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Rereading Chapter 8 of Half-Blood Prince
1. After Snape is the one to escort him into Hogwarts, Harry thinks the following:
"Whatever Dumbledore said, Harry had had time to think over the summer, and had concluded that Snape's snide remarks to Sirius about remaining safely hidden while the rest of the Order of the Phoenix were off fighting Voldemort had probably been a powerful factor in Sirius rushing off to the Ministry the night that he had died. Harry clung to this notition, because it enabled him to blame Snape, which felt satisfying, and also because he knew that if anyone was not sorry that Sirius was dead, it was the man now striding next to him in the darkness." (161)
It felt satisfying? Well, yes, I suppose it might, since of course the main reason Sirius rushed off to the Ministry was because he was worried about you and knew you had gone because of him.
Then, a couple of things during Dumbledore's speech:
2. About the hand, Hermione says:
"But there are some injuires you can't cure... old curses...and there are poisons without antidotes." (166)
Now, if I were Voldemort, and I had cursed one of my Horcruxes to cause a permanent injury that couldn't be cured, you can be sure that I'd use one of those 'poisons without antidotes' for another. Especially if I had a Potions Master working for me.
Which would mean that it's even more likely than I thought that the potion in the cave may have eventually killed Dumbledore, and that Snape would have known what the potion was when he saw Dumbledore's state.
3. Then, Harry, after learning that Snape finally has the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, says:
"Well there's one good thing," he said savagely. "Snape'll be gone by the end of the year."
"What do you mean?" asked Ron.
"That job's jinxed. No one's lasted more than a year....Quirrell actually died doing it.... Personally, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for another death..." (167)
!!
Well, Harry, your wish was granted. Just not, I suppose, the person you wanted to experience that other "death".
---------
These three things make me suspect that Harry was far more complicit in Dumbledore's death than he'd like, and I think dealing with his own responsibility is going to be a major theme in the next book. I also think it will have something to do with Snape, since Snape is always, always, always his scapegoat.
This seems to reinforce the theory I had that led me to write The Secret Papers of Regulus Black. The Harry in my story is darker than the one in the books so far, but it's because of what has happened to him up to that point.
Page numbers are from the American hard cover edition.
"Whatever Dumbledore said, Harry had had time to think over the summer, and had concluded that Snape's snide remarks to Sirius about remaining safely hidden while the rest of the Order of the Phoenix were off fighting Voldemort had probably been a powerful factor in Sirius rushing off to the Ministry the night that he had died. Harry clung to this notition, because it enabled him to blame Snape, which felt satisfying, and also because he knew that if anyone was not sorry that Sirius was dead, it was the man now striding next to him in the darkness." (161)
It felt satisfying? Well, yes, I suppose it might, since of course the main reason Sirius rushed off to the Ministry was because he was worried about you and knew you had gone because of him.
Then, a couple of things during Dumbledore's speech:
2. About the hand, Hermione says:
"But there are some injuires you can't cure... old curses...and there are poisons without antidotes." (166)
Now, if I were Voldemort, and I had cursed one of my Horcruxes to cause a permanent injury that couldn't be cured, you can be sure that I'd use one of those 'poisons without antidotes' for another. Especially if I had a Potions Master working for me.
Which would mean that it's even more likely than I thought that the potion in the cave may have eventually killed Dumbledore, and that Snape would have known what the potion was when he saw Dumbledore's state.
3. Then, Harry, after learning that Snape finally has the Defence Against the Dark Arts job, says:
"Well there's one good thing," he said savagely. "Snape'll be gone by the end of the year."
"What do you mean?" asked Ron.
"That job's jinxed. No one's lasted more than a year....Quirrell actually died doing it.... Personally, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for another death..." (167)
!!
Well, Harry, your wish was granted. Just not, I suppose, the person you wanted to experience that other "death".
---------
These three things make me suspect that Harry was far more complicit in Dumbledore's death than he'd like, and I think dealing with his own responsibility is going to be a major theme in the next book. I also think it will have something to do with Snape, since Snape is always, always, always his scapegoat.
This seems to reinforce the theory I had that led me to write The Secret Papers of Regulus Black. The Harry in my story is darker than the one in the books so far, but it's because of what has happened to him up to that point.
Page numbers are from the American hard cover edition.
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