Does anyone else think that Dumbledore didn't actually die in the sixth book?

Question

When he "died", he burst into flames, and when phoenixes die, they burst into flames, too. But after they burst into flames, they come back to life. Will the same thing happen to Dumbeldore?

Answer 1

i think hes still going to live for first the reason u popinted out and......



He could not understand how it happened -- Expelliarmus was not a Freezing Charm -- Then, by the light of the Mark, he saw Dumbledore's wand flying in an arc over the edge of the ramparts and understood... Dumbledore had wordlessly immobilzed Harry, and the second he had taken to perform this spell had cost him the chance of defending himself. (HBP pg 584/545)

Why did Dumbledore freeze Harry? Harry was already invisible to their attackers and in no danger.

The only explanation could be that Dumbledore already knew, had already planned, that he would die this night (or appear to die), and not only did he not want Harry to become involved and possibly be injured himself, he needed Harry to be a witness, to be able to tell everyone else what happened.

Dumbledore might have also promised Snape that he would make sure that Harry would not be able to interfere, knowing how Harry feels about Snape and what Snape was about to have to do.

The supposition that it was Dumbledore's plan to do this all along is supported by the fact that he acted so quickly to do it, almost without thinking, when Draco burst in on the scene.

While Dumbledore is trying to talk Draco out of killing him, Dumbledore proposes an interesting way out for Draco:

"I can help you, Draco." "No, you can't," said Malfoy, his wand shaking very badly indeed. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'd kill me. I've got no choice." "He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine." (HBP pg 591/552)

Dumbledore then offers to expand his mother in the protection, and even Lucius when he gets out of Azkaban.

This is very interesting, isn't it? Draco doesn't take him up on it, but Dumbledore is saying he has ways that could make it appear that Draco died when he really hadn't. Doesn't that sound exactly like what we suspect that Dumbledore has planned for himself?


Fawkes doesn't try to save Dumbledore

We've seen Fawkes come in at the last moment and save Harry's life in Chamber of Secrets:

As Harry trembled, ready to close his eyes if it turned, he saw what had distracted the snake. Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long and thin as sabers -- Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sunk out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered the floor. (CoS pg 318/234)

And he also saved Dumbledore in Order of the Phoenix:

... one more jet of green light had flown at Dumbledore from Voldemort's wand and the snake had struck -- Fawkes swooped down in front of Dumbledore, opened his beak wide, and swallowed the jet of green light whole. He burst into flame and fell to the floor, small, wrinkled and flightless. (OotP pg 814/719)

We know Fawkes was nearby the tower, as he shows up after Dumbledore's "death". So, why didn't Fawkes come to save Dumbledore this time?

I think the fact that he didn't makes it possible to believe that Dumbledore didn't want his life to be saved, and this supports the theory that it was Dumbledore's plan all along to "die" up on that tower that night.

Every other time we've seen the Avada Kedavra performed, the victim simply falls over dead:

He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumbled. He was dead before he hit the floor. (GoF pg 15/19)

From high above his head, he heard a high, cold voice say, "Kill the spare." A swishing noise and a second voice, which screeched the words to the night: "Avada Kedavra!" A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to ground beside him. Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead. (GoF pg 638/553)

However, in Half-Blood Prince, when Snape curses Dumbledore with the same spell, Dumbledore violently flies up and away from the tower:

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!" A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror never left him; silently he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air. For a split second, he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he slowly fell backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight. (HBP pg 596/556)

Why would this application of the Avada Kedavra be so different from every other time we've seen it?

Perhaps his spell was different because even though those were the words Snape said, he didn't perform the killing curse at all. Remember all the importance this book gave to "nonverbal" spells? Perhaps Snape said Avada Kedavra, but the curse he was really thinking, the nonverbal one, was a different curse, one that only made it appear that Dumbledore was dead.

At the very begining of the big scene between Draco, Dumbledore and Snape, one of the first things that happens is Dumbledore loses his wand:

The door burst open and somebody erupted through it and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" ... by the light of the Mark, he saw Dumbledore's wand flying in an arc over the edge of the ramparts ... (HBP pg 584/545)

But where is his wand now?

We know a wizard's wand is very important to him, and a wand that belonged to a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore would be a very important item to know the whereabouts of, something you wouldn't want falling into the wrong hands.

This clue might not mean as much if we didn't know the customs of wizards in such occasions, but we do! Five chapters ago, when Harry and Slughorn were consoling Hagrid over the death of Aragog, Hagrid and Sluggy sang a song about a wizard called Odo, and Sluggy sang the lines:

And Odo the hero, they bore him back home,
To the place that he'd known as a lad,
They laid him to rest with his hat inside out
And his wand snapped in two, which was sad. (HBP pg 488/456)

But as far as we know, they didn't snap Dumbledore's wand in two. After the scene at the top of the tower, Dumbledore's wand is simply never mentioned again.

Is it possible that Dumbledore's wand is missing because Dumbledore still has his wand, still needs his wand, because he's not dead?

Also, even thought I think hes alive, I belive that he will die in the beginging or middle of book 7.

Answer 2

Dumbledore is so 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 and closure.. 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! Sorry for making all of you hardcore fans upset!" 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.

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. JKR PRACTICALLY SAID SO. In an interview by Emerson Spartz and Melissa Anelli, J.K. Rowling responded to "The wise old wizard always dies," with "That's what I'm basically saying, yes." J.K. Rowling wouldn't lie to us. If she said he's dead, he's dead.

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

Also, please read the link in my sources. It is an excellent essay about Dumbledore's death from The Leaky Cauldron.

Answer 3

Well, the fact that he's now the only person to have been buried on the Hogwart's grounds struck me as interesting. So, ghosts exist because they have unfinished business or are other wise tied to a location (this is courtesy of Nearly Headless Nick, mind you), so I think he's going to become one of Hogwart's most important ghosts, and will help Harry that way in the last book.

Answer 4

This is one of the most commonly asked questions in the Books and Authors section. OK... my answer is no.... I think it has something to do with either the Sorcerer's Stone or the Phoenix.

Answer 5

Well, people are saying he lived through a Horcrux, but why would Dumbledore kill anyone?!

I sadly agree that he dies, leaving Harry.

Answer 6

no dumbledore died in the sixth book pretty quick ending

Answer 7

Absolutely. It's a trick, thought up by Dumbledore. Didn't he say, "I will only be gone from this castle when there are none who beleive in me"?

Answer 8

well everybody has their opinions and some people think he died but i don't i mean that's not right for a harry potter book he just dies wow good ending no you have to think about it logically

Answer 9

He's dead. It's a huge plot change, and it'll take some time to get used to.

Answer 10

i think that he died. in one interview with jkr she said something to the effect that she feels that the hero must continue on alone.