Why Snape Kills Dumbledore In Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

With a “Harry Potter” TV collection adaptation within the works by Warner Bros, followers have been questioning the way it’ll set itself other than the flicks, and what the writers will do with all the additional time a TV present permits them. Will they hold within the storyline about Hermione making an attempt to free the home elves and getting laughed at by everybody? Will they flesh out the books’ riveting sequences of the children stressing out about finals? There are loads of issues the present may both develop on or change up all through its seven important books of supply materials, however there’s one factor that should keep the identical: Snape has to kill Dumbledore on the finish of Harry’s sixth yr at Hogwarts.

That is maybe essentially the most well-known, most iconic second within the collection, the place the seemingly unflappable headmaster Dumbledore is laid low not by Draco Malfoy, who’s been tasked with killing him, however by broody potions professor Severus Snape. Readers (and film viewers) knew that Snape was a jerk, they usually even knew he’d joined Voldemort’s facet again throughout his first reign, however as a result of Dumbledore stored sticking up for him, we had been inclined to imagine he might be trusted. Protection In opposition to the Darkish Arts professors apart, Dumbledore is mostly seen as a very good choose of character. 

So, what truly occurred right here? How did clever previous Dumbledore let Snape get one up on him like this? For individuals who want a refresher on this plot level forward of the TV present, or who merely need to know what occurs with out giving JK Rowling any extra money within the course of, here is the tea.

The necessary factor to find out about Snape, which we discover out within the ultimate e-book/film, is that Dumbledore was proper to belief him in spite of everything. The man was a double agent on Dumbledore’s behalf, pretending to be on Voldemort’s facet as a part of a really lengthy recreation of 4D wizard chess. Within the three-year wait between “Half-Blood Prince” and “Deathly Hallows,” loads of readers assumed this could not be the case, as a result of absolutely Snape would’ve figured a method out of killing Dumbledore if he was actually on his facet. The entire level of being a double agent is to guard your facet from devastating blows, and Dumbledore’s dying (essentially the most highly effective member of the resistance) was presumably essentially the most devastating blow of all.

However because it seems, Dumbledore was dying it doesn’t matter what. “Deathly Hallows” revealed that Dumbledore had mortally wounded himself by placing on the long-fabled Resurrection Stone, a Deathly Hallow that Voldemort had put a curse on whereas turning it right into a Horcrux. Though Dumbledore was sensible sufficient to know that the ring was cursed earlier than he put it on, he could not assist himself; he had a lot unresolved grief relating to the deaths in his family that he quickly misplaced his higher judgment.

The cursed stone would have immediately killed most wizards, however Dumbledore (with the assistance of one among Snape’s potions) managed to include it to his hand all through Harry’s sixth yr. Nonetheless, each Snape and Dumbledore knew it was solely a matter of time earlier than the containment broke and the curse killed him. So Dumbledore, wishing to spare each himself and Malfoy some ache, insisted that Snape kill him when the time was proper. 

So, Snape stepped in to kill Dumbledore after Malfoy chickened out, however why was Malfoy chosen by Voldemort for the job within the first place? Nicely, it is sophisticated. The primary cause was merely that Malfoy was obtainable; he was already allowed inside Hogwarts all through the entire college yr, and as an older-year scholar he had simply sufficient data to possibly pull it off. 

However as Malfoy’s anxious mom Narcissa identified within the early “Half-Blood Prince” chapter, “Spinner’s Finish,” it nonetheless does not make loads of sense to belief such a job to a 16-year-old. So the opposite cause Voldemort selected Malfoy to hold out this job was as a result of he needed to punish his father, Lucius, for abandoning him through the 13 years Voldemort was powerless and on the run. Certain, Voldemort needed Dumbledore lifeless, however he additionally needed to punish the Malfoys for his or her lack of loyalty, so this was his method of attaining no less than a kind of two objectives. By no means let it’s mentioned that Darkish Lords cannot multitask. 

This storyline was the start of Draco’s transition from a one-dimensional bully/bigot right into a extra sophisticated, tragic determine. Though Harry himself not often empathizes with Draco, that is the second the place readers notice that the silver-haired menace is able to feelings like regret and nervousness. Draco and his household by no means totally be part of the facet of the nice, however they do appear to develop disillusioned with Voldemort’s agenda, to the purpose the place Draco within the epilogue seems to have taught his little one to be a traditional child with none deranged hatred for muggle-born wizards.

Along with fulfilling Dumbledore’s request, Snape additionally needed to kill him to meet an Unbreakable Vow he made with Narcissa Malfoy at first of “Half-Blood Prince.” Narcissa was understandably frightened about Draco’s security when she realized about Voldemort’s demand, so she went to Snape and made him promise to complete the job if Draco failed. Snape agreed to the Unbreakable Vow, which means that even when Dumbledore had modified his thoughts at any level, he’d nonetheless need to undergo with the plan. 

