The HBP Post, almost totally non-spoilery

[timeripple]

Am still digesting, but have formed a few impressions and have a very few things to say. Starting with: Have a little faith, people! Even the wisest among us (ie, everybody who's not JKR) cannot see all ends. She knows what she's doing, and is fond of misleading her faithful readers in evil, tricksy ways. I sincerely doubt all is as it seems.

And now for the good stuff, my ridiculous, slightly spoilery suspicion that I've been harboring for ages: Some time between GoF and OotP, JKR read DT and was so amused by it that she put tributes in the books. The evidence is only mostly nonexistent: Cassandra Trelawney, when she hardly ever re-uses names. The WWW daydream right out of Passionate Trousers. Also, she secretly ships H/D. You know it to be true!

Comment away, or don't!

ETA: The comments and my replies WILL BE SPOILERY. Ye be warned!

Comments

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

much worse would have happened if Snape hadn't kept the Unbreakable Vow. If Snape hadn't finished what Draco couldn't accomplish, then Snape would have died, Draco (and probably his whole family) would have been killed by Voldemort, and the other Death Eaters up in the tower would have killed Dumbledore, anyway.

I don't call that much worse, I call that one up on what actually happened or what I think will happen. Draco and his family are dead meat now, I'm positive. Voldemort was already pissed at Lucius, and now Draco has defied his orders. As far as I can see, there's no way out for all three of them. So their deaths have not really been avoided. Dumbledore dies either way, right? And as far as I'm concerned, I would rather have seen Snape ripped into tiny pieces than cause Dumbledore to go to his death pleading with him. Ugh. The bottom line is, Snape's choice was to murder Dumbledore in cold blood and live, or refuse and die. If their roles had been reversed, Dumbledore would have chosen the latter option.

And that is why I want nothing more than to see Snape eviscerated ASAP.

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

Draco and his family are dead meat now

I wonder. Dumbledore's dead; Narcissa and Snape seemed to think that this was the most important bit, and not necessarily who killed him, otherwise they wouldn't've bothered with the Unbreakable Vow. I don't think Voldemort can afford to eliminate any of his allegedly-staunch supporters at this point. Remember in GOF, he tortured but didn't kill whatshisname (although he did in OOTP, I think). Bellatrix survived whatever the aftermath of the Department of Mysteries fiasco was. Voldemort seems to respond pretty well to sniveling and groveling, and we know Draco's good at that. Yay Draco character development, anyway (it's about time!).

[bertie-girl.livejournal.com]

Better to die painlessly and instantly than to be shredded to pieces by a werewolf.

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

You have a point there.

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

I think Dumbledore would have preferred to die at the hand of any Death Eater other than Snape, the one to whom he offered trust, sanctuary and forgiveness. At least with the werewolf, it wouldn't have been anything personal. But Snape killed him with hatred and loathing, and not just for being Voldemort's enemy; it was his own hatred, and that has meaning, whereas being torn apart by an insane werewolf is just bad luck.

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

I still say there's more going on than we know about. We don't know for certain exactly what Dumbledore was pleading with Snape to do, or at whom Snape's fear and loathing were directed.

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

I think that's grasping at straws; maybe we'd better agree to disagree :)

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, no it isn't. Holy shit. I just thought of something. What if Dumbledore was begging Snape to kill him, and Snape felt hatred because Dumbledore was making him do it. Maybe Dumbledore sacrificed his life for Snape's continued cover as a Death Eater; maybe he wanted to keep Snape's chance at outfoxing Voldemort alive. Shit. Now I'm even more pissed off and heartbroken. But I still hate Snape for doing it :) And I don't know whether or not I believe it.

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

Ooh, either that, or Dumbledore knew about the Unbreakable Vow, because Snape told him, and sacrificed his life for Snape's, as well as for Snape's Death Eater gig. Dammit! I'm starting to hate Dumbledore. This is bad. I will reserve judgment. And I'm going to hate reading Book 7, because I will only be reading to find out the answer to these questions, and the whole time I'll be missing Dumbledore.

Harry Potter isn't fun anymore. :(

[bertie-girl.livejournal.com]

What if Dumbledore was begging Snape to kill him, and Snape felt hatred because Dumbledore was making him do it.

That's what I was considering as a possibility. I'm still devastated by Dumbledore's death, but I think there's definitely more than one interpretation of the events.

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

God, I'm a moron; of course that's what happened. Dumbledore wouldn't beg for his life. I just hate that that's how Harry sees things; he needs to know that Dumbledore died still owning his position of strength, not giving up, and even more importantly for Harry's future, he needs to know whom he can trust and whom he needs to keep at arm's length, and except for Snape, I think he's got that bit pretty well squared away.

[timeripple.livejournal.com]

Alas, Harry just hasn't got our tendency to look at things from as many angles as possible. That's been a big problem for him before, and probably isn't going to be any help to him - that's one big reason he needs his friends so much. Not that he always listens to them (OOTP), but still.

[olivia-cochrane.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. It's just that no matter how close Harry got to Dumbledore, the issue of Snape was always lurking between them, especially in this book. Of course, Harry feeling confident enough to question Dumbledore's judgment to his face is a huge step forward in their relationship from revering him as some sort of omniscient guardian angel, but still, Harry's belief that Dumbledore has been suckered by Snape continually puts a damper on the trust between them, which really annoys me. Of course, Sirius was absolved postumously; possibly Dumbledore will be too in Harry's judgment.