In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is Dumbledore really dead?

Question

Give me your view on this.

Answer 1

Frankly, I'm sort of upset that this issue is even being debated. I feel that J.K. Rowling made it clear that Dumbledore was hit with a killing curse, died, and has numorously said that the dead cannot come back to life. I don't understand why people can't accept this. It is war in the Potterverse, and people die. That's just the way it is.

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," (Speaking of Dumbledore) 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."

Read the full interview here:

ES: The majority thought he was going to die in book six — well, six or seven. Most thought it was going to be in seven.

JKR: Really. Yeah.

ES: It was probably 65/35, but definitely, most thought he was going to die.

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.

[Laughter.]

MA: It's interesting, because that moment — I think we all sort of felt like he was going to die as soon as he started imparting these huge swallows of wisdom.

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/#static:tlcinterviews/jkrhbp3

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.

Thanks for letting me post my opinion!

Cheers,
-Demeter

Answer 2

Yes he is. From the reader/writer stand point, he has to be. Harry didn't have room to grow with Dumbledore alive. Every time he got in serious trouble, Dumbledore was there to save him. Besides, this gives Harry an extremely personal reason to go after Voldemort.

Answer 3

This is a debate betwwen me and my husband. I believe he is dead. My husband says he is not. I believe he is dead because while Dumbledore hid Harry.. Harry tried all he could to get out of the spell and help, he could not. Suddenly he was free? Dumbledore died... that is how Harry became loose. I am open to other explanations.. I am dying to read the last book..
What a surprise was Prof. Snape, I was not expecting that...

Answer 4

Yes I believe Dumbledore is dead. I don't think anyone could have survived the fall from the Astronomy Tower even if they are wizard. The real question is did Dumbledore ask Snape to kill him? That's the one that has me stumped.

Answer 5

I believe Dumbles may be alive.

The short version of my theory is

1. Dumbledore was NOT Hit with the Killing Curse

2. Snape was Following Orders

3. The Headmaster is Alive

4. Hagrid is Keeping Secrets

the details for these statements can be found on my HP website
http://rpccstudent.tripod.com/

Answer 6

Here's a sketchy answer for you: I think he's dead, but I think (per the visit of Fawkes at his funeral) he will rise again. It's a fairly conventional narrative motif in fantasy fiction and, given the tenor the series has adopted in the past two books, I really do think that Rowling is gearing us up for a giddily happy ending. The septology, to my thinking, has a rising and falling in structure (remember how unbelievably happy Harry was at the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban?), and I think the fall is bottoming out. The seventh book offers Rowling a variety of options, and I think it's going to accentuate the positive.

Answer 7

i imagine he's both nevertheless alive, or he has left some way of added contacting Harry. he isn't any longer an fool, and he had a reason to believe Snape. per chance Snape quite became a traitor, yet Dumbledore must have popular this and planned it to some quantity.

Answer 8

okay i am not sure. when i first read the book i thought he was dead but then i read this website, i think its www.dumbledoreisnotdead.com or something like that, and its pointed out all these clues as to why dumbledore is not dead. it is one of the best sites i have read about it.

Answer 9

he is definitely dead!
even magic can't bring people back to life..
jk said that through dumbledore in book four.

Answer 10

Yesh...I didn't cry but it seemed like everyone else did. He's just a fake guy. What's the deal? He's not even the main character. No one cried when Sirius died...except me.