The Astronomy Tower

HP-5, page 614, "Oho!" said Fudge, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet again. "Yes, do let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story... Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible dementors?"

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Part One: Contents.

Part Two: Dumbledore had a plan.
- - - For What Purpose?

Part Three: Snape was in on the plan.

Part Four: Snape is still a good guy.
- - - Using hate -- Snape's best trick of all.
- - - Need a little rehash of the psychoanalysis of Snape. Sometime.

Part Five: Snape helped to fake Dumbledore's Death.
- - - Snape pretended to use the Avada Kedavera" curse.

Part Six: Tricky Moves. Dumbledore has a lot of them.

Part Seven: Falling. Snape turned his time back a few minutes,
- - - went outside below the tower, and caught Dumbledore as he fell.

Part Eight: What we need is more time.

Part Nine: Rest and Regroup.

Part Ten: The Drought of Living Death.

Part Eleven: Concerning Fawkes, McGonagall and Bill.

Part Twelve: The "Funeral."

Part Thirteen: And the Clincher, "He cannot kill you if you are already dead,"
- - - and JKR's Editors

Part Fourteen: Those Worthless Interviews.

Part Fifteen: (reserved)

Part Sixteen: Bragging Points.

FOR WHAT PURPOSE? (Q & A style)

Dumbledore might have planned his death so that Snape could help Harry and the order from the inside. Absolutely. For that, he would need to make it convincing. To actually die would be as easy -- as easy as getting hit by a train or falling off a high tower. It would not require a significant amount of brain power. To fake his death, with all the right witnesses, would be much more difficult.

Dumbledore relizes that, according to the prophesy, Harry must defeat Voldemort on his own. Here, again, we need to seperate the minds of the characters from mind of the author. These are two seperate issues: (1) For the sake of the plot, many people want to see the final show-down between just Harry and Voldemort; and (2) Many believe that the prophesy requires Harry to be completely on his own.

For the drama of it all, sure, I want to see them alone in the end. JKR manages that all the time. We saw Harry's companions drop off, one by one, on the way to rescue the Philosopher's Stone. No one died. We saw it again on the way to rescue Ginny and on the way out of the Shrieking Shack. She does not need to kill them just to get them out of the way.

As for the prophesy: We know that Harry is the one with the power to vanquish Voldemort, but we do not actually know the details of how it will play out. He will certainly not be alone. He has Hermione, Ron and a whole extended support system.
At no point did Trelawney say that Harry needs to do it without any help from Dumbledore. Also, Dumbledore has explained in the sixth book (and JKR has reinforced and clarfied in her interviews) that the prophesy is not really such a big deal. It is only as important as Harry and Voldemort make it. The distinction may be subtle and hard to grasp, but Harry realized by the end of their conversation (ending on page 512, HBP) "...that there was all the difference in the world."

Dumbledore could have sacrificed himself; he is not afraid of death. He said there are worst things than death. Here we need to seperate the JKR logic from the character logic again. To the author, sacrificing Dumbledore for the sake of the story might make sense. To the individual it would not. Planning one's own death, for no good reason, is crazy. Dumbledore might not be overly afraid of death, but he would not commit suicide for no reason at all. To consciously and deliberately sacrifice himself -- and to spend so much time making such an elaborate plan -- he would need a reason. He had none.

What if his death was not actually a part of his elaborate plan? Within the logic of the story? Ok, it could happen that way. Dumbledore, who was not afraid of death, might have been willing to take a risk. In the mind of the author? No way. To let him accidentally die after all that? I don't think so. The plan was too beautiful to waste. Dumbledore's actual death would serve no purpose. The illusion of his death is all we need.

But what if it does serve a purpose? What if JKR has a plan that is going to be a huge twist? Ok, I'll throw you a crumb here. I have only weak answers that are not worth printing. How can I hope to fathom the mind of JKR?

