Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Those of you who’ve never read any of the Harry Potter books should scroll on down to the next post. Although I will suggest you give them a try, they’re quite good fun, dead easy to read, and are a good way to unwind without having to read a “serious novel”.
And for those of you still reading, yes I do think the Harry Potter novels are serious, and the fact that I’m already looking forward to the next one worries me slightly as it’ll be a long wait!
Quite enjoyed this one but I think I should have re-read the previous book as so much was referred to that I kept having to stop and try and remember what had happened. Still it was good to see the characters mature further and…. well I’m gonna stop there as I don’t want to post any spoilers. I DO have a theory about the ending of the book though.
Beware, spoilers ahead!
OK, I’m presuming you’ve read the book and you know who dies and who kills him and the circumstances in which that happens.
The theory? Dumbledore wasn’t begging Snape for his life but for his death. He knew he was on the way out, and that the trip to retrieve the Horcrux from the lake would probably be his last grand act. I think he realised that to lure Voldemort out into the open it would take something as desparate as his death – why else would he ensure Harry had all that information, and then freeze him when he could have helped fight off Draco and the Death Eaters (remember that Dumbledore knows how powerful Harry is, even if Harry has yet to realise it himself).
So, Dumbledore knew he was dying, Snape read his mind and realised what he was up to (and probably knew that Harry Potter was there), and this nicely allows Snape to be able to track Voldemort – and possibly divert his attention? – as he knows that Harry will be going after the Horcruxes before pursuing Voldemort himself.
I think Snape will turn out to be good all along, and was rushing to help Dumbledore, read his mind (occu… thingywotsit) and knew what he had to do.
What say you?