Allright, I made this topic since the one in Chit Chat is just a bunch of postwhoring about who has the book and how far along they are.
Anyway, on to the spoilers. I solved the book. Seriously, I figured it all out, and I'm pumped.
SNAPE IS STILL A GOOD GUY. He's still on our side, people. Proof lies WITHIN.
The initial tipoff: Dumbledore was dying from the potion. Let's assume that Snape didn't want to make the Unbreakable Vow (his hand, was of course, trembling) and he told Dumbledore everything. If Snape chose not to kill Dumbledore at that opportunity, the Unbreakable Vow would kill him. The Order of the Phoenix needed their Death Eater spy, and Dumbledore's hours were numbered. "Severus...please..." was an encouragement for Snape to do what he had to, not a plead for life.
Think: Does Dumbledore honestly sound like the kind of man who would plead for his own life? Has Dumbledore ever shown the slightest hint of fear? Dumbledore is a stoic man who accepts the natural way of things. In this case the natural way of things was for Dumbledore to die.
So what supports this theory? Bloody everything. I figured this whole thing out, from existing source material. (I'm quite proud of myself for doing this level of research, even if it is over something so trivial. I think this completely reveals Snape's true motives.
Our quest for truth begins at Page 810 of Order of the Phoenix:
Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before. He flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed "<u>Crucio!</u>"
Bellatrix screamed. The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had - she was already on her feet again, breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again - her counterspell hit the head of the handsome wizard, which was blown off and landed twenty feet away, gouging long scratches into the wooden floor.
"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. "You need to <u>mean</u> them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson..."
This is the only thing that got me (at first) about the "Dumbledore knew Snape had to kill him" theory. Granted, Avada Kedavra is more powerful than the Cruciatus Curse, and a half-assed Avada Kedavra is certainly more powerful than a half-assed Cruciatus. However, let us follow the facts:
1) Really powerful magic takes a lot of determination. This is true not only with Unforgivable Curses but also with spells like Patronus charms, and Apparating, to name a couple. The user of the spell has to have a great desire to see the effect of the spell come into fruition.
2) "Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed." - Crouch, impersonating Moody (Goblet of Fire, p. 217). This could be because he's talking to fourth-year wizards, or it could be because none of them really want to hurt Moody.
3) Despite all Harry's hatred for Bellatrix for killing Sirius, apparently he still didn't "really mean it" or "really want to cause pain." We've also been told repeatedly that Harry has a good heart, but still, it seems like Harry's desire to make Bellatrix suffer would have been greater than Snape's desire to kill Voldemort.
4) Despite Dumbledore's sad condition after drinking the potion in the cave, a successful Avada Kevadra curse would still require the caster to greatly lust for the death of the target.
5) Snape, knowing he couldn't muster the resolve to cast an Avada Kedavra, used the nonverbal Levicorpus spell, which, as the Half-Blood Prince, he would at least be very familiar with (remember, Harry learned it from Snape's Potions book) to fling Dumbledore's body far into the air, killing him from the impact. Avada Kevadra deaths usually aren't that spectacular. "The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as I am aware, they do not know to this day how the Riddles died, for the Avada Kedavra curse does not usually leave any sign of damage...the exception sits before me. That's Dumbledore, on p. 366.
6) At the same time he silently cast Levicorpus, Snape cast a half-hearted Avada Kedavra to get the necessary green light for effect. But Avada Kedavra simply doesn't blast someone into the air like that. Compare these descriptions:
Harry sent <u>Advanced Potion-Making</u> flying in panic; Ron was dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the ankle. (p. 239)
...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... (p. 596)
7) Regarding nonverbal spells, they were certainly brought up a lot more in this book than before, wouldn't anyone agree? Harry trying to nonverbally Accio Wand while paralyzed in the train car, nonverbal lessons from Snape himself, the nonverbal Levicorpus spell, and practically all of Dumbledore's spells being nonverbal...there's something Rowling is trying to bring to our attention here.
8) When Crouch/Moody casts Avada Kedavra on a spider in front of his DADA students, the spider simply curls up and dies. It doesn't get blasted into the air.
9) When Wormtail Avada Kedavras Cedric Diggory, once again, he isn't blasted into the air. For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. (Goblet of Fire, p. 638) Dumbledore looks different: Dumbledore's eyes were closed, but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping...[Harry] wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. (Half-Blood Prince, p. 608) Once again, Avada Kedavra leaves no marks. There wouldn't have been any blood if that were the cause of death.
10) The flash of green light produced by Avada Kedavra is described as "blinding" (Goblet of Fire, p. 216). This would be more than enough to distract the onlookers from the lesser flash caused by Levicorpus. I do not know how the wizard avoided the similar flash caused by Liberacorpus. Perhaps this was the doing of Dumbledore himself? Perhaps Dumbledore nonverbally allowed himself to drop?
11) Dumbledore was a man of 150, without wand and weakened greatly from his ordeal with the potion. He could not have possibly survived the fall, making it appear as if Avada Kedavra had worked.
So that's it. I think there's enough evidence to show that we didn't see a real Avada Kedavra, and that Snape's been on our side all along.
Comments?
Anyway, on to the spoilers. I solved the book. Seriously, I figured it all out, and I'm pumped.
