Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory, in today’s video we’re going to
be discussing Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and the Half-Blood Prince. More specifically,
I’m going to be discussing what I expect to be quite a CONTROVERSIAL theory- as it
surrounds the iconic-albeit equally tragic- death of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.
Let’s set the scene with a passage from Chapter 27 - The Lightning Struck Tower:
“Snape said nothing, but walked forwards and pushed Malfoy roughly out of the way.
The three Death Eaters fell back without a word. Even the werewolf seemed cowed.
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 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 backwards, like a great rag
doll, over the battlements and out of sight.”
The above passage of course refers to Dumbledore’s death at the hands of Severus Snape- a moment
that shocked the wizarding world to its core. Dumbledore, in some ways, was a beacon of
hope for the good guys- a powerful and wise old wizard that even Voldemort feared. But
when he was struck with Snape’s avada kedavra, that all changed- and in that moment, Harry
felt more helpless than ever.
Dumbledore’s death was a BIG DEAL- he was 115 years old, and had made a profound impact
on the wizarding world over the course of his life. His death also raised a lot of questions-
how could the WISE and POWERFUL Dumbledore be defeated in such an paltry manner? Surely
if he had wanted to survive- he could have, right?
Well- today’s theory is going to discuss why I think that Dumbledore may still very
well be alive.
First let’s look at WHY Dumbledore opted to die- or at least opted to ‘appear’
to die.
What it really boils down to is the ‘unbreakable vow’ that Snape had made with Narcissa.
In this vow, Snape ‘vowed’ to both watch over Draco, as well as take action on Draco’s
part in the event that he was unable. And what was Draco’s assignment? Kill Albus
Dumbledore.
"Will you, Severus, watch over my son, Draco, as he attempts to fulfill the Dark Lord's
wishes?"
"I will," said Snape.
A thin tongue of brilliant flame issued from the wand and wound its way around their hands
like a red-hot wire.
"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"
"I will," said Snape.
By taking on the responsibility of ‘killing’ Dumbledore in the event that Draco was unable,
he was essentially saving Draco. But why, you might ask, would Snape willingly enter
such a vow? Well, I’ve got a few ideas. The obvious answer here would be that Dumbledore
was sick and going to die anyway- and by offering to kill him he was essentially providing Dumbledore
with a less painful way out. However- I’m of the impression that Snape agreed to the
vow because he never intended on killing Dumbledore at all.
Snape and Dumbledore were both master tacticians, and accomplished occlumens- masters of the
mind. So surely it isn’t unreasonable to assume that Dumbledore’s ‘death’ was
simply orchestrated by them. With that said, let’s look at the facts here.
Dumbledore ‘died’ as a direct result of Snape’s killing curse or ‘avada kedavra’.
Snape simply pointed his wand and stated the incantation- and following this Dumbledore
flew in to the air for a brief moment before falling over the battlements and out of sight.
The details that I want to hone in on here are the spell that Snape used, as well as
the ‘fall’ of Dumbledore.
To kill Dumbledore Snape uses Avada Kedavra- an unforgivable curse with a simple purpose:
instantly kill your victim. The spell creates a blindingly intense green bolt of light right
before the victim simply drops dead. But what if Snape didn’t use Avada Kedavra at all?
From a very young age Snape was a magical prodigy- a talented student that went above
and beyond what was expected of him in school. His own copy of ‘Advanced Potion Making’,
which propelled Harry through his potions class, contained notes that improved upon
the methods recommended by the authors of such textbooks, and he was able to do this
at a very young age.
Possessing Snape’s textbook was like having cheat codes to potions lessons, but potion-making
advice wasn’t all that was inside- there were spells as well- spells that Harry had
never seen before. Most notably- Snape had invented the spell ‘sectumsempra’ - a
vicious dark curse that acts like an invisible sword, causing lacerations, haemorrhaging
and cuts upon it’s target.
