fanofsnape Registered Member
Posts: 5
(9/4/05 5:00 pm) Reply
Identities (spoilers)
Anyone else think it is possible that Snape and Dumbledore found a way to switch identities at the end of the book? I know it sounds crazy, but check out the whole book again from the point Harry goes to Dumbledore's office just after he found out Snape is the one who overheard the prophecy. Not only does Dumbledore not insist Harry call Snape PROFESSOR, but he turns white and is definitely rattled. If Dumbledore got rattled, he would have been rattled at all the equally terrible things that happened in the other books. These reations were more like the ones a person who carries a burdon of guilt would have. Also, at the cave, Dumbledore swims "like a much younger man," uses a potions knife, and heals himself like Snape healed Malfoy. The comments he makes after he drinks the poison would fit this scenario, too. Something to the effect of, "I know I did wrong/Hurt me, not them." Exactly what he could have been thinking as a spy forced to go along with Voldemort to Godrick's Hollow that fateful night.
I know Rowling's great at red herrings, and this could be just another...but seriously, reread the ending in that light. It's wierd!
(And yes, for those of you who posted at the Pemberley board---you have heard this before! T. R.)
The Grand Poobah
Posts: 212
(9/4/05 7:04 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
That truly is an interesting theory.
Instead of an HBP re-read, however, I got sidetracked with the idea of the locket and started a fresh reading of OotP.
Once I have finished that, I will read HBP again...and watch throughout the book...especially during the plot that occurs AFTER Hagrid overhears the conversations between Snape and Dumbledore...with the perspective of a Snape/Dumbledore switch.
Definitely an interesting theory.
"Except for ending slavery, fascism, nazism, and communism, war has never solved anything."
ejeana Registered Member
Posts: 102
(9/16/05 12:07 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
huh, that's interesting. Would the switch have been in effect all the way through the end of the book, do you mean? Because then Dumbledore would have had to kill Snape (in disguise). That seems way more out of character than Snape killing Dumledore, even if it were for the greater good.
It is something wizards can do, however. Someone as powerful as Dumbledore might even have a better way of doing it than the polyjuice potion, which would be impossible to maintain once one of them had died.
LadyCadagon Registered Member
Posts: 183
(9/16/05 12:43 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
I don't think they would have. Dumbledore has said himself "that there is things that is worse than death" and "that death is the next great adventure". I believe he would want Snape to continue doing his work as a spy for Voldemort (that is saying that Snape isn't evil). Dumbledore I see as sacrificing himself for the greater good, so I just don't see the body switching thing.
Also this isn't the first time that someone has come up with body switching. There was alot of people theorizing that James and Lupin switched bodies before James died. They speculated on this for a long time before JKR finally put her foot down on the theories. So I just don't see JKR using that storyline imho.
Edited by: LadyCadagon at: 9/16/05 12:45 pm
rhbrand obsessed...but
not in a crazy way.
Posts: 67
(9/16/05 3:50 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
I also don't see her using the body switching thing when she was so adamant that James and Remus didn't switch.
DD wasn't scared of death. I don't see him doing something like that to escape death.
Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to!
fanofsnape Registered Member
Posts: 6
(9/17/05 5:10 am) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
I don't think it would have anything to do with Dumbledore escaping death; instead, I think it more likely that Snape, having worked closely with Voldemort before, might be seen as the best choice because he would understand his methods. Also, if Dumbledore suspected the horcrux was protected with a potion, who better to send than Snape? I can just hear Snape's sneer instead of Dumbledore's voice when he discovers the secret door to the cave requires a blood sacrifice: "Oh, surely not. So crude." And there has been a very big emphasis on polyjuice potion in this book. Also, I too thought that you couldn't polyjuice when the person was dead, so I went and reread the Barty Crouch Jr. stuff. Barty Crouch Jr. says he kept the original alive so that he could question him, as well as continue to make the potion. Perhaps Snape and DD didn't think they'd need such resources for so long? A lock of hair or something and Snape would have to be good for a few days, anyway. Still, while this theory excites me, I'm not fully committed to it; I think it would be cool, though.
ejeana Registered Member
Posts: 103
(9/19/05 12:26 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
Do you think a switch of some sort would be able to fool the Unbreakable Vow?
The Grand Poobah
Posts: 217
(9/19/05 3:09 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
I don't think so, E. That's the main reason that I haven't bought this idea (though interesting with plenty of support if someone wants to argue it) as a plausible one.
"The body is a sacred garment. It's your first and last garment; it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor."
~Martha Graham
ejeana Registered Member
Posts: 103
(9/20/05 4:10 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
yeah, I don't really think so either, Aspen. It seems like a really serious spell. Although on a side note, I thought it was odd that Ron mentioned the twins getting in trouble for nearly getting him to make an unbreakable vow when he was really young. It just seemed odd that Fred and George would be capable of such a spell, or even aware of it, at such a young age.
rhbrand obsessed...but
not in a crazy way.
Posts: 68
(9/20/05 4:17 pm) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
Knowing the twins, they probably lurked in the shaddows when some family member preformed the spell and then tried it out for themselves.
The Grand Poobah
Posts: 218
(9/21/05 12:41 am) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
Yeah...I think Fred and George are powerful wizards. I think they may very well be the most gifted in the Weasley family. Their intelligence is clear...and they have a crazy work ethic when the spirit moves them. They're just overlooked because of their poor performance in school.
But as a lot of people have proven through history...grades aren't everything.
Me? I was like Hermione. But I know plenty of Fred & George types that grew up to become materially and personally VERY successful.
It wouldn't surprise me to find that F&G were capable, at an early age, of performing magic beyond their age group/maturity level.
"The body is a sacred garment. It's your first and last garment; it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor."
~Martha Graham
rhbrand obsessed...but
not in a crazy way.
Posts: 69
(9/21/05 6:35 am) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
I to think F&G are easily the most talented members of the Weasleys.
I wonder if there isn't someway that they combine their powers being twins. That having that twin bond gives them a little boost in power. And not only that, 2 minds are better than one.
Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to!
I AM a Babe in training!
LadyCadagon Registered Member
Posts: 186
(9/21/05 10:36 am) Reply
Re: Identities (spoilers)
The twins are two of my most fav. characters and I also think they have alot of talent and power, but I think Ginny is really just as powerful if not more cause she has shown some of her strength and JKR has said that Ginny is the seventh child/daughter of a seventh daughter. Also she is the first girl in the Weasley family for Generations. That has got to be worth something. So I think she will be able to hold her own against those two and may even beat them. The books don't focus on Ginny that much, but the last couple of books Ginny has come into her own and shows that she is tuff. Don't get me wrong I love the twins and I love when they show their strength and I believe they have the best personalities out of everyone (well Dumbledore has a great one too), but I still have to take in Miss Ginny. I think all the Weasley's are powerful in their own way. May it be smarts, friendship, love or magic. All of them combined make a heck of a family.
I'm sure Percy will see this sooner or later.Edited by: LadyCadagon at: 9/26/05 11:38 am
Edited by: 
Email This To a Friend
Click to receive email notification of replies 
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies