The Life and Lies of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore Irvin Khaytman (reading books for 4 year olds .TXT) 📖

“You have kept him alive so that he can die at the right moment? [. . .] You have used me. [. . .] I have spied for you and lied for you, put myself in mortal danger for you. Everything was supposed to be to keep Lily Potter’s son safe. Now you tell me you have been raising him like a pig for slaughter—”

[. . .]

Dumbledore watched [the doe] fly away, and as her silvery glow faded he turned back to Snape, and his eyes were full of tears.

“After all this time?”

“Always,” said Snape. (DH686-687)

Note Dumbledore’s mannerisms: he can barely look Snape in the eye as he says all this. At this point, Dumbledore is speaking of Harry’s sacrifice—a supremely painful topic for both parties. But he also knows that he is condemning the man in front of him—the man whom he has worked alongside for sixteen years, who has just displayed the best part of himself—to a wretched existence and to being a target for Lord Voldemort. . . all while invalidating Snape’s motivation for half of his life. As ruthless as Dumbledore is, one has to imagine he feels some guilt here.49

In fact, there is a sinister symmetry to Dumbledore’s actions here. Twenty years prior, he placed a lower value on Snape’s life than on Sirius Black’s. Now, even after all that has passed between the two men, Snape’s life is still worth less than a promising Gryffindor’s—Harry’s.

It’s even more tragic from the perspective of Snape, both for Dumbledore’s betrayal and the fact that all his work in protecting Harry was for naught. This seems incredibly cruel of Dumbledore with regard to Snape, but it is not out of character. The only person Dumbledore truly cares about is Harry. Snape is a useful tool and a valued ally, but no more. We have seen Dumbledore choose Harry over Snape before, in Prisoner of Azkaban. Now he does so again, when the stakes are so much higher. Dumbledore pours all of his resources into helping Harry. Meanwhile, he makes Snape an outcast by having Snape kill him, puts Snape into deadly situations on a regular basis, mercilessly exploits Snape’s love for Lily in order to help Harry, and makes Snape Voldemort’s eventual #1 target by making him the master of the Elder Wand. While I hold very little love for Snape, even I pity him for this.

This sheds new light on the scene where he kills Dumbledore. Bellatrix told Harry, “You need to mean [the Unforgivables]!” (OP810) When Snape kills Dumbledore, “there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.” (HBP595) Snape has every reason to hate Dumbledore. Dumbledore made Snape a pariah among wizards and a target for Voldemort in one fell swoop. Dumbledore intended for Lily’s son to die, making a mockery of the last fifteen years of Snape’s life. For good measure, Snape probably called forward all the lingering feelings of resentment after the Sirius-and-Moody debacle three years ago. Snape was more than capable of mustering up enough anger to kill Dumbledore, after all that their relationship had gone through over the years.

Having a Choice

A key factor in all of Dumbledore’s plans is that everyone—but specifically Harry and Snape—act of their own free will. The things he asks of them are not things that can be forced; Dumbledore has no use for things like Unbreakable Vows. Rather, Dumbledore makes sure that there is a clear right choice to make, and relies on Harry and Snape to make said right choice.

We first see Dumbledore’s framing in his second lesson with Harry about Tom Riddle’s past. Dumbledore delineates the importance of choice in creating the dichotomy between Harry and Voldemort: they are foils not through only their own choices, but through the opposite choices their mothers made.

“[Merope] wouldn't even stay alive for her son?”

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. “Could you possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?”

“No,” said Harry quickly, “but she had a choice, didn't she, not like my mother—”

“Your mother had a choice too,” said Dumbledore gently. “Yes, Merope Riddle chose death in spite of a son who needed her, but do not judge her too harshly, Harry. She was greatly weakened by long suffering and she never had your mother's courage.” (HBP262)

This is the template for how Dumbledore presents choices to Harry and Snape. It is genuinely a choice, and is not made by fear of Dumbledore’s judgment: he will not be harsh either way, for he understands the chooser’s limitations. However, there is a right choice, and the consequences of making the wrong choice are dire: in this example, the existence of Voldemort and all the damage he has wrought.

We see the fruit of Dumbledore’s conditioning in the end of Deathly Hallows, in events split by two years but only two chapters. But Harry and Snape make the right choice, and in both instances Dumbledore stresses that they do have a choice.

First up is Snape, who is not impressed with the idea of killing Dumbledore, particularly when reminded that killing tears the soul apart.

“And my soul, Dumbledore? Mine?”

“You alone know whether it will harm your soul to help an old man avoid pain and humiliation,” said Dumbledore. “I ask this one great favor of you, Severus, because death is coming for me [. . .] I confess I should prefer a quick, painless exit to the protracted and messy affair it will be if, for instance, Greyback is involved [. . .] Or dear Bellatrix, who likes to play with her food before she eats it.” (DH683)

Dumbledore lays out compelling evidence in favor of the right answer. But this is all about Snape’s views. Only if Snape believes he is performing an act of mercy will his soul be unharmed by the act, and no amount of absolution from Dumbledore can compensate for that.

And when Dumbledore goes through the same exercise with Harry, that one is for all the marbles.

“I’ve got to go back, haven’t I?”

“That is up to you.”

“I’ve got a choice?”

“Oh yes.” Dumbledore smiled at