Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

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Here's the rest of it...

To quote Sirius Black, 'There are things worth dying for.' Most characters feel this way. I believe that Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and every member of the Order would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their cause. On the other side, Bellatrix Lestrange and most of the other Death Eaters are most likely willing to lay down their lives for Voldemort. Snape is not like that at all. I do think that Snape will redeem himself somewhat, but not because he's actually on the good side. Snape is on Snape's side.

Dumbledore hasn't lost any credibility by misjudging Snape. Dumbledore was not perfect, despite what Harry used to think. Dumbledore's greatest weakness was being too trusting. He almost looked at the world with the innocence of a child. Because Dumbledore was so good, he could only see the good in other people. His kind and forgiving heart can get the better of him. For example, he lets Hagrid teach Care of Magical Creatures even though Hagrid is not a good teacher and never finished school. I don't think that Dumbledore was completely wrong about Snape, but I don't think he had it all right either.

I dont know I think Dumbledore agreed to die so that Snape could stay(get) in the Death Eaters good graces which Dumbledore thought was more important then his own life (hes not one to think too highly of his life I think.) Remember Dumbledore will still have his photo and will still be able to talk to Harry and advise him on his way so I think he will be able to still help and so will Snape.

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Here is an interview with J.K. Rowling that the fansites MuggleNet and The Leaky Cauldron got to do when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out on July 16, 2005. In these excerpts she talks about whether Snape is evil and if Dumbledore knew he was going to die. ES stands for Emerson Spartz (from MuggleNet), MA stands for Melissa Anelli (from The Leaky Cauldron), and JKR stands for J.K. Rowling.

She answered nothing though, thats not very nice, she better hurry up and release book 7.

_________________
"we never get respect ... never a fair trial
[swearing removed by lau] ... as long as we smile"
Im tired of smiling.

Vote for me in 2020

In all of the first five books Snape has been made to appear evil right up until the end when his actions are explained, we then see that everything he did with the appearance of evil was actually good. In book one we see him cursing Harry on his broom only to find out it was a countercurse, Harry believes Snape was trying to steal the philosopher's stone but we find out that he was preventing quirrel from stealing it.

The same pattern is repeated in each of the next four books. In the sixth book there is no redemption, the pattern breaks. I think the last cycle is simply split into two books, Snape will continue to seem evil right up until the end of book seven where we will see how his actions worked for good.

I got it! Dumbledore wanted Malfoy to succeed so a) he has a chance to make the offer and b) he can fight the death eaters on his terms. Once they cornered him in the staircase Dumbledore was dead unless Snape sacrificied his position (and even then they would probably both die.) Also as I said before Dumbledore didnt seem to value his life much. So once hes cornered in that stairwell it makes more sense for Snape to kill him then let anyone else do it so he can gain their trust. Am I missing anything?

_________________
"we never get respect ... never a fair trial
[swearing removed by lau] ... as long as we smile"
Im tired of smiling.

Vote for me in 2020

JKR has set Dumbledore up for us to put so much faith in him, almost that he is invincible-- except for "forgeting about what it was like to be young".

If she was going to take the path that Dumbledore wasn't expecting to die, she should have given Dumbledore more flawes earlier on in some of the books. Because it's completely unexpected.

The way she set up Dumbledore throughout the series, and since these are books and not actual human beings, the logical conclusion would be that Dumbledore was almost perfect and expected his death.

But she's clearly (though subtly) stating that he has imperfections, and trusting Snape was one of them.

Really? I think Dumbledore and Snape have been in cahoots from the very beginning. I think Snape will somehow help Harry in Book 7.

I hope J. K. Rowling does not choose to kill Harry Potter in her seventh book because I think there are some Harry Potter Fans that are so devoted, they might do something to her if she does. Does anyone remember reading Misery, by Stephen King? I am afraid something like that could happen to her, if she kills Harry Potter.

Now that we've discussed the 'Is Snape evil?/Did Dumbledore know he was going to die?' theory, let's discuss one of the other big ones...

Harry: Horcrux or not a horcrux?

I don't think that Harry is a horcrux, but I am thinking that his scar might be. I think that Voldemort made it accidently. To make a horcrux, the caster has to commit a murder. Voldemort murdered James and Lily Potter right before. Also, Harry's scar burns whenever Voldemort feels any sort of passionate emotion. The prophecy says that Vodemort 'will mark him as his equal'. What is more equal than part of yourself? In OotP Harry has the dream that he is Nagini. Nagini is a horcrux and if Harry (or at least his scar) is a horcrux, then it would make sense that he 'was' the snake. JKR has been setting it up that there is something special about that scar. This is from Chapter 30 of GoF:

'Dumbledore looked very intensely at Harry for a moment, and then said, "I have a theory, no more than that ... It is my belief that your scar hurts both when Lord Voldemort is near you, and when he is feeling a particularly strong surge of hatred."

"But ... why?"

"Because you and he are connected by the curse that failed," said Dumbledore. "That is no ordinary scar." '

Bec- that's a heckuva theory!

If his scar is a horcrux, then Harry will definitely have to die in order to kill Lord Voldemort. But Harry would have to die BEFORE him to destroy the final horcrux and then Voldemort will still be alive but mortal, so somebody else (maybe Neville) would have to finish Voldemort off.

There's also the deal where Dumbledore might not be dead because he was blasted back form the Avada curse and not one else who died from it was.