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Well the speculation is quite interesting and that website. I do however believe that to think that Dumbledore is still alive is wishful thinking from those who don't want to let go.

At the end of HBP it shows us that Harry's made a firm resolve to go after the horcruxes himself. I believe that the 7th and final book will be mostly about Harry, unlike some of ther others. I think the book will aim at Harry growing emotionally and magically so that he can find the other horcruxes and destroy them. He needs to do this alone, at this stage recieving help from a thought-to-be-deceased Dumbledore would be almost like cheating and once again Harry would be the hero of the day only because he recieved a phenominal amount of help from others.

Also I think it would be extremely cruel of Rowling to bring back Dumbledore in the next book, it would be like her saying: 'haha, he's not really dead, fooled you! You all cried for nothing!' There is, as we see in this website, evidence that Dumbledore perhaps is not dead. It did say though that when Snape "killed" Dumbledore that his face had 'hatred' and argue it all you want but I don't think that was self-loathing. I think that the inconsistencies mentioned, for example Dumbledore being thrown from the rooftop were just that, inconsistencies. We're dealing with a writer who by no means is a Tolkien or Lewis. Whatever points she looses in writing style is made up for in plot. I believe that it would have been impossible for Rowling to not have inconsistencies in her plot. She wasnted to dramatize Dumbledore's death by throwing him off a rooftop, she gave no thought to the fact that the other two or three Avada Kedavra curses in the book had the victims only falling over. Or perhaps Snape's hate for Dumbledore was so strong that it jettisoned him off the castle.

My last question: why did Snape perform the Crucio curse on Harry right before he ran off the castle grounds if he was on Dumbledore's side? Might it have been because he wanted to make sure Harry really believed that Snape was death eater and to expell any thought he might have of Harry thinking that Snape killed on Dumbledore's orders?

We'll see what happens when the seventh book comes out.

The trouble with the ‘Dumbeldore is not dead’ theories is that they go against Occam’s Razor. Why didn’t Snape die when he failed to kill Dumbledore? Everything that we’ve been told about it (including the little story with Fred, George and Ron) suggests that failure to fulfill it results in immediate death. JKR is too smart to create a loophole without telling us first.

Also, a lot of the other points tend to support a ‘Snape killed Dumbledore with his permission’ line. This would explain the overheard conversation, the ‘Severus…please’ and a host of other things.

As to the AK – we have nothing in canon to suggest that two spells can be cast at once. Also, the behaviour of this AK is consistent with ones we’ve seen before – Dumbledore is knocked back when he dies, like the spider in GoF. We don’t see Cedric die – only hear it – and we don’t have enough information about Frank Bryce’s death to know exactly what happened. Dumbledore was teetering on the edge of the battlements – it seems reasonable that a spell could throw him off.

I think we might see Dumbledore again, but not among the living.

Thewhitetree wrote:

My last question: why did Snape perform the Crucio curse on Harry right before he ran off the castle grounds if he was on Dumbledore's side? Might it have been because he wanted to make sure Harry really believed that Snape was death eater and to expell any thought he might have of Harry thinking that Snape killed on Dumbledore's orders?

Snape didn't perform the curse, it was another Death Eater.

Page 603:

"Impedi--"
But before he could finishthis jinx, excruciating pain hit Harry; he keeled over in the grass. Someone was screaming, he would surely die of this agony. Snape was going to torture him to death or madness--
"No!" roared Snape's voice and the pain stopped as suddenly as it had started; Harry lay ...........somewhere overhead Snape was shouting, "Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord- we are to leave him! Go! Go!"


And the website did have some nice points, but I think they lead more towards Snape acting on Dumbledore's wishes than Dumbledore not being dead. Despite his apparent evil-ness, I think Snape is good.

Optimist.

Well I see where I made the mistake. Thanks.

Quote:

I think we might see Dumbledore again, but not among the living.

I think you might have a good point. I agree. Maybe he left some sort of message for Harry in the event of his death to lead him on the path of the horcruxes.

From the first moment that Dumbledore's body was removed from sight I had my suspicions. It's just too convenient. While all of the attack was going on D's body was unattended for anything up to 15 or 20 minutes. That's no accident. Something happened in that time. JKR is not that bad a writer. If she did this, it was for a reason.

TO be honest I'll be very surprised if we don't see both Dumbledore and Sirius again. That whole disappearing behind the veil thing was another "too convenient to be true" circumstance.

