Did the Ring kill Dumbledore?

[kashlie]

Here is my theory....

We know that something happened to Dumbledore's hand when he found the ring, and we also know that it could not be healed.

We also know that Snape can 'put a stopper in death'.

Well, here is what I am thinking - the protection on the ring causes a reaction that kills whomever touches it, starting with the point of contact -

Dumbledore touches it, his hand starts dying and slowly spreads upwards, but he has enough time to break the protection on the ring, and get to Snape. The injury can't be healed, but the effect can be stopped...or slowed at least...

I think the effect was merely paused, or slowed even further, when Snape helped him. Realising he was going to die, Dumbledore decided to give Harry all the information he could, so that he may continue. He made plans with Snape, that if it should come to it, Snape should be the one to kill him (whether or not Dumbledore was told of the Unbreakable Vow, I think it was Snape's job to kill Dumbledore...maybe the curse on the ring would turn DD into an Inferi or something).

Dumbledore knows he has nothing to lose when he drinks the potion in the cave. And I believe that when faced by Draco on the tower, he was still the man we knew, and didn't want Draco to become a killer, or to have to attack him, or Snape to die because of the Vow, so pleaded with Snape to do it then and there.

I think Harry's whole year changed because DD underestimated the protection around that particular Horcrux, and I guess he might have died hoping Harry would realise how dangerous his mission was going to be.



*supporting evidence that the curse could slowly kill is the effect of the necklace on Katie - Snape was able to stop that curse from spreading. Riddle could have been the one to put the curse on that necklace, as he did on the ring.

[Alz]

Interesting use of the 'Stopper Death' comment there Kasher - I too had a use for that what has escaped me at present :o

You could have a serious point there as well ... his hand was described as looking dead - I tend to agree that whatever was going on between his hand and the horcrux was almost like a slow death - or perhaps something that spread like a virus up the skin ... leading to a slow death.
I also think and believe that if Dumbledore had not got to Snape he would have died - I think he even said as much.
The question of Dumbledore's death comes down to now three possibilities ..
1. The Horcrux protection on the ring - Snape slowed it
2. The Potion protecting the horcrux in the cave - Dumbledore called from Snape
3. The AK

We know that the AK killed him ...
But the question is - would the ring have killed him - I think so
Would the potion kill him - I think so
Point here - Snape is in and around it all - and he of course made the comment that he could stopper death ... that could mean 2 things now - he could make something that was deadly - and stopper it - or indeed he could prevent death - and put a stopper on it ...
If you look in the forums there is an exisiting thread where I discussed this famous comment by Snape ;)

[The Frozen North]

Dumbledore...maybe the curse on the ring would turn DD into an Inferi or something).




This is really good latteral thinking, I'm impressed! This, or something along the same lines is the only way I could believe in the continuing "goodness" of Snape. This would make it possible for Snape to cast AK (and really mean it) as DD was already lost and Snape was preventing him from becoming something that could be harmfull to others (ie. Harry and the other students).

Taking the theory that DD state made him a danger to others a little further, could the potion from the cave have other effects than the obvious, perhaps some kind of Imperius curse effect, putting him under Voldermort's control or some alternative to Veretasium potion.

Just a wild theory! It's really fun on this site as with the stimulation of others my imagination is running wild and I'm thinking of HP in a completely new way!

[Alz]

Taking the potion/Inferi theory - could explain a few extra bodies in the water maybe?
We know at least 3 people have gotten into that cave - it requires Wizards with skill - but let's assume just for a second that RAB wasnt as smart as Dumbledore - it opens the possiblity that others might have ventured into there and got as far ...
Sorry - bit of a digression from the thread matter there :o