, I think, and Harry must go on by himself, just like in Philosopher's Stone…remember at the end when he left Ron and Hermione and did it alone? Neither one of them died.

Answer 1

Well, I'm not too sure but I really hope that Dumbledore is not dead. The book would definitely miss something without him. Besides every thing seemed... strange when he died; it was as though he wasn't really dead. Remember he always said he had a very good reason for trusting Snape? So, maybe Snape killing Dumbledore was a plan and he just pretended to kill him.

Answer 2

Ohmygod. Okay, I put off reading the bood forever b/c I knew something bad was going to happen (I had owned it since it came out & hadn't touched it)...I just finished last night...

Surely Dumbledore can't be gone. I mean, good grief, he's a brilliant wizard who is a member of every organization in the wizarding world (or the good ones). He's Headmaster, he's Harry's mentor, he's the school's, the Order's, and the underage wizarding community's protector as far as I can tell...He just can't be gone...And all that foreshadowing (I hope)! When Scrimgeor (spelling?) says to Harry after the funeral that even a wizard like Dumbledore couldn't prevent death & what was with flames, etc at the funeral, and you are totally right about all that nonverbal stuff, I hadn't thought of that.

I just refuse to believe it! No, no, no!!!

PS- I am w/ the person who said that about Snape...I don't totally buy into Snape being a Death Eater, yeah, he's a great giant meany but something is just not clicking w/ the Snape thing. There's no actual proof I don't think...A lot of shifty evidence & stuff but nothing hardcore except for Dumbledore's death...I hope it's all an elaborate ruse....

PPS- Demeter has some very good points...I have also thought of these things. I just don't want to believe them. I guess I am too soft hearted & everybody keeps dying on Harry so I guess I hope that maybe somehow Dumbledore really didn't die.

Answer 3

Yes, Dumbledore is indeed dead. He was blasted with the killing curse and fell of the astronomy tower. Come on people, did you read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince or not? I felt that the chapter about Dumbledore's funeral was written with such passion. It would be extremely cheap if J.K. Rowling were to come back in book seven and be like, "Gotcha, everyone! Dumbledore's alive and here do pilot Harry's adventure for him!" If Dumbledore were to come back in the last book of the series, I would be very disappointed. Harry needs to go out on his adventure by himself.
If you are not convinced, here are some other reasons:

1. If Dumbledore did not die, why didn't Snape from breaking the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy? Snape would die if he broke his promise to protect Draco. If Dumbledore were still alive, that would contradict Snape's vow. He wouldn't have been helping Draco by not killing Dumbledore.

2. What do you say about Dumbledore's portrait? J.K. Rowling specifically mentions a portrait of his being hung in the office with all the previous headmasters and headmistresses. In the Potterverse, they are only of dead people.

3. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, J.K. ROWLING SAID SO IN AN INTERVIEW: (http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/#static:tlcinterviews/jkrhbp3 )
JKR: Yeah, well, I think if you take a step back, in the genre of writing that I'm working in, almost always the hero must go on alone. That's the way it is, we all know that, so the question is when and how, isn't it, if you know anything about the construction of that kind of plot.

ES: The wise old wizard with the beard always dies.

JKR: Well, that's basically what I'm saying, yes.

For those of you who believe that Dumbledore is alive, you may need to go back and do some re-reading.

Oh, and Chocolate Frog Cards are different from portraits. They do not talk. They only move. And I see you haven't responded to what JKR said.

Frankly, I feel as if this topic shouldn't even be debated. He's dead :-( *sob* I feel your pain.

Answer 4

Yes, Dumbledore is really dead. Some other points to consider:

1) It was Hagrid who prepared Dumbledore's body, and Hagrid can't lie to Harry if his life depended on it. Also, Hagrid cannot fake the grief he displayed.

2) Certainly PHOTOS in the Potterverse can be of living people, and the frog card was most likely a photo. However, all of the portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses are of dead people. Plus, Dumbledore's portrait showed him taking his deserved rest.

3) Consider Fawkes's lament. A phoenix's song is known for "increasing the courage of the pure in heart and striking fear into the hearts of the impure." Therefore, it would be an oxymoron to have a lying phoenix or to cast a spell on him to make him lie. Fawkes knew that Dumbledore is dead.

4) Dumbledore suspected he'd be dead by the end of the school year, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to tell the Dursleys to take Harry back at the outset of this story.

5) As Dumbledore said, the potion protecting the horcrux was not a health drink. He also said that it wouldn't kill the drinker right away. Ipso facto, the potion was a slow-acting poison and was killing him. And Dumbledore knew that. When he pleaded with Snape by repeating "please," it was to beg Snape to use the killing curse on him in order to fulfill the Unbreakable Vow. Snape promised to do the deed, himself, if Draco couldn't do it, so according to the vow, one of them had to kill Dumbledore or else Snape died. Dumbledore was actually in a "win-win" situation: he was dying anyway, he wanted to protect Draco from becoming a killer, and he didn't want Snape to die. Thus, Snape was forced into the awful role of having to be Dumbledore's killer and the "revulsion and hatred" of that reality showed on his face - JUST LIKE Harry felt when he was forced to feed Dumbledore the potion:
<> (p. 571)

You give credit to Dumbledore for being a master wizard, and yet you're not giving him credit for trustinig Snape. Many of the others who'd like to believe that Dumbledore isn't dead claim that Snape's "Avada Kedavra" was fake, based on the theory that Unforgiveable Curses don't work if you don't really mean them. But you admit that Snape meant the curse to work and that's why Snape didn't die. But then, if Snape meant it, then the Avada Kedavra worked. The rule in the Potterverse is that only sacrificial love can protect someone from the killing curse.

Snape is a master at Legilimency and Dumbledore knew that. The two were on the same wavelength when Dumbledore said "Severus...please..." This very scenario was already discussed - and argued about - by the two of them, and that was the argument that Hagrid overheard in the forest.

Bottom line: J.K. Rowling ingeniously wrote book 6 to be ambigious so that you could interpret it either way. So the ultimate question is actually, do you trust Dumbledore to be true to his word and wise for trusting Snape?

P.S. Kudos to Demeter for a great answer.

Answer 5

I think he is, because that is what is going to keep Harry going in the last book. REVENGE for everyone who has been killed. Dumbledore's death just made it seem so much more real.

Answer 6

I hope ur write and hes not really dead but i guess we well find out in the next book, its the last one so everything well hopfully be anserd the write way.

Answer 7

yes he is definatly dead, but you are right the whole suspense is that .why didnt he try killing snape .wait for the next book and all your questions will be answered

Answer 8

Dumbles was not hit with the killing curse.
He is not dead.
Hagrid and Snape are in on it.

I list the reasons on my website
http://rpccstudent.tripod.com/

Answer 9

i know rite? i think hes not dead besides the author wouldnt let a character thats that important die...just like that.

Answer 10

Yes, he is. I was so unhappy when I read it...It was like a bad dream...Same thing with Sirius Black.