Albus Dumbledore

WARNING: If you haven't read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yet, don't read the rest of this blog. Unless you're never going to read it, in which case go ahead and read it - this blog, I mean. Ah, pronouns!

Has anyone reading this blog read the latest Harry Potter book?

I have, and I'm dying to discuss it with someone. There's plenty of online forums and such, but I'd really just like to talk about it.

When Dumbledore died, I was shocked. I was tangibly sad. I actually went over to my girlfriend for a hug with a whimpery, "My favorite character died." This after spending 3 to 4 hours a night all week re-reading book 5 and then hungrily moving on to book 6. I was/am obsessed.

I don't think Dumbledore is dead. Maybe I'm in denial, but I really think he isn't. The potion he had to drink to get the horcrux could have been the draught of living death, giving the appearance of death, but of course, it's a fairly common potion and I'd imagine most people (especially Hermione) would be able to tell. But Harry hasn't filled her in on everything yet, so maybe that's why she's not suspicious.

I just don't think Dumbledore would have made so many mistakes leading up to his death. One, the horcrux was already gone (by the way, the RAB on the note, I've read elsewhere, could be Sirius's brother, Regulus Black). Would the greatest wizard alive die trying to get a fake horcrux? I don't think so. Second, why take Harry along this particular time? And why ONLY Harry? Why not also take a bunch of the rest of the Order of the Phoenix with him? Extra backup certainly could have helped with all those zombies jumping out of the water. Of course, the idea of the horcrux seemed to be something of a secret that Harry can only tell Ron and Hermione, so maybe Dumbledore had a reason for not letting the Order in on it. Third, he didn't realize that Rosmerta was under the Imperius curse. Fourth, if he knew Draco was up to no good in the Room of Requirement all this time, why didn't he check on what he was doing? He was somehow surprised by the vanishing cabinet and its twin? I'm surprised he let his students be put at risk. A last mistake he made was, of course, getting disarmed by Draco. How can an underage wizard like Draco disarm the greatest wizard alive, even though Dumbledore was weak? I just don't think that's possible.

I think it's all a big sham to make it appear that Dumbledore is dead, to bring Voldemort and the Death Eaters out into the open so they can have the final showdown in Book 7. At least, I hope so. It is the Order of the *Phoenix*, after all. I think his faked death was necessary to bring the wizarding community together. Instead of relying on the protection of Dumbledore, they'll have to unite against Voldemort, making it much more difficult for him to wield power. The death may also have been necessary to give Harry the courage to become what he was destined to be (much like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings).

Dumbledore was something of an inspiration to me. For the last few years this quote has been the .signature file on my emails:

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

That's inspiring, don't you think? And from a fictional character, no less. I've been far less inspired by most of our "leaders" in real life.