SNAPE IS STILL A GOOD GUY. He's still on our side, people. Proof lies WITHIN.
The initial tipoff: Dumbledore was dying from the potion. Let's assume that Snape didn't want to make the Unbreakable Vow (his hand, was of course, trembling) and he told Dumbledore everything. If Snape chose not to kill Dumbledore at that opportunity, the Unbreakable Vow would kill him. The Order of the Phoenix needed their Death Eater spy, and Dumbledore's hours were numbered. "Severus...please..." was an encouragement for Snape to do what he had to, not a plead for life.
Think: Does Dumbledore honestly sound like the kind of man who would plead for his own life? Has Dumbledore ever shown the slightest hint of fear? Dumbledore is a stoic man who accepts the natural way of things. In this case the natural way of things was for Dumbledore to die.
So what supports this theory? Bloody everything. I figured this whole thing out, from existing source material. (I'm quite proud of myself for doing this level of research, even if it is over something so trivial. I think this completely reveals Snape's true motives.
Our quest for truth begins at Page 810 of Order of the Phoenix:
Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before. He flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed "<u>Crucio!</u>"
Bellatrix screamed. The spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had - she was already on her feet again, breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again - her counterspell hit the head of the handsome wizard, which was blown off and landed twenty feet away, gouging long scratches into the wooden floor.
"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. "You need to <u>mean</u> them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson..."
This is the only thing that got me (at first) about the "Dumbledore knew Snape had to kill him" theory. Granted, Avada Kedavra is more powerful than the Cruciatus Curse, and a half-assed Avada Kedavra is certainly more powerful than a half-assed Cruciatus. However, let us follow the facts:
1) Really powerful magic takes a lot of determination. This is true not only with Unforgivable Curses but also with spells like Patronus charms, and Apparating, to name a couple. The user of the spell has to have a great desire to see the effect of the spell come into fruition.
2) "Avada Kedavra's a curse that needs a powerful bit of magic behind it - you could all get your wands out now and point them at me and say the words, and I doubt I'd get so much as a nosebleed." - Crouch, impersonating Moody (Goblet of Fire, p. 217). This could be because he's talking to fourth-year wizards, or it could be because none of them really want to hurt Moody.
3) Despite all Harry's hatred for Bellatrix for killing Sirius, apparently he still didn't "really mean it" or "really want to cause pain." We've also been told repeatedly that Harry has a good heart, but still, it seems like Harry's desire to make Bellatrix suffer would have been greater than Snape's desire to kill Voldemort.
4) Despite Dumbledore's sad condition after drinking the potion in the cave, a successful Avada Kevadra curse would still require the caster to greatly lust for the death of the target.
5) Snape, knowing he couldn't muster the resolve to cast an Avada Kedavra, used the nonverbal Levicorpus spell, which, as the Half-Blood Prince, he would at least be very familiar with (remember, Harry learned it from Snape's Potions book) to fling Dumbledore's body far into the air, killing him from the impact. Avada Kevadra deaths usually aren't that spectacular. "The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as I am aware, they do not know to this day how the Riddles died, for the Avada Kedavra curse does not usually leave any sign of damage...the exception sits before me. That's Dumbledore, on p. 366.
6) At the same time he silently cast Levicorpus, Snape cast a half-hearted Avada Kedavra to get the necessary green light for effect. But Avada Kedavra simply doesn't blast someone into the air like that. Compare these descriptions:
Harry sent <u>Advanced Potion-Making</u> flying in panic; Ron was dangling upside down in midair as though an invisible hook had hoisted him up by the ankle. (p. 239)
...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... (p. 596)
7) Regarding nonverbal spells, they were certainly brought up a lot more in this book than before, wouldn't anyone agree? Harry trying to nonverbally Accio Wand while paralyzed in the train car, nonverbal lessons from Snape himself, the nonverbal Levicorpus spell, and practically all of Dumbledore's spells being nonverbal...there's something Rowling is trying to bring to our attention here.
8) When Crouch/Moody casts Avada Kedavra on a spider in front of his DADA students, the spider simply curls up and dies. It doesn't get blasted into the air.
9) When Wormtail Avada Kedavras Cedric Diggory, once again, he isn't blasted into the air. For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his open gray eyes, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised. (Goblet of Fire, p. 638) Dumbledore looks different: Dumbledore's eyes were closed, but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping...[Harry] wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. (Half-Blood Prince, p. 608) Once again, Avada Kedavra leaves no marks. There wouldn't have been any blood if that were the cause of death.
10) The flash of green light produced by Avada Kedavra is described as "blinding" (Goblet of Fire, p. 216). This would be more than enough to distract the onlookers from the lesser flash caused by Levicorpus. I do not know how the wizard avoided the similar flash caused by Liberacorpus. Perhaps this was the doing of Dumbledore himself? Perhaps Dumbledore nonverbally allowed himself to drop?
11) Dumbledore was a man of 150, without wand and weakened greatly from his ordeal with the potion. He could not have possibly survived the fall, making it appear as if Avada Kedavra had worked.
So that's it. I think there's enough evidence to show that we didn't see a real Avada Kedavra, and that Snape's been on our side all along.
Comments?
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