What purpose would it serve if he does come back? Dumbledore certainly did not tell Harry everything he knows. 150 years of learning would take too long to transfer. Neither could he have shared everything he suspects about Harry and Voldemort. Still, I believe that Dumbledore willfully withheld certain information that is crucial. It's what Dumbledore does, after all -- an old man's mistake. I do have some ideas on what information Dumbledore might have withheld -- crucial information without which the plot can not continue, but that's another story. I think we're all confused enough with this topic for the moment.

Why can't his portrait continue in that line?
The old man still has a few tricks up his sleve that he can't do from the office.

ONLY ONE SCENERIO IS IMPOSSIBLE: With JKR, just about anything is possible -- with one exception. I have heard people express the opinion that Dumbledore is dead and at the same time that Snape is good. Sorry, gang, but Dumbledore is not that crazy. A little daft, perhaps, but not that crazy. You can't have it both ways. Either they took the time to plan, in which case Dumbledore lives, or they did not, and Snape is evil. It's either: Dumbledore-alive-Snape-good, OR Dumbledore-dead-Snape-bad. Those are the choices.

PART THREE: SNAPE WAS IN ON THE PLAN.

We have too many give-aways. One could be an error on the part of JKR, but so many cannot be an accident.
(She has already confessed to the error in HP-4, where the shadow of James comes out of Voldemort's wand before the shadow of Lily. Note that she has NOT acknowledged an error in the "already dead" paragraph -- see section 13, below.)

Very suspiscious is the fact that Dumbledore gave the job to Snape, knowing that he would not be able to keep it for more than a year. This shows that the plan was already in place before the school year started. Snape might not have known of the curse, but Dumbledore has certainly known for about forty years.
HP-6, page 446 "Was he after the Defense Against the Dark Arts job again, sir? He didn't say..."
"Oh, he definitely wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts job," said Dumbledore. "The aftermath of our little meeting proved that. You see, we have never been able to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for longer than a year since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."

We know that those two were up to something from Hagrid's report:
HP-6, page 405, I was comin' outta the forest the other evenin' an' I overheard 'em talking -- well, arguin'. ... I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he -- Snape -- didn' wan' ter do it anymore ... Dumbledore told him flat out he'd agreed ter do it an' that was all there was to it."

Also, ann accomplished Legilimens such as Snape would have known that Harry was with them on the tower. If he were not in on the plot, he would have exposed Harry. Snape ignored Harry completely, and didn't even bother to sneer on his way by.

The most obvious clue was in the way Snape continued to be a teacher, all the way to the gate. He protected Harry from the Death Eaters, and continued teaching to the end:
HP-6, page 603, "Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" sneered Snape...

PART FOUR: SNAPE IS STILL A GOOD-GUY.
A little repulsive, perhaps, but essentially on the right side.

Yes, he loves to harrass Harry whenever he can. He only gets in the way when he doesn't know, and when Dumbledore doesn't know, what's going on.

For example, when Harry found Barty Crouch, Sr. near the forest, Snape tried to prevent Harry from reaching Dumbledore. Having had no recent contact with Voldemort, Snape did not know what it meant. As he explained to Bellatrix (HP-6, page 2 "He did not know whether he could trust me. He thought, like you, that I had turned from faithful Death Eater to Dumbledore's stooge." and "...I had no idea of his plans; I have already confessed that I thought the Dark Lord dead."

Still, he comes through when it counts.

HP-5, page 830, "...when you gave Professor Snape that cryptic warning, he realized that you had had a vision of Sirius...(he) attempted to contact Sirius at once...found that Sirius was alive and safe in Grimmauld Place. When you did not return from your trip into the forest...He alerted certain Order members at once...It was he who deduced where you had gone...it was he too who gave Professor Umbridge fake Veritaserum when she was attempting to force you to tell of Sirius' whereabouts..."

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USING HATE.

Snape's best trick of all, better even than his performance on the night of Dumbledore's "murder," is his trick on Voldemort.

