The Garret

On another note, things really could have gone quite differently-- here's my alternate scenario. Non-verbal spellcasting; Harry's not so good at it, so that excuses his inaction, but Snape is very, very good at it. So here's how things could have gone a hell of a lot better: Dumbledore uses Legilimency to let Snape know that Harry's there; I'm not sure exactly if you can plant images in other people's brains with it, but Voldemort can do it, and so I think Dumbledore could do it. Snape surreptitiously frees Harry, then non-verbally starts hexing all the Death Eaters, and Harry joins in, who will not be killed because he's wearing the Invisibility Cloak and, as we all know from his Quidditch matches, he has great reflexes. They could have had all those Death Eaters down for the count, without anybody dying. And even if one Death Eater had time to aim something at Dumbledore, Snape still could have jumped in the way; in this scenario, his cover is blown anyway, so he's numero uno on Voldemort's hit list, dead man walking. The only obstacle I can see to this turn of events is that Dumbledore is protecting Snape's undercover position because it will help immensely in Voldemort's defeat. Although I'm inclined not to care; at this point, I'd ten thousand times rather have Snape dead than Dumbledore.