Within the “Harry Potter” universe, for those who fail to execute your a part of Unbreakable Vow, you die. It is a binding magical contract, so one of many solely methods out of it’s if the vow seems to be unimaginable to uphold — if Dumbledore had died of his personal accord, for example, the Vow can be rendered void as a result of there’d be no want for Snape to finish it. You can too escape a Vow if there’s some ambiguous phrasing in it and you’ve got managed to discover a loophole, however such circumstances are uncommon and dangerous. There’s additionally some fan hypothesis you can be launched from an Unbreakable Vow if the opposite particular person agrees, however there’s been no canon affirmation of this concept.

Both method, Snape was already planning to kill Dumbledore by the tip of the college yr, so agreeing to Narcissa’s vow was a fairly straightforward resolution. It was a solution to full Dumbledore’s request and acquire Voldemort’s belief on the similar time; as tough because it should’ve been emotionally for Snape, it was clearly the appropriate strategic alternative. 

“Half-Blood Prince” has the strangest title within the collection, as a result of it is the one e-book the place the title refers to a comparatively minor subplot. All through the e-book, Harry is all of a sudden excelling in his Potions class due to a textbook he discovered that was annotated by a mysterious former scholar who known as himself the Half-Blood Prince. Harry places a gentle quantity of effort into uncovering this particular person’s identification, however for essentially the most half, he is targeted on the extra imminent risk of Draco being as much as one thing and Voldemort taking up the wizarding world within the background. This subplot is much more of an afterthought within the film; as a result of all of the movies had far much less display screen time obtainable to concentrate on the classwork facet of issues, the thriller of whose textbook Harry was utilizing was barely an element in any respect.

Nonetheless, here is why the reveal works nicely within the e-book, and why a TV present may most likely additionally do it justice: Snape calls himself the Half-Blood Prince as a result of he, like Harry and Voldemort, is a half-blood wizard. Half-bloods are the commonest sort of wizard on this universe, being individuals who have no less than one muggle-born ancestor, however they’re nonetheless thought-about by full-blood wizards just like the Malfoys as a step-down. Though Harry is completely nice with having muggle grandparents on his mom’s facet, each Snape and Voldemort are deeply ashamed of their muggle fathers. 

However whereas Voldemort copes together with his half-blood standing by killing his father, Snape chooses the extra typical teen route of giving himself a broody nickname in his diary. He calls himself Half-Blood Prince as a result of his mom’s surname was Prince; it is mainly his method of claiming, “Sure, I could also be a half-blood, however I am far more of a Prince than a Snape.” 

On a story degree, the mysterious title permits Harry to empathize with Snape on a degree he by no means would in any other case. Harry’s typically impressed or sympathetic with the Half-Blood Prince’s writings, in a method that he most likely would not be if he’d identified who the creator was. The e-book additionally serves as a solution to put the 2 characters on equal footing; 16-year-old Harry goes again in time and interacting with 16-year-old Snape, unknowingly confronted with the data that the 2 teenagers weren’t that totally different. It makes their years-long animosity in direction of one another all of the extra tragic, understanding they most likely may’ve gotten alongside if it wasn’t for Voldemort’s impression on each their lives. 

Dumbledore’s dying is usually the identical within the film, with one main distinction: film Harry isn’t immobilized. Within the books, Dumbledore silently casts a spell that paralyzes Harry whereas he is beneath the invisibility cloak, making it so Harry cannot intervene with Draco/Snape’s actions in any method. Within the motion pictures, Harry can intervene, however he does not as a result of Dumbledore informed him to not. Some followers had been upset with this alteration, because it appears out of character for Harry — well-known for being recklessly courageous — to only stand there as Dumbledore’s life is at risk. 

Nevertheless, the change is smart whenever you keep in mind simply how a lot must be defined within the movie to make it work. Dumbledore’s a grasp at casting spells with out talking, so the film must work out a solution to inform us Harry’s been hit by a paralyzing curse with out a phrase being spoken, in the midst of an already sophisticated sequence. 

The opposite change is that the film cuts out the entire battle across the Astronomy Tower, the place a bunch of Harry’s associates combat a bunch of dying eaters with the assistance of some luck potion Harry received earlier within the e-book. It is kind of comprehensible why the film would reduce this — presumably in order that the large Hogwarts battle in “Deathly Hallows” may have extra impression — but it surely nonetheless makes the ending to the movie really feel weirdly low-key. I undoubtedly perceive why this film’s typically ranked lowest amongst e-book readers, because it takes essentially the most liberties with the supply materials. 

Nonetheless, in the case of the core of its finale, capturing the shock and grief of Dumbledore’s demise, I believe the film nonetheless nails it. With the weather of his dying that really mattered, the film stayed true.