HP-6, page 26 (Snape to Bellatrix) "You think he is mistaken? Or that I have somehow hoodwinked him? Fooled the Dark Lord, the greatest wizard, the most accomplished Legilimens the world has ever seen?"

HP-5, page 531, Snape said, "The Dark Lord... almost always knows when somebody is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and so utter falsehoods in his presence without detection."

I have suspected for a long time that Snape was faking it. The childish hostility between James and Snape when they were kids does not add up. He should have grown up and moved on by now. I am sure that Snape's carefully cultivated hatred of Harry is for a purpose. A good actor does not just pretend; he digs deep to find something that he can really feel. Sure, Snape's grudge against Harry is real. The best lies are half-true. But Snape is hamming it way-way-way up. I also believe that Dumbledore has been tolerating Snape's bad behavior, from the beginning, because it is a part of Snape's master plan for fooling Voldemort.

Snape is able to "shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie," but that is not enough. Eventually, Voldemort would notice a blank, stone wall where a person with emotions should be. Snape needs to fill that blank space with something credible. Voldemort does not have the social / emotional depth to psychoanalyze Snape. While intelligent enough in some ways, he is not big on people skills. He will see this strong emotion and believe it. And Snape can use it as a cover for whatever he is really up to.

Dumbledore, too, is fooling Harry so that Voldemort will believe. Dumbledore is taking advantage of the fact that Harry never mastered Occlumency. It is all for a good cause, and I am sure that Harry will approve and forgive in the end.

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AND SPEAKING OF HATE --

HP-6, page 595, "Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face."

HP-6, page571, "Hating himself, repulsed by what he was doing, Harry forced the goblet back toward Dumbledore's mouth and tipped it, so that Dumbledore drank the remainder of the potion inside."

Like Harry, Snape was just following orders.
And like Harry, Snape was not happy about it.

PART FIVE: SNAPE HELPED TO FAKE DUMBLEDORE\'S DEATH

SNAPE PRETENDED TO USE THE "AVADA KEDAVERA" curse. Yes, he shouted it aloud. Still, what he actually used was a non-verbal "Impedimentia" or even a simple "Expelliarmus," along with a little something to make that green jet of light. Please note that the familiar "rushing sound" is not mentioned in the incident on the astronomy tower.

For any reader who had forgotten the use of non-verbal spell casting at this point, Snape gave to Harry (and JKR gave to us ) a refresher course on his way out to the gate. At the same time, he also reminds us of Occlumency, which suggests to me that Snape and Dumbledore communicated, perhaps at length, in those few minutes on the tower via Legilimency.

HP-6, page 603, "Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" sneered Snape, deflecting the curse once more.

The exchange may have gone something like this:
Dumbledore: Do you have the time-turner? Yes, I see that you do.
- - - And the potions. Very good.
Snape: You know that I am not happy about this...
Dumbledore: Neither am I. Still, we must finish what we started.
Snape: It's all too dangerous. Too many things can go wrong.
Dumbledore: A simple "Expelliarmus" should knock me off this tower.
- - - You will use the Time-Turner and catch me as I fall.
Snape: And what if it doesn't work? What if you actually die?
Dumbledore: Severus, we've been through all that. Please, before our only opportunity passes.
Snape: "Avada Kedavera!"

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THE SPELL SNAPE USED ON THE TOWER SIMPLY DOES NOT MATCH.

We have seen the AVADA KEDAVRA curse too many times. The victims do not fly up or back; they crumble and die on the spot.

HP-1, page 29, "He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents died. ...When he strained his memory... a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead."

HP-4, page 4, [b]"...the Riddles all appeared to be in perfect health -- apart from the fact that they were all dead."[b/]

HP-4, page 15, "There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor."

HP-4, page 216, "There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air -- instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back, UNMARKED, BUT UNMISTAKABLY DEAD."