I will say that I've had my suspicions about Sirius. But if either come back then Rowling will have lied because she said both characters woud "die".

I think bringing Sirius back would add to the plot though.

I just finished HBP again. I must say I think it's painfully obvious Snape did what he did working FOR Dumbledore, whether he killed him or not.

If there is a twist at this point, I think it would be that Snape really is evil.

I'm also nearly certain the final battle between Harry and Voldemort will happen on the grounds of Hogwarts. I wouldnt' be surprised if Voldemort takes over the school over the summer and Harry has to get back in to defeat him. They both want the school, and I would bet serious money Gryffindor's sword is the weapon that kills Voldemort.

I think the final book is going to be quite good.

Well the school and at least some of the main characters from it have to come in somehow. I'm just glad that when they make the movies though there might not be many scenes with others faculty members at least there'll be lots of Snape. Rickman's always been my favorite actor.

Completely agree with you hal.

I hadn't thought about Gryffindor's sword like that, but it's a good idea. It's been mentioned so many times I would be surprised if it wasn't used in some way in book 7.

And Harry has to go back to Hogwarts at some point, she wouldn't have spent so much time with him there if it doesn't come into play at some point in the last book. There's been a lot of mention of Voldemort wanting to come back to Hogwarts/only time he was happy was there that I'd be surprised if a large part of the story doesn't take place there, even if Harry is no longer there for classes.

Thewhitetree wrote:

I will say that I've had my suspicions about Sirius. But if either come back then Rowling will have lied because she said both characters woud "die".

yes but Harry's parents have "died" and weve seen them more than once. I have absolutely no doubt we'll see Dumbeldore in some way again.

I agree with you guys about the school. too much time has been spent there to just up and abandon it now, too many people have been introduced and developed.

What I dont see in the next book is very much S.P.E.W. I felt as that in HBP that she was weeding it out, sorta just like a Hermione fad she went through. But really, who cares?
Borry

Yeah, I can't really say that I understand SPEW. If it doesn't come into play more, it seems like a big waste of time. True, it tied into being nicer to Kreacher in OotP, but not enough that we needed to focus on it so much in GoF. I think the wizards' attitudes are a little at odds with the rest of the books ("Oh, th house elves like being mistreated.."), but to spend time in book 7 changing their opinions would seem like a waste of space, too. I can't help but wonder what she will do with the house elves, but not enough that I'm actually interested in them.

Oh, we haven't heard the last of the House Elves.

I expect Kreacher will play a significant role in finding at least one Horcrux (the Locket), and the wizarding world's treatment of "magical creatures" has to have some payoff... otherwise much of what was written should have been edited out.

Granted, the payoff could have been at the end of OOTP... but if so it was pretty weak.

I think you may have a point, first thing I thought about when the horcruxes were introduced was that one was in the Black house and if so Krecher probably had it or moved it
Borry

Have been re-reading snippets from the last 3 books, especially GoF, after seeing the movie on DVD. I was struck by a detail that takes on new meaning after HBP: in GoF, the sorting hat tells us in its annual song that it was whipped off the very head of Gryffindor, so the sword would not be the only known relic of Gryffindor... Could the sorting hat be a horcrux???
Red herring? or valuable throw away clue?

That would raise interesting questions, since the sorting hat has been urging the houses to pull together against the oncoming danger. Would the hat be able to do that if it were being used as a horcrux? If being a horcrux does not affect the intrinsic nature or choices of a self-aware creature, is that an argument for Harry being a horcrux?

I've just read the HBP for the first time. Yes, I know I'm slow.
I think that JKR has left ample clues for us that Snape is on the side of good while teasing us with the possibility of the opposite. One thing that people here haven't mentioned is that Dumbledore on getting back to Hogwarts wants to see Snape. I don't have the quotes with me though.
Before I realised that Dumbledore was actually dead and that the locket was fake, my first thought was that Snape's AK was designed to kill the horcrux, not Dumbledore. The scene makes sense if Dumbledore is already dying.
Other things: The disappearance of Ollivander; remember Slughorn carts away unicorn hair from Hagrid's. Tonks was getting drawn and paler in the same way that Draco was. Petunia may know of Snape's feelings towards Lily and her role in the next book has been foreshadowed in the previous one. Draco is signalled clearly as wanting to leave his Death eater inheritance. Voldemort now has 3 potential traitors within his camp: Wormtail, Snape and Draco. It's been a while since we have heard from Neville too. I would look at any new head of Hogwarts with a pretty suspicious eye.