I just finished this book last night - woah, emotional stuff at the end there.

Dumbledore has always been my favourite character; unfailingly polite, calm, in control, pleasant no matter what the situation, and tough where it counts. It was really disorientating for me when he was screaming insanely in the cave and then so weak at the end there - he always seems to be completely in control.

Throughout the series of books he has always strongly maintained his trust in Snape. No matter who questioned this faith (which happened dozens of times) he has always remained firm. Even when Harry - the main character- loathed Snape to such a huge degree, Dumbledore's faith in him (Snape) never wavered. Because of this faith, and because of how 'all-knowing' Dumbledore seemed to be, this strongly points me to the fact that Snape is in fact still one of the good guys, like many have mentioned in this thread. There has to be a good reason why Dumbledore trusted him so completely, it has to be more than just the fact that Snape was remorseful.

So, here's my theory: when Snape appears, Dumbledore knows this is the perfect opportunity to accomplish all of his immediate goals--save Malfoy's life and keep him from doing a despicable act, plus allow Snape to fulfill his Unbreakable Vow (which I am sure he knew all about, just as he knew all about Malfoy's plan) and therefore a) not die and b) remain 'in' with the Death Eaters as a spy--and all this simply by doing something he knew he was going to do anyway: die.
I agree with this for sure. Dumbledore was willing to sacrifice his own life at that point because he knew he was going to die soon anyway; at least this way Snape's cover wouldn't be blown and with Snape on the inside their chances are much, much greater. Snape would have died if he hadn't killed Dumbledore at that point anyway, as a result of the Unbreakable Vow, and that would have been a needless loss.

This is also reinforced by the fact that Snape didn't fight Harry back, but just repelled all his attacks and then knocked the wind out of him rather than hurt him. You could almost take this as an "I'll explain later" type of action.

I still thought Dumbledore's death at the end there was a bit fishy - Harry sees the pheonix for a second, then the white tomb constructs itself mysteriously so nobody can see the body ... hmmmm... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Originally posted by: Winged Dancer
What makes me interested in book 7 (besides the facts that its the last one) is that it'll be so different. We wont have Hogwarts. We wont have OMG I got to win Quidditch. It'll be Harry, Ron and Hermione searching for the Horcruxes or something... it's just going to be such a different structure, if it really is like that. No teachers, no classes, no "I have homework so I can't fight the Dark Lord right now!!1". So yeah, I kinda wanna see that.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly, I was thinking this all throughout book 6. Book 7 will be a completely different structure. Hogwarts will probably still be in it, they'll probably have to go there to get the sword for something (to kill the snake maybe).

There's HEAPS JKR is going to have to fit in there too, things that need explaining, etc. The book is going to be one almighty brick, heh. For instance, Ron and Hermione still need to get together. Harry has to track down all the horcruxes and destroy them (whether or not he is one himself) and then kill Voldemort. We have to have closure on everything and all the characters. We have to see the aftermath after Voldemort dies. We have to see the changes in the Ministry. We have to see a reconciliation with Percy and the Weaselys. This book will be HUGE!

...and I want it right now.