HP-4, page 638, (Kill the spare) "A blast of green light blazed through Harry's eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him... he opened his stinging eyes. Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead. ...Harry stared into Cedric's face, at his OPEN gray EYES, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house, at his half-open mouth, which looked slightly surprised."

HP-6, Page 596, (on the tower) Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.
"Severus...Please..."
Snape raised his wand hand 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; silent and unmoving, 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 fell slowly backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and OUT OF SIGHT.

HP-6, page 599, ...Amycus was giggling, enjoying the sport: "you can't dance forever pretty --"
"Impedimentia" yelled Harry. His jinx hit Amycus in the chest: He gave a pig-like squeal of pain, was LIFTED OFF HIS FEET and slammed into the opposite wall, slid down it, and fell OUT OF SIGHT...

HP-2, page 190 (142?) in the dueling club: Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!" There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.

HP-3, page 361 (265?) in the Shrieking Shack: Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before Snape could take even one step toward him, he had raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled -- except that his wasn't the only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snape was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out. Harry looked around. Both Ron and Hermione had tried to disarm Snape at exactly the same moment.

PART SIX: TRICKY MOVES

HP-1, page 213, Dumbledore said, "I don't need a cloak to become invisible."

HP-5, page 838, "...and I have watched you more closely than you can have imagined."

Even Dumbledore can not usually disapperate inside Hogwarts. Except...

HP-6, page 382, "As you may know, it is usually impossible to apparate or disapperate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apperate outside the walls of this Hall, and that YOU WOULD BE UNWISE TO TRY."

I can imagine a scenario in which both Dumbledore and Snape needed to disapperate from one part of the castle to another that night. I like my version better, but this could work, too.

HP-6. page 582, ...said Dumbledore as he mounted the broom nearest him, "...Harry, put on your Invisibility Cloak." ...As they flew...Harry heard....Dumbledore muttering...undoing the enchantments he himself had set around the castle so they could enter at speed.

While he was at it, he could have lifted the enchantment that prohibited disapperition. For one thing, the intruders were already inside. For another, the intruders could not have known the enchantment was lifted, and would have been UNWISE TO TRY.

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So, anyway, HOW does Dumbledore normally move around without being seen?

I am sure Dumbledore has many methods, one of which is the Time Turner. I suspect that Dumbledore uses it regularly.

HP-5, page 618, "Well, the game is up" he said, simply. "Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius -- or would a statement before these witnesses suffice?"
HP-5, page 622, Dumbledore...grasped the phoenix's long golden tail. There was a flash of fire and the pair of them had gone. Later, as the door swing closed behind them, Harry heard Phineas Nigellus's voice, "You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts...but you cannot deny he's got style...." (I do not understand all of Fawkes' powers. He seems to be able to come and go at will.)

Where did he go? He could have disapperated.
Or he could have gone back in time a few hours:
(1) to tell Shacklebolt to be prepared to use a memory charm, "on my signal..." and
(2) to give his previous self a few helpful clues (like, "You're in for an interesting
evening... I won't spoil it for you, but..." and "Play dumb, wait until you see a list
of names on a sheet of parchment, then confess to everything...").

PART SEVEN: FALLING.

SNAPE SAID, "IT'S OVER," BUT HE WAS NOT REALLY FINISHED.

Snape left the tower, ran through the battle scene and said, "It's over" (pg 621). Once out of sight, he ditched Draco for a moment, slipped into an empty room and turned his time back a few minutes. Draco only missed him for a second. His task completed, the second Snape was waiting inside and stepped out immediately.

The first Snape went outside, below the tower, and caught Dumbledore as he fell.

HP-1, page 189, Snape helped to control Harry's bucking broomstick...

HP-3, page 181, "...when the dementors came onto the Quidditch field, Dumbledore "...ran onto the field as you fell, waved his wand, and you sort of slowed down before you hit the ground..."