In short, Snape has a demonstrated ability to invent/create his own spells. So, is it
really out of the question for him to have invented a ‘faux’ avada kedavra? A spell
that sounds-looks and feels so similar, that only its creator would be able to assess its
validity? I don’t think so. Perhaps this version of avada kedavra still ‘kills’
the victim, but only temporarily, or maybe it just paralyzes your body entirely- giving
everyone the impression that you’re dead. Maybe it just does nothing, and the victim
plays dead.
In the film adaptation of the half-blood prince, Snape’s Avada Kedavra appears to contain
an awful lot of ‘blue’ and strays somewhat away from the green that we had become accustomed
to in previous films. This could potentially further suggest that the ‘Avada Kedavra’
Snape used wasn’t actually avada kedavra at all, but instead a spell of his own creation.
The alternative to this theory, and one that’s more in line with the books, is that Snape
did genuinely use avada kedavra- hence producing the ‘green’ light mentioned in the books.
However, if Snape were to have used ‘Avada Kedavra’ on Dumbledore, I’m of the impression
that it wouldn’t have worked. In order for ‘Avada Kedavra’ or any Unforgivable Curse
to truly be effective, you must truly LOATHE that person- and if you don’t- then a less
effective version of the spell will be produced. We see this when Harry tries to use the Cruciatus
Curse on Bellatrix. Despite his sheer anger- he still wasn’t able to use the spell to
its true effect.
Yes, Snape fired a killing blow at Dumbledore- but because Snape lacked the emotions necessary
to produce the spell in its full capacity, Dumbledore was able to survive.
But wait- he still fell off the tower, didn’t he?
Well- there are a few ways for him to have survived the fall. The first possibility surrounds
a spell that we actually see Dumbledore use in an earlier film- Arresto Momentum- which
is used to slow the velocity of an object. I would imagine that, in this scenario, Dumbledore
was either conscious enough to cast the spell himself- OR it was built in to the spell that
Snape had ‘created’.
An alternative to ‘arresto momentum’ being used links back to another theory of mine-
and that’s that Dumbledore is in fact an unregistered animagus. We know for a fact
that one’s patronus form generally provides insight in to what one’s ‘animagus’
form would be. We also know that Dumbledore’s patronus is a phoenix. So I’m suggesting
this: after being thrown over the battlements- Dumbledore simply turned in to his ‘phoenix’
animagus form, flying away. Everyone would have thought it was just Fawkes.
Other plausible alternatives are that he was: -Able to apparate
-Caught by his broom
OR
-Saved by Fawkes
Okay, now I’ve got another element to address: HIS BODY. Doesn’t Dumbledore have an entire
funeral? If he survived, then how can his motionless corpse be reasonably explained?
Well, I don’t think it’s entirely impossible to deduce that Snape- a potions expert- could
have created some sort of concoction for Dumbledore to drink upon his safe landing. A ‘concoction’
that would ‘bewitch the mind’, ‘ensnare the senses’ and-in a roundabout way- ‘put
a stopper in death’.
It should also be mentioned that Dumbledore surviving doesn’t impact the plot that follows
his death. Before his death, while still in possession of the Elder Wand, Dumbledore was
disarmed by Draco, and it’s been proven that ownership can be gained simply through
‘disarming’- and does not necessarily require death. Therefore, Dumbledore surviving
does not disrupt the path of ownership that the wand eventually follows.
As for Snape and the vow- yes, he agreed to carry out Draco’s deed- but it should also
be mentioned that there was no time limit on that term, so there’s certainly no reason
that he would have dropped dead simply from casting a different spell on Dumbledore in
that moment.
As for Dumbledore’s hand- I think the prodigious minds of Snape and Dumbledore- along with
the help of Fawkes’ tears, could have figured out a remedy.
What do you guys think? Could Dumbledore have survived? Far-fetchedI know, but it’s fun
to come up with theories like this- particularly ones that bring Dumbledore back to us. Have
I missed something glaringly obvious in this theory? I hope not.
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Until next time
Remember
The things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way
we expect.