Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Half-Blood Prince/Chapter 27
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Chapter 27 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: The Lightning-Struck Tower
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[edit] Synopsis
Harry Apparates a weakened Dumbledore back to Hogsmeade. Collapsing, Dumbledore tells Harry to get him to Severus Snape. Madam Rosmerta runs up, reporting that the Dark Mark is floating over Hogwarts. She lends them brooms, and they fly to the Astronomy Tower, with Dumbledore mumbling incantations to allow them through Hogwarts' protective spells. Harry fears for his friends' lives.
As they land atop the tower, Dumbledore orders Harry to fetch Snape, but hearing footsteps in the stairwell, Dumbledore freezes Harry under his invisibility cloak. Draco Malfoy bursts through the door and disarms Dumbledore. Draco reveals his task is to kill Dumbledore, and it was he who helped the Death Eaters invade Hogwarts via a repaired Vanishing Cabinet. It is the same cabinet Montague was shoved into the previous year. The connecting Vanishing Cabinet is at Borgin and Burkes; Montague was stuck between them, sometimes hearing what was happening at the school, sometimes what was occurring at the store, until he finally managed to Apparate out. Draco also controlled Madame Rosmerta using the Imperius Curse; that was how he poisoned the bottle of mead Ron drank, and how Katie Bell got the necklace. Malfoy and a disarmed Dumbledore speak on the tower for quite a while as battle rages beneath them, and Malfoy seems to become more and more reluctant to kill Dumbledore; however, he believes he has no choice, as his and his mother's lives are at forfeit if he does not.
Dumbledore calmly reasons with the frightened and conscience-stricken Malfoy to abandon his mission, promising protection from Voldemort for him and his family. Malfoy falters, apparently about to accept Dumbledore's offer. However, as he is lowering his wand, four Death Eaters arrive: Amycus and Alecto Carrow, Fenrir Greyback, and one other. Their taunting cannot spur on Draco to kill Dumbledore; Fenrir volunteers, but is restrained by the fourth Death Eater. Harry hears yelling from below, heartened that the Hogwart defenders are undefeated, only walled off. Snape appears and pauses to survey the situation. Dumbledore calls his name softly, almost pleadingly. Snape momentarily gazes at Dumbledore, his face an expression of revulsion and horror, then points his wand directly at Dumbledore's heart and executes the lethal Avada Kedavra curse, hurling Dumbledore's lifeless body upward in the air, over the parapet, and to the ground below.
[edit] Analysis
Perhaps the greatest mystery in the entire series is, did Snape actually murder Dumbledore or did they have some prearranged plan? There is evidence to support either conclusion, and despite Dumbledore's unwavering trust in Snape, his loyalty remained questionable to Harry and to readers. Regardless, it appears that Snape had little choice; he must either kill Albus Dumbledore or die, since he is bound by the Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco Malfoy and complete his mission should Draco fail. Although many readers may believe that if Snape was truly loyal to Dumbledore, then he should have willingly sacrificed himself to protect him and Harry, yet Snape does not. It is possible that Snape and Dumbledore were communicating with each other using Legilimency, and Dumbledore's pleas may represent a request for Snape to sacrifice him to protect Harry and allow Snape to remain in the Dark Lord's favor, implying that Snape might play a key role if Harry is to destroy the Dark Lord. These speculations, and whether or not Dumbledore was actually dead, were hotly debated by readers until the seventh and final Harry Potter book.
Other clues: In every other appearance of the Avada Kedavra curse, the victim merely collapsed and died. Yet in this instance, the curse's recipient (Dumbledore) is hurled into the air and spun around before falling dead to the ground below.
In previous books, Rowling included a particular character who demonstrated suspicious behavior (e.g. the implication that Snape was trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone in book 1), before revealing it was actually someone else (e.g. Quirrell was attempting to obtain the Sorcerer's Stone). Given this tendency of planting red herrings, it is impossible to say conclusively where Snape's loyalty lies. His actions have been such that he has been useful to both sides and has done nothing that would force him to choose one over the other.
Dumbledore seems either to have been intending to die or was taking a tremendous gamble. The Death Eaters were able to quickly conjure an impenetrable barrier on the stairway, which begs the question why Dumbledore did not react similarly after hearing footsteps on the Astronomy Tower staircase. This would have allowed both Harry and himself an opportunity to escape, but instead he chose to incapacitate Harry, preventing him from intervening and allowing himself to be disarmed by Draco Malfoy, an unqualified wizard. He was either expecting (or planning) to be killed by either Draco or Snape, or he hoped to turn Malfoy over to his side.
As a side note, the fourth Death Eater present at Dumbledore's death, who is never named here, is later identified as Yaxley. Yaxley had been a Death Eater in Voldemort's old organization, and will play a moderately significant role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
[edit] Questions
- Why did Dumbledore paralyze Harry Potter under his Invisibility Cloak upon Draco's arrival on the Tower?
- Why would Snape kill Albus Dumbledore? Was it ruthless murder or a prearranged plan?
- If Snape actually is loyal to Dumbledore (as Dumbledore always claimed), why wouldn't he be willing to sacrifice himself to save Dumbledore and Harry?
- Why did the Avada Kedavra curse affect Dumbledore differently than it has others?
- If Dumbledore did not know about Snape's Unbreakable Vow, he nevertheless suggests to Draco Malfoy that "perhaps Severus may have told you so," implying that Snape might not really be disobeying Dumbledore. Is it possible he was bluffing to Malfoy?
[edit] Greater Picture
Nothing is mentioned in this chapter about what happened to Dumbledore's wand after it went flying over the tower with him. However, it is revealed in book seven that the wand was interred with Dumbledore's corpse, and it becomes an important plot element in the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort.
Dumbledore's death was premeditated by both himself and Snape; Snape was charged to kill him at an appropriate time to spare Malfoy from completing Voldemort's task. Dumbledore was slowly dying from a deadly curse that was triggered when he put on the now-destroyed Horcrux (Gaunt's ring). Wishing to die by his own design, he tasked Snape with his death. The potion Dumbledore drank in the cave had left him too weak to defend himself. His plea to Snape was to carry out his final wish, which Snape reluctantly executed.