HP-6, Page 596, (on the tower) Harry's scream of horror never left him; silent and unmoving, 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 FELL SLOWLY BACKWARD, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight.

PART EIGHT: WHAT WE NEED IS MORE TIME.

Snape then used the time-turner again to go back a few hours, this time WITH Dumbledore.

The full body-bind curse Dumbledore had placed on Harry lifted, not because Dumbledore was dead, but because he had vanished back in time. (Alternatively, the second Snape could have removed the curse just after catching Dumbledore, while Dumbledore was hanging "suspended beneath the shining skull.")

HP-6, page 597, "As they vanished through the door, Harry realized that he could move again. What was now holding him paralyzed against the wall was not magic, but horror and shock."

HP-6, page 608, Harry "had known there was no hope from the moment that the full body-bind curse Dumbledore had placed upon him lifted, known that it could have happened only because its caster was dead..."

Note that the precise moment it lifted was not clear because Harry was in shock. If Snape had actually used the real "Avada Kedavera" curse, Dumbledore would have died instantaneously.

"...Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor."
"...instantaneously the spider rolled over onto its back... DEAD."

The body-bind curse should have lifted immediately lifted, allowing Harry to scream on his first impulse. Instead, we have several unexplained seconds while five people managed to get through the door.

PART NINE: REST AND REGROUP

After turning back their time-turner, Snape and Dumbledore slipped away to rest and regroup, to discuss and make plans. Snape administered a bezoar potion and/or performed whatever immediate healing magic was necessary, and could have patched up a few wounds of his own.

Dumbledore had a chance here to look at the locket and R.A.B.'s note, and planned to place it so that Harry would find it. He took the time-turner back from Snape, who now had no further use for it. Dumbledore would use it at his own "funeral." They could have run a few other errands here, if you like. Perhaps they left a note to McGonagall in the headmaster's office that she will not find for days or weeks. Perhaps Snape sent some message to his previous self so that he could collect some potions and be prepared when Flitwick brought him the news.

They also took a moment to arrange a portrait of Dumbledore in his office. They could have prepared this ahead of time. Moving pictures are a dime a dozen in this neighborhood.

HP-1, Dumbledore's "famous witches and wizards" trading card
Harry's photo album from Hagrid
HP-2, Moving Quidditch posters in Ron's room
HP-2, Harry trying to pull away from Lockhart in the book store
HP-3 page 8, clipping from the daily prophet of the Weasleys in Egypt, "waving furiously."
HP-5, page 173, "Original Order of the Phoenix," growled Moody. "Found it last night..."
HP-6, the ugly portrait in the office of "the other minister"

HP-6, page 626, The new portrait of "Dumbledore was slumbering in a golden frame over the desk, his half-moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, looking peaceful and untroubled," because the real Dumbledore WAS somewhere, sleeping peacefully and untroubled. The day had, after all, been long and exhausting.

PART TEN: THE DROUGHT OF LIVING DEATH

It's all in there. We just need to put it together.

HP-1, page 137, Snape spoke of "...the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even STOPPER DEATH -- If you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." He also mentioned that "...asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the DROUGHT OF LIVING DEATH. A BEZOAR is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons."

The Drought of Living Death is the potion Harry made (HP-6, page 18 that won him the Felix Felicis. It is also mentioned again at Slughorn's party on page 319.

HP-6, page 608, "Dumbledore's EYES WERE CLOSED; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he MIGHT HAVE BEEN SLEEPING."

Dumbledore took some of the wormwood / asphodel potion; the Drought of Living Death,
and Snape carefully planted the sleeping Dumbledore at the foot of the tower.

The bezoar probably did not do the whole job, and Fawkes had his work cut out for him this night.

When the time caught up with him, Snape slipped back into that empty room to wait for Draco. When the first Snape slipped in, the second Snape passed him and slipped out, rejoined Draco and proceeded out through the gate.